new hires / please come to work :)

Just curious what the p/t workforce situation is around the country. Is retaining / hiring as impossible as it is here in the midwest? Yes I know the pay is low, work hard and potential for f/t employment wayyyyy off down the road but the pool of workers being brought in seems to show the pond is ummmmm DRY. We just had an employee qualify but it took him oh about 8 months to get there after the call offs and lates. I fear for our future when I see what awaits to replace the 20-30 year seniority employees...

[retired2000]

here in the northeast things are bad also. ups is even hiring your family memebers.( the ones you hate). alot of our p/t ers would no call no show which took the pressure off of the full-timers. ups wants these kids to show up so bad that they would not do anything to them if they did not come to work. so how could they get on the f/t ers backs for the same thing.

[speeddemon]

We had a local sorter quit last week. we cant keep them. Years ago, I was suspended for two days for missing my stop count by +7. Now, we have one guy that misses his regularly by +40 and has been late 75 times in one year......not even a warning letter. Whats that tell you?!

[Just Lurking]

Hell, we have a driver that with that many occurences. A few years ago when I saw her Form 1000 during a talk with, I was astounded. Out of the roughly 150 days not counting vacations she had less than 10 days wihout some kind of accurence (late, callin, no show no call, missed deilvery and customer complaints). She didnot deny any of them but could care less.

As a new hire package car driver (8 months now) I can tell you I will not be here long, I am fed up with the incompetent management at my center and being threatened with my job weekly. What they offer is not worth what you have to put up wiyh daily

[big_arrow_up]

In my experience it has been the seniority employees that don't come to work. Especially in the hub I worked in. After about a week I was under the impression that if you had 5 or more years in then your sups would look the other way no matter how many times you didn't come to work or showed up late. I was on the smalls platform and our sorters (most of which had 5, 10, even 15 years in) would show up late or not all. It was kind of frustrating trying to sort and bag three belts as a new hire. Three belts required 9 people but instead we had 3 or 4 trying to keep up until the sorters decided they were ready to come to work. If they came at all. That ran many of our new hires off. I still say that is the hardest job I've ever had at UPS and most of the reason was because of those more senior employees not comming to work. They made it hard on the rest of us. Smalls is supposed to be a cake walk but because of them it was more so frustrating I actually thought loading and unloading and driving were better jobs. With all that being said....we had plenty of newbies behave the same way once they got their 30 days in. But on average it was mainly senior employees that had attendance problems.

[25yrvet]

We have trouble getting quality p/t people also. Useta be when the company paid a good p/t wage there was a line at the door to get hired & QUALITY people came on board because the company could take their pick. The centers in my area are growing & some drivers are quiting/retiring & these POS p/t are becoming drivers. Guess who STILL calls in sick or gets the complaints??

[mittam]

Originally Posted by 25yrvet

We have trouble getting quality p/t people also. Useta be when the company paid a good p/t wage there was a line at the door to get hired & QUALITY people came on board because the company could take their pick. The centers in my area are growing & some drivers are quiting/retiring & these POS p/t are becoming drivers. Guess who STILL calls in sick or gets the complaints??

they get treated so bad everywhere excapt Louisville they have to treat part-timers good there with so many people, and if they can do it there they can everywhere, then pters wuold stay and things would get better

[25yrvet]

Is that an excuse to call in sick???

[25yrvet]

Ya work 4 hours a day---dig deep

[txminer]

We are so short handed that 6 drivers are loading. In Texas the new hires see the 8.00 starting pay work one day then go straight into oilfield and make 18.00 starting pay. I told a sup that you need to to start to pay the part timers more, he said the contract won't let him. I said good luck finding new workers for the next two years.

Originally Posted by txminer

We are so short handed that 6 drivers are loading. In Texas the new hires see the 8.00 starting pay work one day then go straight into oilfield and make 18.00 starting pay. I told a sup that you need to to start to pay the part timers more, he said the contract won't let him. I said good luck finding new workers for the next two years.

That's fine.

In 1981 I made over $114.00/hr as a journeyman electrician working offshore platforms.

That lasted about four years. It wasn't steady work but I'd make more in 72 hours than most people did in four months.

Cast your lot with the oil industry and you're going to be unemployed about three decades out of three-point-five.

Make sure that $18.00/hr tides you over or you're going to be BACK at UPS begging work in eight months.

Been there - seen it - done it.

[Hangingon]

The contract won't let them? I thought the contract set minimum rates, but if the company wanted to pay more the union isn't going to argue.

[dannyboy]

That is true. the contract says that the amount listed is a minimum, not the max. UPS could pay 15 an hour to the part timers, but the problem would be that once the pay is 15, it will never go back down. So what they do is hire more part time sups. That way the man hours per sort does not go up, and you have management loading the cars.

Shame really, when you can go to Wendy's in our area and make 7 bucks an hour for 6-8 hours a day, but UPS will only pay 6 and cut you to as short a day as possible.

