BOSTON – An Agawam man has been awarded more than $800,000 from his former employer, United Parcel Service, after the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination determined the firm engaged in discrimination based on his disability.

The award, which includes back pay and damages for emotional distress, is among the largest the state agency has ever made in a discrimination case, its press liaison Barbara J. Green said on Monday.

UPS has filed a notice of appeal in the case, Green said.

The worker, William Anderson, a 21-year employee of UPS at its West Springfield center, claimed he was the victim of discrimination based on his diagnosis in 2005 with bipolar depression and anxiety disorder, according to Green. He claimed UPS effectively dismissed him when they refused his request to be transferred from a nighttime managerial post to a less stressful day job.

As compensation for the employer’s discrimination, the hearing officer awarded back pay in the amount of $143,970, front pay in the amount of $603,520 and damages for emotional distress in the amount of $125,000. The compensation totals $872,490.

Anderson, who is now a systems manager at a local hardware store, last worked at UPS in the spring of 2007, according to his lawyer, Maurice M. Cahillane, of Egan, Flanagan and Cohen in Springfield. Cahillane said his client is “very happy with the award. I do think we expect to be able to prevail on appeal.”

“I think the award they made is just based on the evidence,” said Cahillane. He described Anderson as a “longtime employee who essentially gave them his whole career and they pretty much ruined his career. His last job there was a preload manager where he was basically in charge of running nighttime operations and making sure all the packages (got) out.”

The West Springfield UPS facility, located at 120 Wayside Ave., employs between 200 and 250 people.

The attorney for UPS, Michael C. Harrington, of the law firm Murtha Cullina, said the company was “shocked by the award mainly because the evidence wasn’t disputed.” He added, “I found it very interesting that the hearing officer didn’t specifically identify what job he could do. It was generic in that regard.”

After being granted medical leaves and receiving treatment for his disorder, Anderson had asked UPS to let him relinquish his nighttime managerial position and reassign him to a less stressful supervisory position on the day shift.

His request was supported by medical evidence, a doctor’s recommendation that he be allowed to work as a supervisor during the day, and by evidence that the company frequently reassigns employees from one position to another, the commission said.

The hearing officer in the case concluded Anderson was “constructively discharged” as a result of the company’s failure to participate in a reasonable dialogue with him regarding his job-related limitations and its refusal to grant him a reasonable accommodation, according to Green. Constructive discharge is when an employee is forced to leave employment, she said.

The agency’s hearing officer did not accept the position of UPS that it declined to transfer the employee to a daytime job because his doctor had not filled out required paperwork, Green said. The hearing officer also discredited UPS’ assertion that there were no positions he could perform, she said.

Harrington said most UPS employees work between 50 and 60 hours a week and usually stay until all packages are loaded and delivered. “It’s a great company, and you can make a significant salary on a high school education” with many retiring at 55, he said.

Harrington said if the award prevails on appeal, he plans to further appeal it with legal action in Hampden Superior Court. “We feel there are several pure legal questions. I feel our appeal has a lot of merit,” he said.

Anderson filed his complaint in February 2008, according to Green. It was investigated by staff from the agency’s Springfield office during a three-day hearing.

So-called “front pay” is awarded when a person can no longer work due to no fault of their own, and the amount is what they would have earned had they continued their employment.

The commission has investigated more than 3,000 cases over the last year enforcing anti-discrimination laws in employment, housing, lending and public accommodation, according to Green.

By PAMELA H. METAXAS, Masslive.com

     With everybody worrying about the implementation of Telematics, the realities create very interesting scenarios. Everybody is worried about being watched. Everybody is worried about wearing their seatbelt, or closing their bulkhead door. Everybody is worried about the length of their lunch break, or being parked to long for any reason. Everybody is worried about not being on trace, or being somewhere they’re not supposed to be.
               Everybody is worried right?
               The trouble is many drivers are not worried about the right things! 
     Even management has forgotten that many drivers have been taught, and pushed, to falsify their records in order to make commitments on Next Day Air. Upper management puts out a report showing Next Day Air discrepancies from 10:15 to 10:30. They then print a correlated report showing what time those Next Day Air discrepancy packages were actually delivered. In addition they will pull up a Telematics map showing whether the driver was actually at that stop when the driver shows the discrepancy.
     The end result in the Englewood building was 5 drivers, to date, that have been Terminated for falsifying their records. They showed Air “send agains”, or “Customer Requests Late Delivery”, on their DIADs only to deliver them at 10:40 or 10:50. All of them admitted they were trying not to show “late air”. 
     Each also contended that they had been taught by management to do this in order for the “late air” not to show up on the center report. These are the real dangers to the drivers. Staying on area is easy. Taking only your hour lunch is easy. Not visiting with the customers is easy. Cheating as management taught you, and suddenly finding out they will fire you for working as directed is not easy.
     The word on the street is that lawsuits have been filed over these cases. Time will tell the end result of that. One of the terminations even involved a 97 scab. One of the companies finest. The company wanted everyone to know they will cut the throat of their own babies if need be.
     So we come back to the usual stand of the Steward. Do not lie on your records. Be where you are supposed to be. Do your job as the company teaches you to do.
                         Listen to your union steward and you will have a longer career with the company than any human can stand.

