UPS Economic cleansing!!

kingOFchester

Well-Known Member
Taking less is one thing, giving up is another. I know what it`s like to be laid off and have to go back in the building while others were still driving 12 hour days. Whenever we have had a layoff since,this was the first time in years and it was political rather than economic, I refuse to work excess OT,sign up for extra work, and I file based on the company not attempting to reduce overtime while there is a layoff.
Makes a lot of sense!! I heard that is is cheaper for the company to pay OT then to add another car to the road. Not sure how true that is....but I commend you for not trying to rack up extra cash while drivers are being sent home.
 

outta hours

Well-Known Member
I have heard rumors that posts that start with "I have heard rumors" are just rumors and nothing else.

Look at all these rumors surroundin’ me every day
I just need some time, some time to get away from
From all these rumors, I can’t take it no more
My best friend said there’s one out now about me and the girl next door

Stop (Stop) spreadin’ those rumors around
Stop (Stop) spreadin’ the lies
Stop (Stop) spreadin’ those rumors around
Stop (Stop) spreadin’ the lies
 

MD Dan

Well-Known Member
There will be layoffs in Jan. How far up the seniority list they go will depend on how things are in your particular area. This is not the kind of business that can just declare a 20% layoff across the board. Some centers will see massive layoffs and some will see very little. UPS is still profitable and is not in any need of concessions from it's labor force although I would not be surprised if the company just up and took some concessions from lower and middle management. Not fair but fairly easy to do.
 

kingOFchester

Well-Known Member
Look at all these rumors surroundin’ me every day
I just need some time, some time to get away from
From all these rumors, I can’t take it no more
My best friend said there’s one out now about me and the girl next door

Stop (Stop) spreadin’ those rumors around
Stop (Stop) spreadin’ the lies
Stop (Stop) spreadin’ those rumors around
Stop (Stop) spreadin’ the lies

Timex Social Club
 

barnyard

KTM rider
I have already asked about the over 9.5 list to be posted for after peak. center manager and supes looked at my like I was speaking an alien language.

I have always been very positive about my job and my employment prospects. In my part of the country, we did not feel the recession until about a month ago. Things came to a grinding halt. I am starting to see layoffs, small business closings and small business owners that are wondering how the hell they are going to keep the doors open after the 1st of the year.

I am now concerned about how much I will be working after the 1st of January. We are usually busy in Jan, but Feb till April could be very tough times.

I have also been watching the trend of union companies either filing for bankruptcy or closing altogether. I can see the auto cos. filing chap 11, either eliminating the union or completely rewriting work rules. I suspect that is going to be their 'plan for success.'

The airlines have done it.

How long before UPS does it??

TB
 

dannyboy

From the promised LAND
well, it would seem that even in a rumor, you will find truth.

some things you can bet on.

1 stores that are part of a chain will be closed. that means that in many shopping centers and malls, there will be even more empty stores, meaning less work for upsers

2 as the businesses close down, there will be less money to spend on a lot of the frivolous items that ups brings to many households now.

3 the people that have extra money to spend, like remodels, additions to homes and businesses etc are not going to spend money right now, until they see what the new economy brings. the large tax increases for those that actually have the "blow money" have them too scared to start any new projects at this time.

4 businesses that supply many of the smaller retail shops will be cutting back, because orders going out are just not coming in.

5 businesses like mine, that depend on people to spend money on projects, are seeing contracts either canceled or postponed. there for we are not ordering stuff, and are having to lay people off.

all these affect ups. we are probably one of the best barometers of how the economy is doing. without the free movement of lots of goods, the economy will falter. and we are seeing first hand already what is happening.

where i was getting 15 packages a week, 3-4 days a week, i might have only one or two deliveries a month now.

here, they are beginning to but back on overtime. that way, they can keep more drivers driving, and more part timers working.

ups does not want to put its driving force unloading trucks.

something we might see before too long is the 10 hour day, four days a week workforce. that way we can provide the service the customer needs without working the drivers overtime.

one last thought. i get in my material via 5 gallon plastic pails. to send them ups, the company has to put each one in a box, and it usually costs 30+ each to ship them to me. as a rule, one in ten is damaged (leaking because they were dropped on their side.)

to send them hundred weight really does not save them that much money.

option #2 is to send them fdx freight. the cost for the last shipment was 147.94 for 16 5 gallon buckets, shrink wrapped to a pallet.

