Concern for the future

[JustTired]

"Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right." -Proverbs-

Now I'm not an overly religious person, but I think this sums up my feelings of the state of things at UPS these days. What (to me) was once a place of employment I took pride in working for, has slowly degenerated into a sort of "hell on earth" scenario. It's hard to
take pride in a job that has almost taken over your every waking moment. I flash back to the days of old. The 14+ hour days, the lack of consideration for safety issues, etc.

We may not be there yet, but seem to be heading in that direction. That ship is sailing and the choices are clear. You can jump overboard (some will have life preservers, others will not) or try to ride it out.

The way I see it, the company has two directions it can take.

They can continue on the present course. They can sit back and watch employee morale and customer service sink to alltime lows. They can watch their employees' personal lives disintegrate. And to what end? To attempt to please the "stockholder".

-or-

They can change the direction of the company by attempting to return it to a "privately held" status. One in which control of share value rests within the company. And a return to a more sane approach to workloads and safety issues. A return to "pride in a job well done". And (most importantly) a return a time where "our biggest asset is our people" has a ring of truth to it as opposed to being just another ad campaign to boost our public image.

Sorry for the speech. But I do wish things were different and I could again take pride in being a UPS employee...... not to mention having the opportunity to spend more time with my family.

Off my soapbox

[ups79]

Originally Posted by JustTired

"Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right." -Proverbs-

Now I'm not an overly religious person, but I think this sums up my feelings of the state of things at UPS these days. What (to me) was once a place of employment I took pride in working for, has slowly degenerated into a sort of "hell on earth" scenario. It's hard to
take pride in a job that has almost taken over your every waking moment. I flash back to the days of old. The 14+ hour days, the lack of consideration for safety issues, etc.

We may not be there yet, but seem to be heading in that direction. That ship is sailing and the choices are clear. You can jump overboard (some will have life preservers, others will not) or try to ride it out.

The way I see it, the company has two directions it can take.

They can continue on the present course. They can sit back and watch employee morale and customer service sink to alltime lows. They can watch their employees' personal lives disintegrate. And to what end? To attempt to please the "stockholder".

-or-

They can change the direction of the company by attempting to return it to a "privately held" status. One in which control of share value rests within the company. And a return to a more sane approach to workloads and safety issues. A return to "pride in a job well done". And (most importantly) a return a time where "our biggest asset is our people" has a ring of truth to it as opposed to being just another ad campaign to boost our public image.

Sorry for the speech. But I do wish things were different and I could again take pride in being a UPS employee...... not to mention having the opportunity to spend more time with my family.

Off my soapbox

All the things you talk about were true 30 years ago and probably before that, you are not going to change their way of thinking. Just live with it or move on.

[feeder53]

I have just started (I hope) for UPS as a feeder driver in upstate New York (Last day worked-26 Dec.) and I was looking for the way it used to be as I had a good friend that worked there, the military like structure that I am so used to and getting paid for what you do. The money is there but I see change....change for the bottom line for the stockholder, not the health of the organization. I take pride in my work and my workplace and that shows to the customer in the UPS case. In the military, I set the standard for the soldiers that look to their leaders for guidance. In combat you must be the pillar so they do not panic and lead by example. This is tradition, both in the military and the workplace. Lets hope things change and we can be a catalyst for change.....Lead, Follow, or get uot of the way............

[Baba gounj]

UPS's structure today is for mgt to play with numbers, they are more concerned with looking good on paper than the actual status of reality. The old military structure has been replaced with people who are nothing but sheep; all followers no real leaders. Has anyone else noticed that todays mgt people useless ?

[JustTired]

Originally Posted by Baba gounj

UPS's structure today is for mgt to play with numbers, they are more concerned with looking good on paper than the actual status of reality. The old military structure has been replaced with people who are nothing but sheep; all followers no real leaders. Has anyone else noticed that todays mgt people useless ?