Its no wonder as the driver pool ages, why UPS feels like they need PAS. With the upcoming wave of new employees..........

d

OK does anyone else see the plan here...as BAD as it sounds PAS is the investment for a DUMBER workforce, no not DUMB but DUMBER. These are the same individuals who will be asked to be a swing driver for several years in unknown areas in cars loaded by a generation probably even dumber than them. Will someone, anyone in corporate realize this before its to late???? Did anyone see the cover a few years back with Mike Eskew and the CEO of Enron? It can and WILL be our destiny if corporate doesnt wake up!!!!

[brett636]

Last I heard my building's turnover rate was over 100%. This starting pay rate needs to be fixed and soon.

[paco]

Back in march, I was told that since beginning of the year they'd hired 60 people, 64 quit so far.

[cashmen]

How can a pt timer complain when they get full medical benefits for you and your family after 180 days.........hell, I dont know of any pt jobs that give full medical benefits....it is why i stuck around UPS for so long as a part timer......medical benefits make a hell of a lot of difference when ya have a family!
I know that 8 an hour is not alot nowadays, but that is just starting pay, you can get raises by taking a sort test and drive on Saturdays and not to mention Full Medical benefits for you and your family!
I just think that kids nowadays dont want to work anymore and want the high paying office job right away instead of working for it!

I was hired back in May to be a full time driver off the street I worked preload for a month on a on call basis (every morning at 0300) I did it and never complained I went to drivers school and came back to preload on call it took me quiting to have management realize that I was hired as a driver. Now I drvie one day a week and am scheduled 3 days a week but my manager has me call in every day at 0730 to see if I need to come in I thought if you were scheduled to work you worked and layoffs were layoffs here a layoff is just a scheduling mistake no one seems to communicate and no one seems to care. Is this really how this is supposed to work? I call HR to only get voice mail and no one will tell me who the union rep is. I think communication is key and I do not seem to be on the recieving end of any.

[paco]

Originally Posted by cashmen

How can a pt timer complain when they get full medical benefits for you and your family after 180 days.........hell, I dont know of any pt jobs that give full medical benefits....it is why i stuck around UPS for so long as a part timer......medical benefits make a hell of a lot of difference when ya have a family!
I know that 8 an hour is not alot nowadays, but that is just starting pay, you can get raises by taking a sort test and drive on Saturdays and not to mention Full Medical benefits for you and your family!
I just think that kids nowadays dont want to work anymore and want the high paying office job right away instead of working for it!

As far as I am concerned, I am definitely not complaining. Sure, I have those rough days but who doesn't? I work UPS (other than a wage) for educational benefits. Health benefits are a bonus. It wasn't even the part of the equation when I applied. I'd never expected it.
What I have learned is that if you do your job properly, they (sups or upper level mgmt) rarely hassle me. The health benefits are nice, I like the workout and if I want an extra buck, I can double shift any day I want to.


P.S: It is very easy to go from 8:50/hr to 10/hr, all you gotta do is work for 90 days and pass the sort test.

[toonertoo]

Originally Posted by Anonymous new hire

I was hired back in May to be a full time driver off the street I worked preload for a month on a on call basis (every morning at 0300) I did it and never complained I went to drivers school and came back to preload on call it took me quiting to have management realize that I was hired as a driver. Now I drvie one day a week and am scheduled 3 days a week but my manager has me call in every day at 0730 to see if I need to come in I thought if you were scheduled to work you worked and layoffs were layoffs here a layoff is just a scheduling mistake no one seems to communicate and no one seems to care. Is this really how this is supposed to work? I call HR to only get voice mail and no one will tell me who the union rep is. I think communication is key and I do not seem to be on the recieving end of any.

The problem is they know you will hang in and suffer the short , real short pay periods for a chance at full time. For about a minimun of 1 yr, it will be like that, and I dont think it is right. I went through the period, I was lucky enough to have another job where I could go in at will, so I always had a paycheck. But they expect you to be on call, and in a perfect world you could hang out and do that, most of us dont have that option.
So if you are not doing anything better its fine, if I could do it over I wouldnt. Rethink your future, if you have a fresh degree, go use it, you will be glad you did.

[Cezanne]

The whole work environment has changed, part timers are not what they used to be for the most part they were college students, young , healthy, single and male. Might not sound today as politically correct but that were the kids that UPS only hired in the 70's, 80's and 90's. The Health coverage was basically not needed, because alot of these college kids were covered also with their parents benefits. Today the only and I mean only advantage to work for UPS would be health coverage for a married or aging workforce, it just isn't worth it for the average college kid to maintain the standards of employment that UPS is committed too. This 8.50 per hour deal to start out with minus the union dues, lousy start times and a pretty physical warehouse workload kills any ambition for the new employee to hang around. The tutition reimbursement offered only helps with you are capable of maintaining a full college schedule and grade average and still find the time to show up five days a week, working physically harder than most average employees do in a 12 hour shift.