cost via ups would be 480+.

i love ups, but i am trying to make a profit here.........

all these forces are what is going to make this next year one of the most challenging that ups has ever had to face in the last 75 years. and that is why it is up to everyone to try and hold current business, and develop new business.

d
 

UnconTROLLed

perfection
Got almost 9 hours in the hub Friday, 11/21. We are basically limited to 8 hours as 22.3s inside/inside, the volume was decent(160k Twi, 105k mid). Not a bad sign for peak.
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
We are somewhat isolated from the recession here. We currently have a new Hampton Inn being built, a new Nova Bus assembly plant being built (right next to the UPS building), Target just opened a brand new store and we have a new Kinney's and Walgreens being built across the street from one another. Our local economy is dominated by SUNY Plattsburgh (college) and CVPH (hospital) and the area economy is highly dependant upon the 7 prisons within an hour radius which provide a steady paycheck to their many employees. Layoffs were announced at Wyeth-Ayerst on Friday but they are going through a transition to new owners and production is down.

Volume at our center is down roughly 10% while pickup volume is down 33% from this time a year ago. Stops are about the same but pieces are down. We have used one helper for one day thus far but that should change on Tuesday with volume estimated at 9000.

Danny made an excellent point in his post when he discussed the rate difference between UPS ground hundredweight and FedEx Freight. Loyalty is one thing but making a living is another. I always try to provide my customers with the most cost effective options (within UPS) for their shipments but we are normally not the cheapest. For example, SUNY Bookstore had 50 boxes of text book returns which they were planning on using Roadway. I alerted my BD and he conceded that we (UPS Freight) can't touch their rate.

Red, was the $1.6B gross or net profit?
 

1timepu

Well-Known Member
While there might be layoff's, there is a silver linning to this..in this bad economy DHL has gone under, so has many small trucking companies, also while I did not vote for Obama, the card check rule they want to implement will help UPS tremendously, Fedex will become union, they cant sustain the whole company becoming union, so i see them getting rid of the ground business if this all comes to pass. Some of you will say no way that happens, but the card check bill would make soooooo much easier, also take into account Fedex is being sued by it's contractor's or should I say employee's. So take heart, while I think the econnomy is not going to bounce back anytime soon especially with Obama. Just remember in a bad economy UPS will benefit in the long run.
 

blaeux35

Active Member
While there might be layoff's, there is a silver linning to this..in this bad economy DHL has gone under, so has many small trucking companies, also while I did not vote for Obama, the card check rule they want to implement will help UPS tremendously, Fedex will become union, they cant sustain the whole company becoming union, so i see them getting rid of the ground business if this all comes to pass. Some of you will say no way that happens, but the card check bill would make soooooo much easier, also take into account Fedex is being sued by it's contractor's or should I say employee's. So take heart, while I think the econnomy is not going to bounce back anytime soon especially with Obama. Just remember in a bad economy UPS will benefit in the long run.
i kind of think this also
 

kingOFchester

Well-Known Member
i kind of think this also

I can see this to an extent.
However, Obama has inherited a boat load of problems.:sad-little: Not to say the problems were all caused by the present administration. :surprised:But never the less, Obama will have his hands full without tackling union issues. I don't foresee that being brought to the front burner in the kitchen until much further down the road. Politicians promise the world and deliver everything but........
 

kingOFchester

Well-Known Member
Intresting article:

Democrats might rewrite contractor lawBy Peter Cohn CongressDaily November 20, 2008
A bolstered Democratic majority and the incoming Obama administration might be poised to rewrite a 30-year-old law critics say lets companies skirt billions of dollars in taxes, while depriving workers of benefits like overtime pay, family and medical leave and the right to join a union.
President-elect Obama introduced a bill last fall to crack down on companies' ability to classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees. The IRS for years has tried to claw back revenues from companies they say have "misclassified" workers as contractors, which can save employers up to 30 percent on payroll taxes. Estimates of federal revenue loss attributed to worker misclassification have ranged as high as $4.7 billion a year.
The Obama bill would amend the 1978 law that protects the tax status of companies employing independent contractors by removing an exemption for firms that designate workers as such based on long-standing practice in that industry. Critics argue that standard is too easy to meet, and a Joint Committee on Taxation report last year said the law is "construed liberally in favor of taxpayers."
The bill also would enable the IRS to determine if workers should be "reclassified" as employees; allow the agency to write regulations on how workers should be classified, and require companies to notify contractors of their right to seek a determination of whether they should be designated employees.
"Every day, millions of Americans go to work and play by the rules, teaching our children the values of hard work and responsibility," Obama said in a statement when the bill was introduced. "And most employers treat their workers fairly, paying them a decent wage and providing the benefits they deserve. But we must fix the system to stop those few employers from breaking the rules and exploiting this tax loophole at the expense of taxpayers and our workers' safety and security."
Transportation, construction and financial services firms like FedEx, D.R. Horton Inc. and Ameriprise Financial Inc. that rely heavily on contractors could take a hit, as would smaller companies in a range of industries and self-employed workers like travel agents, plumbers, nurses, bicycle couriers and freelance writers, critics say.
The bill would continue to exempt real estate agents and direct sellers of products like books and cosmetics, who are considered inherently contractors under current law.
Groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Federation of Independent Business are leading the opposition, as are affected companies such as FedEx, which has already been sued in 20 states for its use of contract delivery drivers. FedEx employs roughly 15,000 drivers as contractors, who don't receive health, pension and other benefits and have to pay for their own trucks, but can set their own schedules and hire employees for their contracted FedEx delivery routes.
"We have always believed our independent contractors are not employees and legal review processes are addressing the fundamental question of whether it should be illegal to work for oneself. We say it should not," said FedEx spokesman Maury Lane. He said there were an estimated 10 million independent contractors across a wide range of industries, adding "these small business owners are the backbone of this country's economy and further unnecessary regulation will only lead to more nationwide economic dislocation."
Various union groups, including the Teamsters -- who have battled for years to organize FedEx drivers, as they have at rival UPS -- are urging Democrats to act early next year. "We definitely think it can happen in that kind of time frame," said AFL-CIO legislative representative Kelly Ross.
He said the existing law is prone to abuse, and the bill would only target companies that were unfairly taking advantage of a loophole. "It's really about enforcing current law, and trying to go after people who are cheating," Ross said.
Obama has powerful allies, including co-sponsors like Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
House Ways and Means Income Security Subcommittee Chairman Jim McDermott, D-Wash., and Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., held a joint hearing on the subject in May 2007, and introduced similar legislation this year backed by House Education and Labor Chairman George Miller.
The House bill would go even further, levying an additional $10,000 fine per misclassified worker. With the economic downturn hurting workers' paychecks, McDermott said he would try to push the measure early next year, as one of the first orders of business after a stimulus package.
"In a time of a collapsing economy, the absence of healthcare benefits for many American workers and collapsing pension programs, this issue is even more important than it was before and it will be one of my top priorities in the next Congress," McDermott said.
However, Small Business Legislative Council President John Satagaj said the legislation could crush companies' ability to hire at all. "Right now, if you're a small business, you're looking at survival tactics," he said.
 

Catatonic

Nine Lives
can't argue that.....but short term for us low seniority workers it could mean the death to us.

Reminiscent of the old saying that the difference between a recession and a depression is:
When your neighbor loses his job, it's a recession.
When you lose your job, it's a depression.
 

kingOFchester

Well-Known Member
Reminiscent of the old saying that the difference between a recession and a depression is:
When your neighbor loses his job, it's a recession.
When you lose your job, it's a depression.

Ain't that the truth!!! UPS is a tough gig to crack.....Part/time ....to Sat Delv. .....to cover driver...... to a bid route .......to feeder......to retirement home with 2 blown out knees. Add into the mix a bad economy and it is one tough road a..........and then add in a family to support...:knockedout::knockedout::knockedout:
 

1timepu

Well-Known Member
King that article spells it out, card check would help UPS and us, dont think for one minute this is a back burner, Obama owes the union's big for his election, and the union's are looking to this in return, so look for this to happen in his first year.
 

softshoe

Well-Known Member
Unfortunately, anyone who believes that UPS will ride out the storm or thinks that UPS is "recession proof" is in line for a rude awakening. Businesses are tanking left and right, stocks falling like rocks, unemployment rising and little or no hope in sight. It's going to take a LONG time before we, The USA, get back to where we were. Volume is way down now vs. this time last year. Come January 1st, we will certainly be feeling the storm.

I was tempted to start another thread on the Teamsters vs. UAW. If things got bad for UPS, how many teamsters would be willing to give concessions?


how many supervisors would be willing to give concessions.?
 
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