Lower management has become "useless" by design, not neccesarily because they are incapable.

While I agree with your analogy on numbers, it is not the numbers that deliver pkgs. It is not the numbers that take care of customer concerns. In fact, the numbers are so flawed now, that they don't mean much of anything. Until someone realizes this, nothing will change.

[feeder53]

I believe that the mgmnt takes its leads from the "Chiefs of the Golden Bull" and I have seen this before. I Worked for Leaseway Transportation in a union barn and they went that way. Very shortly after we were asked to give back some benefits....We agreed......Then they wanted some vacation cut backs....We did.....Just before Christmas they informed us that they were going non-union and did. Shortly thereafter they lost all three accounts because of the quality of service.

[hangin455]

The cost to buy back the company is prohibitive and would lead to a lower share cost (at least in the near term).
I agree that there is some very shortsighted thinking going on here. Lamenting the "good old days" doesn't really do much good for anyone - they're gone for good. Best make the best of what you've got or do what more and more are doing every day - they're going somewhere else.

[Bad Gas!]

To Just tired: You couldn't of said it better.Lower mgt is watching there backs like or more than drivers.Lower mgt has no pull hardly to adjust your dispatch.Lower mgt has to present you with paperwork,orders from ctr mgt. if you make a mistake which everybody does from time to time.Nobody is recognized for a good job anymore but you will be reamed if you meeup..

[MR_Vengeance]

Originally Posted by JustTired

.

They can continue on the present course. They can sit back and watch employee morale and customer service sink to alltime lows. They can watch their employees' personal lives disintegrate. And to what end? To attempt to please the "stockholder".

x

they certainly can and they will continue the present course. Morale doesn't mean a penny when you have younger guys jump at the chance of go driving. the business will go on regardless of lack of service, all that can be make up with the volume.

[govols019]

The good ole days weren't always good
And tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems

[toonertoo]

Originally Posted by govols019

The good ole days weren't always good
And tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems

Now thats a song, but I cant name that tune.....................

[satellitedriver]

The biggest flaw I see is micro-management.
This concept is flawed by it's own nature.
We could be a thriving public traded company.
When micro-management comes into play, for the namesake of efficiency, we start losing the battle.
UPS will thrive, on the short term, with this management concept, but I have concern for the coming decades.
Also, the "dumbing down" concept of using PAS/EDD, as a means to be able to let anyone load a truck and anyone be able to drive a route efficiently, was implemented before it was a proven method for the long term health of UPS.
PAS/EDD is a fantastic possibility for UPS's future growth, but,the way implementation has been handled by corporate tends to the negative gain of the possibilities.
IMHO

[old brown shoe]

Just Tired well said. Sad but true.

[satellitedriver]

Originally Posted by toonertoo

Now thats a song, but I cant name that tune.....................

Billy Joel,
"An innocent man."

If it seems like I've been lost
In let's remember
If you think I'm feeling older
And missing my younger days
Oh, then you should have known
Me much better
Cause my past is something that never
Got in my way
Oh no

Still I would not be here now
If I never had the hunger
And I'm not ashamed to say
The wild boys were my friends
Oh
Cause I never felt the desire
'Til their music set me on fire
And then I was saved, yeah
That's why I'm keeping the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keeping the faith

We wore matador boots
Only Flagg Brothers had them with the Cuban heel
Iridescent socks with the same color shirt
And a tight pair of chinos
Oh
I put on my shark skin jacket
You know the kind with the velvet collar
And ditty-bop shades
Oh yeah
I took a fresh pack of Luckies
And a mint called Sen-Sen
My old man's Trojans
And his Old Spice after shave
Oh
Combed my hair in a pompadour
Like the rest of the Romeos wore
A permanent wave
Yeah
We were keeping the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keeping the faith

You can get just so much
From a good thing
You can linger too long
In your dreams
Say goodbye to the
Oldies but goodies
Cause the good ole days weren't
Always good
And tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems

Learned stickball as a formal education
Lost a lot of fights
But it taught me how to lose O.K.
Oh
I heard about sex
But not enough
I found you could dance
And still look tough anyway
Oh yes I did
I found out a man ain't just being macho
Ate an awful lot of late night drive-in food
Drank a lot of take-home pay
I thought I was the Duke of Earl
When I made it with a red-haired girl
In the Chevrolet
Oh yeah
We were keeping the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keeping the faith

You know the good ole days weren't
Always good
And tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems

Now I told you my reasons
For the whole revival
Now I'm going outside to have
An ice cold beer in the shade
Oh
I'm going to listen to my 45's
Ain't it wonderful to be alive
When the rock 'n' roll plays
Yeah
When the memory stays
Yeah
I'm keeping the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keeping the faith
I'm keeping the faith
Yes I am

[toonertoo]

It must be keeping the faith.
Innocent man is one of my favorites.
Or could it be Ive had a few beverages too many.?
Surely not. AS soon as I fall asleep Ill have to go back and I dont wanna!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[over9five]

"Or could it be Ive had a few beverages too many.? "

There's no such thing, so don't worry about it!

[brownmonster]

Song is called Keeping the Faith from the LP An Innocent Man.

[govols019]

Which, by the way, is the best Billy Joel album of all time.

[Channahon]

I saw Billy Joel in concert a few years ago, what a great show.

Also saw Billy Joel and Elton John together, and Billy Joel had Elton John beat on the piano, in my opinion.

Piano Man is my favorite Billy Joel song. Thanks for the memories.

[Alwayspaidover&underpaid]

As a former military man, and working in UPS for quite sometime, I have also noticed to idiotic methods of management. As a driver, management is NEVER satisfied. The harder you try to complete your route within the "required timeframe" the MORE they give you. So there is NO reward in working harder. Working in preload, the faster you are at unloading, sorting, loading, or whatever else they may have you do also does you nothing but BUY YOU MORE WORK. UPS management also has a great dislike for ANYONE voicing their opinion.

When I was a staff sergeant, I had to be the pillar of my unit. I had to set the example for my unit to follow. I also had to administer disciplineshould someone do something deemed as againast military regulations or disobeying my orders. Those in UPS management have NO clue to do any of that fairly and without taking a personal interest in attacking an individual. I have seen racism at UPS (just recently a co-worker found a hangman's noose in his work area), people targeted LONG TERM because certain members of management dislike that or those individuals. Harrassment is blatant. I have told many of my friends ond family memebers the ONLY way to understand the "world of UPS" is to try NOT to make sense of what goes on at UPS. On the outside world, what makes sense WILL NOTmake sense at UPS and vice versa.

Sadly, there are FAR TOO MANY people at UPS complaining of the same things. Yet, when it comes to solidairty amongst those suffering the "games" of management and their " set him up to fail" policy. Many of those same people are afraid they will be targeted for harrassament, retaliation, and or threatened with their job security. If we keep in mind, they CANNOT fire or harrass an entire group standing united against a tyranny of BLATANT ABUSE OF POWER, disregard for human saftey, and human rights. We as members of TEAMSTERS have the security. Management DOES NOT. Voicing our opinions here could allow us to blow off steam in our frustrations with our devious management personnel. But Until WE stand together as ONE vocie saying "THIS will no longer be tolerated" We give them a license to continue with these unnecessary tactics in the work place. We are adults NOT children. We should know what our responsibilities are to accomplish our jobs in a satifactory way. MAKE THEM HEAR WE ARE ONE. The world of UPS is not our ULTIMATE goal in life. Supporting and spending time with our families is MUCH more important. STAND UNITED and UPS will have to be concerned with THEIR future. The work place as a whole will have to change for the better in how employees are treated.

STAND AS ONE AND BE HEARD!!!! They cannot ignore us all saying the same things.