The OJS Ride Review Meeting

     So, you’ve had your 3 day OJS ride and management wants to see you in the office with your Steward. That means that you probably ran a little better on paper during the observation than you had been doing on your own. Now they are going to wave the numbers in your face and threaten to fire you if you don’t maintain this improved level of production. They want you to sign a commitment.
     What do you do?
     It doesn’t really matter if you sign the commitment or not, management will have your Steward sign that it was reviewed with you. This meeting is meant to make you feel powerless and it does. If you have ever wished that you had a document to lay over theirs to remind them that your commitment is to the contract and reviews what the contract says, then your wish has come true.
     Here is a statement that you can print up, you and your Steward can sign it and you can instruct management to place it in your permanent file. (Remember that you have the right to see your file and check if it’s been placed in there). To print this letter, copy it and paste it onto a Word document, then print it. Print a few and pass them out to your friends. It’s legal, it’s within your rights and it feels good. It comes to us compliments of  Zack Ochs and Tim Barnhart of Local 118, Rochester, NY.


Re: Discipline for failure to meet productions standards


UPS’s measurement of work and how it pertains to productivity is imprecise. Time allowances and their relevance to work performed including, to and from area travel; on area travel and time at stop are highly impressionable based on varying conditions which impede their accuracy. These constantly changing conditions lead to varying times in completing work, therefore making no transparent calculation for time. Varying factors which may include others not mentioned are as follows: Weather, which leads to delays in driving, walking and may also change delivery location. Interruptions in driving due to traffic, construction delays and other safety related issues. Customer service issues which can lengthen time at stop. Excessive AM or PM time based on the ineffectiveness of other UPS operations. Technologies effect compounded by human error. Assistance in completing work from customers, supervisors or other UPS employees. Load conditions due to other operational imbalances. Area knowledge and distortion based on day to day variances. Fluctuating volume levels which effect all operations on a daily basis .These factors along with conditions not mentioned can and will have a profound effect on a driver’s level of productivity on a daily basis.


  According to Article 37 section 1 paragraph A of our contractual agreement “The parties agree that the principle of a fair days work for a fair days pay shall be observed at all times and employees shall perform their duties in a manner that best represents the Employers interest.” The company’s use of “over allowed” to enact discipline is unfair and unjust. “Over allowed” as it pertains to a measurement of work is meant to identify a problem may exist. It does not, under any circumstance, decide who or what may be the cause.  Our labor agreement does not recognize time allowances, or a failure to meet them as being cause for disciplinary action. Future unsubstantiated claims will be considered grounds for grievance submittal under article 37 of the National Master United Parcel Service Agreement.


 


 


 


Employee   ______________________________


 


 


Steward      ______________________________


 


 


Date            ______________________________