Saving Hawaii
Member
I spent over a year working preload for UPS after I got out of high school. Great experience and I really enjoyed the job. It's the only job I've ever been fired and then promoted on the same day.
I remember that during my main stint there UPS hired temporary employees during peak to help handle the volume. As I recall, these employees were given a higher hourly wage than us perms, but they didn't have any benefits, union representation, and only a handful would be offered continued employment after peak was over.
Last fall I had a few months off from work and decided to see if UPS wanted to hire me for the peak season. I needed the money and I figured UPS would be happy to hire somebody with a good resume who only wanted to work peak. I was surprised when they offered me a permanent position. Given that it was late October I expected a temporary slot. When I showed up for the 5-day training program I realized what was happening. I had a verbal agreement with HR that I would be leaving after peak, but none of the other employees that they had hired wanted to do that. Every single one expected the permanent position that they were offered. At the end of the first day I asked the supervisor a question: "What happens at the end of peak when volume drops? Are we still going to have jobs?" He didn't gloss over the facts. UPS had hired these folks as permanent employees with every intent of laying them off as soon as peak ended. I didn't really care because I intended to leave anyways, but everybody else who'd been hired was outraged. Some of them had quit real jobs to get a fake 'permanent' position with UPS. They got screwed badly.
I'm not certain why UPS bothered to hire myself and the rest as 'permanent' employees. I guess that wages for temps were too high and it was cheaper to screw people over than to be honest about what was going on. I didn't mind paying union initiation fees (UPS remains my backup plan if I don't succeed in my chosen career), but I know some of the new hires ended up paying initiation for representation that they would never receive because they got laid off before they even got seniority. That's pathetic. The fact that they were told that they'd been hired for a permanent position and made plans based on that, when in fact the company had every intention of laying them off two months later is simply sickening.
Shame on UPS for doing this and shame on the Teamsters for taking the initiation fees from these unlucky saps. I'd be happy to work for UPS and I'm grateful for the Teamsters, but this experience really soured me on both.
I remember that during my main stint there UPS hired temporary employees during peak to help handle the volume. As I recall, these employees were given a higher hourly wage than us perms, but they didn't have any benefits, union representation, and only a handful would be offered continued employment after peak was over.
Last fall I had a few months off from work and decided to see if UPS wanted to hire me for the peak season. I needed the money and I figured UPS would be happy to hire somebody with a good resume who only wanted to work peak. I was surprised when they offered me a permanent position. Given that it was late October I expected a temporary slot. When I showed up for the 5-day training program I realized what was happening. I had a verbal agreement with HR that I would be leaving after peak, but none of the other employees that they had hired wanted to do that. Every single one expected the permanent position that they were offered. At the end of the first day I asked the supervisor a question: "What happens at the end of peak when volume drops? Are we still going to have jobs?" He didn't gloss over the facts. UPS had hired these folks as permanent employees with every intent of laying them off as soon as peak ended. I didn't really care because I intended to leave anyways, but everybody else who'd been hired was outraged. Some of them had quit real jobs to get a fake 'permanent' position with UPS. They got screwed badly.
I'm not certain why UPS bothered to hire myself and the rest as 'permanent' employees. I guess that wages for temps were too high and it was cheaper to screw people over than to be honest about what was going on. I didn't mind paying union initiation fees (UPS remains my backup plan if I don't succeed in my chosen career), but I know some of the new hires ended up paying initiation for representation that they would never receive because they got laid off before they even got seniority. That's pathetic. The fact that they were told that they'd been hired for a permanent position and made plans based on that, when in fact the company had every intention of laying them off two months later is simply sickening.
Shame on UPS for doing this and shame on the Teamsters for taking the initiation fees from these unlucky saps. I'd be happy to work for UPS and I'm grateful for the Teamsters, but this experience really soured me on both.