PT Preload Supervsiors working

[konsole]

I guess I finally just got fed up with it. At first I was happy that my supervisor was helping us out get through the shift, but I've grown to be tired of it. Not that my supervisor is constantly working for the entire ~4 hours but he works for a solid 2-2.5 hours of it. One minute hes helping split the belt, the next minute hes throwing a few packages in someones truck and then the minute after that he is carrying overweights into another persons truck. A few months ago I sat down with him and the sort manager and the conclusion they gave me is that they have to cater to the abilities of the other employees. So I'm alone in my work area on this topic because all the other employees would rather he help them out so that their day is easier and they can leave as soon as possible. Not that I couldnt use his help also but I'm the only one who rejects his help offering, unless my work area has turned into a serious safety concern and there has been reasonable effort to get an hourly to help me. Just yesterday morning we were wrapping up the day and me and another hourly were moving packages from the last truck on the belt to one of the middle trucks. The supervisor stepped in and started pushing the packages up the belt (trying to be a nice guy I know), at which point I asked the supervisor in a calm and innocent manner if he would let me and the other employee take care of it. He got upset with me and said to me that its Friday and he just wanted to get out of there, and that management told him to do this, and that I should file a complaint, at which point I have filled out a grievance but havent turned it in yet. I like my supervisor hes a great guy and cares alot for his employees but hes addicted to handling packages and nobody other then me and the steward tell him to stop. I'm sure the other employees are gonna hate me for potentially preventing him from helping them but whatever, a good majority of these other employees would rather just stay home while he loaded their trucks and they collected their health insurance. If the employees around me are not capable of keeping up with their work without the supervisors help then UPS needs to understand that their workload needs to be reduced or employees who are capable of the job need to be put there. Of course he is not the only supervisor working but he is my supervisor and I feel like dealing with my supervisor is the place to start.

I know that 95% of the time I request that he stop working he will have some excuse for why he is but what's your guys' experience/thoughts and recommendations on this subject?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Our preload PT sups are the total opposite--they don't touch packages; in fact, they both seem to spend more time texting that supervising.

File your grievance Monday morning.

 

[konsole]

I'm afraid thats what it might come to. If my supervisor is finally convinced not to handle packages then it may result in the opposite extreme of him kinda rebelling and not even supervising either. I'd like to elaborate a bit more on what I said about the other employees because they sure are not helping. A lot of the reason my supervisor feels forced to handle packages is because other employees are not working to their full potential, are taking bathroom breaks 10 minutes after break or 20 minutes before the shift ends, or frequently coming in late, or not helping out their coworkers that are stuggling, and then in the end not saying anything to the supervisor when he handles their packages.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

The supervisor may feel that he is helping but he is actually hindering as he is letting the slackers dictate his actions. Filing this grievance may solve one problem but it is up to the sup to solve the other(s).

 

[705red]

The sup told you to file the grievance. I have seen many sups that do not want to work but are forced to. They tell me all the time what they did and ask me to file on them.

Do not care what the others think, that sup is taking money out of your pocket everyday he works, and if hes working as much as you say, maybe you need 1 more employee.

File the grievance, the first is always the hardest, soon it becomes 2nd nature.

 

[grgrcr88]

I'm afraid thats what it might come to. If my supervisor is finally convinced not to handle packages then it may result in the opposite extreme of him kinda rebelling and not even supervising either. I'd like to elaborate a bit more on what I said about the other employees because they sure are not helping. A lot of the reason my supervisor feels forced to handle packages is because other employees are not working to their full potential, are taking bathroom breaks 10 minutes after break or 20 minutes before the shift ends, or frequently coming in late, or not helping out their coworkers that are stuggling, and then in the end not saying anything to the supervisor when he handles their packages.