     With the implementation of Telematics across the country, many drivers, and Union Stewards are at a loss about how to deal with the new system. Of course the company loves to let every driver know that they can use the system to brow beat, badger, and even fire drivers that vary from their assigned tasks of the day. They love to put the fear of “god” into all of the drivers that they can watch their every movement.
     First lets talk about the realities of Telematics. The system is set up to monitor a few functions. Seat belt usage, bulk head door closure, and vehicle position. Those are the keys for the driver. There are a few other functions such as vehicle condition monitoring to help the mechanics determine service needs for the vehicles.
     First seat belts. Wear them. Every stop, every time the vehicle is put into motion. If you’re not, you know you are doing wrong. Make a conscious effort to have them on all day. If the management comes to you about not wearing them, you will be able to argue the function of the sensors in the system. We have found a number of issues with the seatbelt sensors. If you wear your seat belts and you show up on the reports, raise hell. Remember, they must physically observe you not wearing the seatbelt to take discipline.
     Second is your bulkhead door sensor. Same deal as with the seatbelt sensor. Close it. Every time, every place you go. Simple. Again they must physically observe you leaving it open, but if you do, they will be out to look. If you’re closing it, great. If not you could be subject to discipline.
    Third and the most complicated is the vehicle position. Basically the vehicle transmits all movement functions to the satellite through GPS, and a few sensors such as the reverse sensor. The computer puts together all of this information to create reports for management. They have a hundred different ways to print out the information depending on what they want to harass you about. They can print a report about where you backed, and when you backed. Did you back first? Did you pass a stop and back up to it? How far did you back? They can print a report that shows your entire day of backing, and how far at each incident. In conjunction with the backing monitor, they can also tell how far you drove without your seatbelt on.
     They can tell basically how fast you were going in a particular situation. The GPS sends speed data to the computer also.
     The GPS also is combined with a time function. They will know how long the vehicle is stopped. How long it is between stops. Is the vehicle on trace. Were there any excessive gaps of time between stops.
     Here is what Telematics cannot tell them. The “Big T” can’t tell them about customer problems. The “Big T”  cannot tell them about customer needs and problems, or COD’s or missing packages that are in EDD. T can’t tell them about traffic problems, construction, road blocks, full parking areas, etc.The “Big T” cannot know what your bodily needs are either. The biggest complaint from management will be about your potty breaks. I call management the “Poop monitors” with the implementation of Telematics. The other failure of Telematics is driver meets. The system cannot “see” so driver meets totally look screwed up on the reports.
     So what is the bottom line? It’s the same song you all have heard from your Union Stewards for years. Do your job as you have been trained. You’re job is not a social event. You are making delivery stops, not “visits”. You are not required to be rude to the customers. In fact you can be disciplined for rude complaints. Telematics will really only serve to keep people on their area which is what they should be doing anyway. Report any reason to be off area such as driver meets, misloads, customer concerns or OMS srew-ups. Report discrepancies and the problem becomes management’s, not yours. Take the monkey off your back.
     Work to the rules. You will have a peaceful life. Always take your Union steward with you to talk to management. The job hasn’t changed much, as long as you are doing the job.
     If you are screwing around, the “Lord and Master” is watching.

GSA Delivers Federal Shipping Contract to UPS

Potential Savings to Exceed $1 Billion Over Five Years

GSA # 10629

September 1, 2009
Contact: Judy Boysha, (202) 501-1231
judy.boysha@gsa.gov

WASHINGTON — The U.S. General Services Administration announced it has awarded a contract for express and ground domestic delivery services to United Parcel Service. The contract aims to save taxpayers more than a billion dollars over the next five years.

“This second-generation Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative contract offers shipping costs that provide deep discounts for participating agencies off commercial retail rates,” said Commissioner James A. Williams of GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service. “The contract award exemplifies the value of governmentwide strategic sourcing.”

To develop the domestic delivery service contract, a team of government agency representatives developed a consolidated set of requirements and pooled shipping volume in a competitive bid process open to vendors listed on the Federal Supply Schedule. The coordinated effort resulted in a program that eliminates duplicate efforts and provides savings greater than any one agency could achieve on its own.

