All Art. 22 and part timers--listen up

ups clerk

Well-Known Member
UPS has found a loop-hole to get out of paying grievant for supervisors working.

On more than one occasion teamsters have written up supervisors for working. The fact sheet was very detailed. It was a slam dunk.

When it was presented at a hearing, a supervisor across the table would pull out a sheet of paper and read from what an hourly wrote---that a supervisor was not working at the time the grievant claimed to have seen the supervisor.
Based on that, the company refused to play the grievant.
In our building this happened three different times. Before this, we had been making strides in preventing supervisors for working by writing them up when we caught them in the act. Unfortunately there are some hourlys who aren't getting the message.

Here is what UPS is doing to get away from paying off grievants. What happens is when a supervisor realizes that he has been written up for working, the supervisor will go to an hourly who has been working for the company for 6 months to a year and say, "Hey would you do me a favor? Write up a statement saying I wasn't working because if my boss finds out I had been written up, I could get in a lot of trouble or even get fired."
The hourly who doesn't know any better, and feels he is helping the supervisor, or trying to get in good with the supervisor, writes the statement.
The statement is read at the hearing and the union loses the grievance.

PLease, please pass the word along in your hubs and centers, that hourlys not write statements for the company. If this gets around to all the hubs, we will never win a grievance again for this flagrant disregard for the contract because they could find a shmuck to write a statement for them.

Another thought, UPS, at least in our center, had closed the day sort, so everybody transferred to other sorts. The company says they are over staffed so they ask if people want to go home for the night.

So since these people went home, the supervisor's numbers look good and look even better when he himself is working because they are getting done sooner because he is working.

The definition of a supervisor working is anything that could speed up the process of the packages on its way to their destination--this includes, loading, unloading, flipping lables up for the sorter, sorting in any capacity, even puttin bags in hampers for the sorters in small sort. These are jobs for the union employees. The supervisor will do anything to get the packages moving which would in turn make the sort go by faster and shorter---thus making his numbers look good.
 

Mr.Brown

Active Member
this happen at our hub i filed a grievance on a sup, even had 4 hourly witness, thought i had it in the bag when i went to the hearing, they pulled out a letter from 2 (hour lies) who stated the sup did not work, made me so mad!!!. i have not filed a grievance since, this is their new strategy. very discouraging :sad-very:
 

JonFrum

Member
If the supervisor was in fact working, it should be an easy task to (politely) confront the letter writers and explain to them what the definition of a "supervisor working" is. Then ask if they would now like to change their written testimony. Advise them about UPS' policy on Dishonesty and explain the consequences. Also ask if they were coerced or deceived into writing the letters to any degree. They may have been duped and might well switch sides right then and there.

Then ask UPS what will be done with the supervisor who did bargaining unit work in violation of the Contract, and dishonestly tried to cover it up.
 

ups clerk

Well-Known Member
So i guess porters, air drivers, package, and feeder drivers should not read this thread?

I mentioned Art 22 and part timers since it was an in-building thing. However, you are right, it does probably does affect other areas of the hub as well.
 

ups clerk

Well-Known Member
this happen at our hub i filed a grievance on a sup, even had 4 hourly witness, thought i had it in the bag when i went to the hearing, they pulled out a letter from 2 (hour lies) who stated the sup did not work, made me so mad!!!. i have not filed a grievance since, this is their new strategy. very discouraging :sad-very:

Your right. It is their loop hole on getting out of paying for supervisors working. Dont give up, Mr. Brown. That is what they want you to do. Keep writing those grievences and get everybody to do so. If nothing else, in your fact sheet, get witnesses to sign the fact sheet, or even better, have them write their own grivances. It would be hard for the company to counter that.
Also read the response from JonFrum. He made some excellent comments. Confront the people who wrote those statements and ask them out-right why they wrote them, Were they coerced, bribed, threatened etc. Ask them if they know the definition of a supervisor working.
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
I would hope that the names of the hourlies would be kept confidential. I do not condone what they did if, in fact, the supervisor in question was working and they were asked to and, in fact, agreed to lie about it to support this supervisor. It would not be a pleasant work environment for those if their names did get out.
 
L

Loufan

Guest
So when you guys talk about Sups not being allowed to work, does that mean they're not allowed to load,unload or sort. My sup does a good job at breaking our jams and cleaning up boxes on the floor so we stay clean and safe. More production done without us having to do as much work if that makes sense??
 

SnowCitizen

Well-Known Member
So when you guys talk about Sups not being allowed to work, does that mean they're not allowed to load,unload or sort. My sup does a good job at breaking our jams and cleaning up boxes on the floor so we stay clean and safe. More production done without us having to do as much work if that makes sense??

They can't touch the packages. They need to MANAGE their work area in a way that keeps everyone safe. When you allow them to break jams and pick up the floor, it enables them to understaff and have less union workers.

That being said, I am guilty of allowing it to go on as well, because I just don't want to deal with the crap involved with trying to stop it. If you are happy, just keep doing what you are doing.
 

blue efficacy

Well-Known Member
There's not much you can do if Management has confederates in the hourly ranks willing to lie. All you can do is hope that they stop at lying to protect management from stealing work grievances, and don't start lying in a manner that could end your employment!

If only the Union could still use "old school" tactics to deal with these types of things, lol.
 

ocnewguy

Well-Known Member
So when you guys talk about Sups not being allowed to work, does that mean they're not allowed to load,unload or sort. My sup does a good job at breaking our jams and cleaning up boxes on the floor so we stay clean and safe. More production done without us having to do as much work if that makes sense??

I don't mind them helping with stuff like that at all. If anything all the belts in our building are OVERstaffed. 2 loaders in heavy doors often with someone scanning up and breaking jams. Generally always someone able to clear the ground and put up irregs. So at certain times if we're buried I don't mind sups helping with egress, turning packages label up, breaking jams etc.
 

Dracula

Package Car is cake compared to this...
I would hope that the names of the hourlies would be kept confidential. I do not condone what they did if, in fact, the supervisor in question was working and they were asked to and, in fact, agreed to lie about it to support this supervisor. It would not be a pleasant work environment for those if their names did get out.

BS. If you sign a false report--and you would know it is false if you were asked to write it not knowing anything about it--you shouldn't be able to hide behind anonymity. If you're man enough to sign a false report, then you better be able admit it to the co-workers who get screwed out of a winning grievance. If someone accused you of stealing UpstateNY, you wouldn't want to know who was accusing you? That would be your right. Same thing goes here. If you sign a sheet of paper saying something you have no knowledge of, that is dishonesty, plain and simple. Both the person writing the paper and the supervisor asking. Both should be terminated.

And yes, I'm aware this thread is almost three years old. The principle applies just as much in 2013 as it should have in 2010.
 

I Am Jacks Damaged Box

***** Club Member (can't talk about it)
If you sign a sheet of paper saying something you have no knowledge of, that is dishonesty, plain and simple. Both the person writing the paper and the supervisor asking. Both should be terminated.

And yes, I'm aware this thread is almost three years old. The principle applies just as much in 2013 as it should have in 2010.

+1
 
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