This statemant tells me that your sup is not a very good supervisor, he may be a great guy and worker but has not learned to be a manager of people which is what a sup is supposed to be. If he is allowing people to not do their jobs and then picking up their slack, he will not make it as a sup. File the grievance for double pay for all time he works. You may want to let him know your doing it that way he will not get blind sided from his boss. Also explain to him that he would have a much more efficient crew if he actually supervised instead of working for them.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

I'm afraid thats what it might come to. If my supervisor is finally convinced not to handle packages then it may result in the opposite extreme of him kinda rebelling and not even supervising either. I'd like to elaborate a bit more on what I said about the other employees because they sure are not helping. A lot of the reason my supervisor feels forced to handle packages is because other employees are not working to their full potential, are taking bathroom breaks 10 minutes after break or 20 minutes before the shift ends, or frequently coming in late, or not helping out their coworkers that are stuggling, and then in the end not saying anything to the supervisor when he handles their packages.

Is this in the cat/doghouse? I remember sups working down there alot. Also on the preload 2 corner by the dog/cathouses, and the other corner of building. Actually division manager "B.B" fired me back in 2006 for filing grievances to "prove a point" lol

My opinion, leave it alone and mind your business. The union doesn't care, so why should anyone else. Nothing has changed, that is for sure!

 

[konsole]

Is this in the cat/doghouse? I remember sups working down there alot. Also on the preload 2 corner by the dog/cathouses, and the other corner of building. Actually division manager "B.B" fired me back in 2006 for filing grievances to "prove a point" lol

My opinion, leave it alone and mind your business. The union doesn't care, so why should anyone else. Nothing has changed, that is for sure!

The location doesnt matter and no I won't leave it alone because it is my business when supervisors work and take money away from hourlies. He may think hes doing the right thing by working but hes only enabling the company to push more and more work out with less and less hours worked. The other hourlies may really hate it when at first the supervisor is forced not to help them out but hopefully the end result will be that the shift is started earlier or employees are expected to do less work and then they notice a bit more time to do their work or a bit less work being required of them. If the supervisors are forced to stop working and employees are getting slammed as a result then let the employees file their grievances for unsafe work environment. My other coworkers have to stop thinking about how this will affect them short term and think about want the end results could be.

 

[22.34life]

Is this in the cat/doghouse? I remember sups working down there alot. Also on the preload 2 corner by the dog/cathouses, and the other corner of building. Actually division manager "B.B" fired me back in 2006 for filing grievances to "prove a point" lol

My opinion, leave it alone and mind your business. The union doesn't care, so why should anyone else. Nothing has changed, that is for sure!

this is a true statement ,sups shouldnt be working but they always will ,in my opinion if they are not directly taking a job away from me from their working i dont care because these parttimers damb sure dont care all they want is to get out in the least amount time possible.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

The location doesnt matter and no I won't leave it alone because it is my business when supervisors work and take money away from hourlies. He may think hes doing the right thing by working but hes only enabling the company to push more and more work out with less and less hours worked. The other hourlies may really hate it when at first the supervisor is forced not to help them out but hopefully the end result will be that the shift is started earlier or employees are expected to do less work and then they notice a bit more time to do their work or a bit less work being required of them. If the supervisors are forced to stop working and employees are getting slammed as a result then let the employees file their grievances for unsafe work environment. My other coworkers have to stop thinking about how this will affect them short term and think about want the end results could be.

I agree with all of this, but if the stewards don't care (I know them personally), then why should you? Fight the battles that are REALLY important to you . If this one is, go for it, but it sure was NOT the one that was worthwhile to me.

 

[tieguy]

The location doesnt matter and no I won't leave it alone because it is my business when supervisors work and take money away from hourlies. He may think hes doing the right thing by working but hes only enabling the company to push more and more work out with less and less hours worked. The other hourlies may really hate it when at first the supervisor is forced not to help them out but hopefully the end result will be that the shift is started earlier or employees are expected to do less work and then they notice a bit more time to do their work or a bit less work being required of them. If the supervisors are forced to stop working and employees are getting slammed as a result then let the employees file their grievances for unsafe work environment. My other coworkers have to stop thinking about how this will affect them short term and think about want the end results could be.