The previous contract was the first award under the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative Program and saved taxpayers $180 million in fiscal year 2008. Additionally, the new award contract costs are projected to be 6 percent lower than costs on the previous contract. The award also enables operating efficiencies for the federal government by collecting and analyzing business intelligence data to identify further savings opportunities.

###

Founded in 1949, GSA manages more than 11 percent of the government’s total procurement dollars and $24 billion in federal assets, including 8,600 government-owned or leased buildings and 213,000 vehicles.

GSA helps preserve our past and define our future, as a steward of more than 480 historic properties, and as manager of USA.gov, the official portal to federal government information and services.

GSA’s mission to provide superior workplaces, expert technology solutions, acquisition services, purchasing and E-Gov travel solutions and management policies, at best value, allows federal agencies to focus on their core missions.

Did You Know? Although GSA leverages billions of dollars in the marketplace, only 1 percent of the agency’s total budget is provided through direct congressional appropriations.

  Keeping You on Edge>>

     Ever wonder why you never seem to be able to fall into a day to day, hum drum life, as a driver? It seems like you are always under pressure from so many angles when trying to do the job. You think you are getting it done to the boss’s satisfaction, then you get hit from some other angle. Not enough lead cards. To many tracers. Production is off by 5 minutes. Driving the vehicle to hard. Not wearing the seatbelt. Not closing the bulkhead door. You’ve certainly heard all of these and many more. 
     The company knows that keeping you on edge and stressed makes you run harder. They know you will hurry up so you can get in and tell them off. They know you go faster to avoid the inevitable tongue lashing, even though you’ll get it anyway. They know you will try harder to please them if they act like the abusive daddy.
     What’s a long time driver to do? Practice stress relief. In your mind separate your actual day to day job of driving from the ass chewing you get in the morning. When you are on the road, perform your job at a steady, even pace. Take time to smile at the customer , and exchange pleasantries. Pet the friendly dog. Notice the beautiful gardens and flowers on your area. Don’t let the job become the high stress, blood pressure raising, mad all of the time, nightmare the company wants it to be. Be sure to request your Union Steward whenever they want to talk to you.
     Life is to short to live a life of stress. The job can be wonderful. Take pride in what you do. Everyone is glad to see you. You are the answer to many of their problems. The company would have you act as a robot day in and day out. The fact is you are human, and you should treat other people as you would want them to treat you.
     If you’ve ever noticed, the company sells your customer relationships, even if they don’t support it. It’s important to remain professional in what you do, but don’t be afraid to let a little of your personality shine through. Don’t get sucked into the box monster, production whore you see around you. You won’t go the distance. Most of you have long term goals with this job. You are obligated to give a fair days work, for a fair days pay. That fair day does not mean you have to sell your soul to the devil.
     Telematics is designed to steal more of that soul. The whole purpose of the system is to give them something to harass you about, even though you are doing the job. The system allows them to pick any point, and use it against you. The system should be known as Harassamatics. They tell you it’s about safety, and seat belts, and backing. That’s a bunch of crap. It’s all about stealing your break time for their profit, and harassing you into a heightened state of frenzy about your job.
     Run your day like you should. Don’t internalize their harassment. Don’t carry it with you all day.
                                       You will have a long life, and career.

     I have to admit that I’ve been enjoying the dickens out of my retirement. I’ve been retired long enough now (18 months) to get real accustomed to not having to go to work and just waiting for the check to come at the end of the month. I’ve gotten so out of the habit of having any sort of time structure in my life that I decided to get a part time job. 
     Although I drove for UPS for 30 years, I always looked back fondly on the job I had before I put on my first pair of browns. I was florist. Now a florist isn’t the greatest job, it has 5 peak seasons. Valentines Day and Mothers Day being the worst. But I loved my job there, I started out as a driver and worked my way up to designer and even shop manager. But the pay was not the best and I was starting a family, so I took a look at Big Brown and decided to make a career there.
     But now that my career is over at UPS, I’ve gone back to the flower shop as my first post retirement employment. And it’s as much fun today as it was 30 years ago. I’m back where I started, delivering bokays. I work maybe 10 hours a week, usually three 3 hour+ days. It’s a rough schedule. And I crank out maybe 4 stops an hour. I’m not hustling. I stop to smell the roses.
     One of the aspects about floral delivery that most folks don’t think about is that we do a lot of funeral work. I’ve got 6 or 8 mortuaries that I go to. There is always a flower door just for people like me. Most times I just drop off the arrangements in the flower room and sign the log  and I’m on my way. But once in a great while, I’ll be asked to place the flowers in the viewing room.
     Well, last week the inevitable happened. I was asked if I could put the casket spray on the casket. An open casket. Well, I mustered up my best delivery man face and I walked right in there and I did it. It was just me and the mortician and the other guy. When I looked down at the other guy, lo and behold, he was wearing a Teamster jacket. My Local. I had to stare for a second. I couldn’t look away. 
     The mortician finally said something, like can you move it a little closer to the body, and it snapped me out of my trance. I hurried on out of there, but it got me thinking. I wonder if I could be buried in my UPS uniform if I wanted to? I mean after all, I spent 30 years in browns. That’s how most people know me. Strangers could walk into my funeral and say, “Oh yeah, I know that guy!”
     But one thing that came to mind is that that other guy owned his Teamster jacket.  We don’t own tour UPS uniforms. In fact, we are supposed to turn them in when we retire.
     Could I wear a UPS coat after I had “punched out” for the last time? I don’t know, it may not be worth the risk. What if I got caught? Would I be disciplined? The Brown Police are everywhere.
      But then again like I always used to say, “what are they gonna do, fire me?” 