This whole pension fiasco and the possibility of the average full timer hanging around till 65 or older is also taking affect. The long term employee is basically pissed off with the answers that we are getting about any future retirement with our bodies still in working order, the smart ones are working at a pace to prevent any injury that may prevent them from collected that pension, working smarter not harder would be the term. Any kind of standards are a thing of the past, if they really ever existed. Also the long term employee generally has a history of past offenses and some pretty abusive treatment by bad management practices and we really never trust the company to do the right thing, they created the monster now they have to live with it.

Now on the management level, that carrot of UPS stock is being prolonged and is not as tasty as it once was. The old time management is still hanging around, most are multi-millionaires and resentment is building with the younger management types. The will never be in the situation with the UPS stock that occured when it went public in the early 90's, that promise of living comfortable and having the ability to retire in the mid 50's is disappearing. Anybody who has worked for UPS has noticed the "pecking order concept" management works under, the control that upper management has over the lower types is pretty frightening. This creates alot of enuchs who cower to the whims of those in charge of their careers, any creative thought out there is suppressed by the system in place.

Anybody remember the dire straits song "Industrial disease", guessing we are not alone in this, go to any major corporation and probadly find the same situation.

[disneyworld]

Originally Posted by Cezanne

The whole work environment has changed, part timers are not what they used to be for the most part they were college students, young , healthy, single and male. Might not sound today as politically correct but that were the kids that UPS only hired in the 70's, 80's and 90's. The Health coverage was basically not needed, because alot of these college kids were covered also with their parents benefits. Today the only and I mean only advantage to work for UPS would be health coverage for a married or aging workforce, it just isn't worth it for the average college kid to maintain the standards of employment that UPS is committed too. This 8.50 per hour deal to start out with minus the union dues, lousy start times and a pretty physical warehouse workload kills any ambition for the new employee to hang around. The tutition reimbursement offered only helps with you are capable of maintaining a full college schedule and grade average and still find the time to show up five days a week, working physically harder than most average employees do in a 12 hour shift.

This whole pension fiasco and the possibility of the average full timer hanging around till 65 or older is also taking affect. The long term employee is basically pissed off with the answers that we are getting about any future retirement with our bodies still in working order, the smart ones are working at a pace to prevent any injury that may prevent them from collected that pension, working smarter not harder would be the term. Any kind of standards are a thing of the past, if they really ever existed. Also the long term employee generally has a history of past offenses and some pretty abusive treatment by bad management practices and we really never trust the company to do the right thing, they created the monster now they have to live with it.

Now on the management level, that carrot of UPS stock is being prolonged and is not as tasty as it once was. The old time management is still hanging around, most are multi-millionaires and resentment is building with the younger management types. The will never be in the situation with the UPS stock that occured when it went public in the early 90's, that promise of living comfortable and having the ability to retire in the mid 50's is disappearing. Anybody who has worked for UPS has noticed the "pecking order concept" management works under, the control that upper management has over the lower types is pretty frightening. This creates alot of enuchs who cower to the whims of those in charge of their careers, any creative thought out there is suppressed by the system in place.

Anybody remember the dire straits song "Industrial disease", guessing we are not alone in this, go to any major corporation and probadly find the same situation.

The tuition reimbursement isn't even worth it now. It has to be paid back if you leave within two years of completing your degree.

[rngri4]

Here where I am we have gone through 70 plus hires on the preload this year alone...they work for a couple days, then never show back up, no call in, they just quit, and don't tell anyone. I for one though wouldn't start out again on preload making $8.50 and hour loading over a thousand packages a day, thanks to PAS.

[mittam]

Originally Posted by rngri4

Here where I am we have gone through 70 plus hires on the preload this year alone...they work for a couple days, then never show back up, no call in, they just quit, and don't tell anyone. I for one though wouldn't start out again on preload making $8.50 and hour loading over a thousand packages a day, thanks to PAS.

When I loaded it was over 1200 per day before pass we were held to + and - 5 on stop count ,no air inload, haz pkgs on floor, tag pulled to pouch,all of which we could get warning letters or fired if we didn't follow up correctly.Last 2 weeks I have had 25 misloads(off area) 2 haz packages on top shelf,air inload 2 of them off area, a 105 lb on top back shelf,preload center manager said she would address this in next weeks safety pcm .Let's see between 3 of us we have had 8 haz pkgs on top shelves no tags pulled yah let's wait till next week.My thought is keep complaining about pt sup not properly traing and having no accoutability.Does it seem elsewhere that only drivers are held accountable? NO representation has helped us on these matters.. my suggestion...... join the APWA these are serious matters they are going to address,these should be dealt with immediatly not " oh next week when we have a safety pcm" managers need to be accountable now