Hopefully the end result will be the workers on your belt will work much harder. What if the sup finally does his job and fires a few of the slackers. are you prepared to tell the slackers they needed to lose their jobs?

 

[konsole]

The stewards do care as they frequently file grievances and almost all of the grievances are about sups working, and they are frequently watching supervisors work and questioning them as to why they're working. Maybe all that comes of it is grievances get filed and a few get settled, but the process needs to start somewhere. In terms of the supervisors firing slackers, thats not up to the supervisor I believe?

 

[dillweed]

It may be that your pt sup would be glad if more people filed. Eventually it may lead to the old light bulb going on and upper management putting an extra person in your area.

 

[p228]

Eventually it may lead to the old light bulb going on and upper management putting an extra person in your area.

Doubtful. Area sups are required to meet the 'optimistic' goals set by IE just like drivers, minus the union backing.

They'll tell him to send people to help out others areas during the slow part of the shift in order to improve his numbers. Then he can get help when he is busy. Problem is, when one area is slow most of them are, usually as the result of a late feeder. And the reverse is true, when you're busy so is everyone else, meaning there is no help available.

 

[the walrus]

im a friend/t driver and got fed up coming in every morning and watching them send the part timers home and the sups finishing up the loads so I started coming in 30-60 mins early and asked to punch in. I was never allowed and caught so much heat it was crazy. end result I had to back off cause NOT 1 of my fellow drivers had my back. some of them actually laughed at me

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

This is not your battle. It is up to the part timers to come together as a group and file a collective grievance. If you truly want to fight this work with the PT steward to get that group united.

 

[grgrcr88]

Is this in the cat/doghouse? I remember sups working down there alot. Also on the preload 2 corner by the dog/cathouses, and the other corner of building. Actually division manager "B.B" fired me back in 2006 for filing grievances to "prove a point" lol

My opinion, leave it alone and mind your business. The union doesn't care, so why should anyone else. Nothing has changed, that is for sure!

If you were fired for filing grievances that is against the law, Your statement that he shold leave it alone because the union does not care is an excellent example of what I been saying for years. YOU ARE THE UNION, If you don't care then your right, if you make it your business and get involved and get others involved, the Union can only be as strong as its membership.

 

[grgrcr88]

im a friend/t driver and got fed up coming in every morning and watching them send the part timers home and the sups finishing up the loads so I started coming in 30-60 mins early and asked to punch in. I was never allowed and caught so much heat it was crazy. end result I had to back off cause NOT 1 of my fellow drivers had my back. some of them actually laughed at me

Did you ever file the grievance? If you are offering to take the work that a sup is doing and are refused you are entitled to double pay for all time the sup worked. Who cares if anyone has your back, it only takes one person to file and get their attention. You do it a few times and it will stop.

 

[grgrcr88]

This is not your battle. It is up to the part timers to come together as a group and file a collective grievance. If you truly want to fight this work with the PT steward to get that group united.

This is the problem, to many people turn their heads to blatant contract violations thinking it is not affecting them so why worry. Every violation affects every member, if no one is enforcing the contract, what is the point of having it. People before you have given alot to get the benefits we have now, you spit in their face evry time you allow a violation to go unchecked!!

 

[tieguy]

The stewards do care as they frequently file grievances and almost all of the grievances are about sups working, and they are frequently watching supervisors work and questioning them as to why they're working. Maybe all that comes of it is grievances get filed and a few get settled, but the process needs to start somewhere. In terms of the supervisors firing slackers, thats not up t the supervisor I believe?

that answer appears to be evasive.

supervisors who do hourly work do so for a reason. sometimes its staffing shortages sometimes it because they do a poor job of training and holding their people accountable.
If in the process of getting supervisors to stop working it now means the slackers are now made to do their job. Are you prepared to look those that get fired in the eye and tell them it was good for the union?