    Here is another addition in the long list of unintended consequences of Telematics. Drivers are now bidding routes with the crappy, old vehicles because they are not equipped with the Telematics transmitters. Any vehicle on the ADA list has not been retrofitted with the Telematics equipment, so the drivers are wanting routes to stay out of “Gods” eye.
     The P-32 is on the short list to be smashed, but the company has been slow to replace them. The company has had a problem finding a direct replacement vehicle the size of a P-32, and therefore has chosen to fix them rather than replace them.
     Of course the idea that the drivers will remain “out of sight” is ridiculous. The sooner a driver gets under Telematics, and trains themselves in the function of the system, the sooner the driver will be at peace with the “Brown World”.
     The days of the “Lord and Master” are here. The dispatch functions are being systematically centralized. Soon the only function of the management people will be “bed check”. In other words, management’s function will be simply to make sure the drivers show up, and deal with the day to day issues of the drivers. One or two sups. can certainly handle those issues in a 60 driver center. That goal is why we are seeing the layoff of management in the current economic times. The overhead of so much management just isn’t needed any longer.
     The driver simply cannot be “replaced” by technology yet!  The driver can be controlled, and managed by technology. Management, on the other hand, can be replaced by technology.
     Over the years I have watched the technological changes, from pen and paper, to the Diad, PAS, and now Telematics. With each change the driver’s fear of company reprisal has increased. Yet the value of a good, solid, day to day driver has quintupled within the company. Until robotics, or virtual delivery can be achieved, that value will continue to rise.
      Keep those ideas in the back of your mind as you go through the day. Listen to your fellow drivers, and do not let the company “fear mongers” scare you. They need you more everyday.
                 By the way, have you put in your management letter yet?
                                                             That’s the quickest way to promote yourself out of a job.

                                   You’re not “just a truckdriver” anymore!
            The Teamsters are more important in your life today, than ever before. Get involved, or get fired.

     The right-wing think tank, the Heritage Foundation, has found a way to criticize government efforts to increase US exports. Now I would think that exporting more manufactured goods could only be a move in the right direction to get our economy back on track and put people back to work.
 
     More exports, more manufacturing, more jobs. Sounds good to me and it sounds good for UPS because we fly those goods to other countries. So what could be so bad about increasing exports?

     Well, the brainiacs at the Heritage Foundation think it’s too much government. “President Obama’s “Export Cabinet” wants to hire more U.S. Government (USG) bureaucrats “to advocate for U.S. business” and channel more taxpayer dollars into “export promotion activities” at the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Agriculture.” Man, that sounds nasty!

     And they go on to complain that ““improved access to credit” through increasing U.S. Export-Import Bank lending to small- and medium-size businesses from $4 billion to $6 billion through FY 2011 budget increases” would only hurt everyone in the long run, because….the lenders could play favorites with the loans.

     The bottom line they say is, “The National Export Initiative (NEI) relies on too much government interference and too many USG bureaucrats shilling for politically well-connected companies.” And to prove their point, they attack that liberal, socialist Commie company, UPS. “Another little sign—a pro-NEI press release from the United Parcel Service (UPS) was distributed at the luncheon.  Non-unionized FedEx has alleged in full-page advertisements in the Washington Post and elsewhere in recent months that the Obama Administration has tilted USG policy in favor of UPS and their 35,000 Teamster Union drivers.”  

     So the right-wing Heritage Foundation has found a reason to hate UPS. And I thought UPS was pretty far to the right. How far to the right of UPS must The Heritage Foundation be? Apparantly they are too far out there to see that this country isn’t going to last much longer if we don’t start creating some jobs.