22/3 Employees Save Labor Costs for UPS

[daydreamer]

Don't know about the rest of the country, but here in Local 104 territory combo's are being held to 8 hrs only, as has been the case in all slow times but now it's becoming steadfast. Today my ctr mgr sent out a part-timer to run air since I'm covering a middle of the night shuttle this week and would not have finished the air before my 8 hrs were up. I told him I had precedence over a part-timer, overtime or not, he actually stated to me that it was "in the contract" that combo's get 8 hrs!! What he meant was we are GUARANTEED 8 hrs, well part-timers are guaranteed 5-1/2 hrs but they are worked 12 hrs a day, no problem, all because some god above has decreed this. I have 13 yrs in, my coworker combo also many yrs and we feel like he__! Also, when the company gets stuck and runs out of drivers it's "go out and do this route, and you've got to finish it, I got the okay for you to go over 12"!

We're the red-headed stepchildren of the company. I'm filing every day this week that this happens.

Anyone else in this boat? It stinks! I'm a loyal, hard-working employee but UPS makes me feel like a turd.

 

[IDoLessWorkThanMost]

Don't know about the rest of the country, but here in Local 104 territory combo's are being held to 8 hrs only, as has been the case in all slow times but now it's becoming steadfast. Today my ctr mgr sent out a part-timer to run air since I'm covering a middle of the night shuttle this week and would not have finished the air before my 8 hrs were up. I told him I had precedence over a part-timer, overtime or not, he actually stated to me that it was "in the contract" that combo's get 8 hrs!! What he meant was we are GUARANTEED 8 hrs, well part-timers are guaranteed 5-1/2 hrs but they are worked 12 hrs a day, no problem, all because some god above has decreed this. I have 13 yrs in, my coworker combo also many yrs and we feel like he__! Also, when the company gets stuck and runs out of drivers it's "go out and do this route, and you've got to finish it, I got the okay for you to go over 12"!

We're the red-headed stepchildren of the company. I'm filing every day this week that this happens.

Anyone else in this boat? It stinks! I'm a loyal, hard-working employee but UPS makes me feel like a turd.

You are not alone.

22.3's get zero overtime around these parts. The only overtime I for instance recieved was working a Saturday at peak all 2007.

22.3 air driver/inside combos work all day outside, taking in misloads from FD on route(grounds btw). It's a fiasco and one important reason I bid out to inside-inside job. It gets tiring watching management completely destroy the contract while Teamsters allowing it to happen so they aren't the "enemy" and targeted daily.

I find it unbelievable that a part-timer in your situation would get work over you a full-timer with more seniority. Blatantly wrong and unfortunately you probably won't ever see the light in that dark hole unless you really battle hard and long...

 

[mva1985]

Don't know about the rest of the country, but here in Local 104 territory combo's are being held to 8 hrs only, as has been the case in all slow times but now it's becoming steadfast. Today my ctr mgr sent out a part-timer to run air since I'm covering a middle of the night shuttle this week and would not have finished the air before my 8 hrs were up. I told him I had precedence over a part-timer, overtime or not, he actually stated to me that it was "in the contract" that combo's get 8 hrs!! What he meant was we are GUARANTEED 8 hrs, well part-timers are guaranteed 5-1/2 hrs but they are worked 12 hrs a day, no problem, all because some god above has decreed this. I have 13 yrs in, my coworker combo also many yrs and we feel like he__! Also, when the company gets stuck and runs out of drivers it's "go out and do this route, and you've got to finish it, I got the okay for you to go over 12"!

We're the red-headed stepchildren of the company. I'm filing every day this week that this happens.

Anyone else in this boat? It stinks! I'm a loyal, hard-working employee but UPS makes me feel like a turd.

Part timers are guaranteed 3.5 hours. Also, the company has the right to work straight time before overtime. Sorry but it is the truth. Regardless if you are full time and the other employee is part time.

 

[IDoLessWorkThanMost]

Part timers are guaranteed 3.5 hours. Also, the company has the right to work straight time before overtime. Sorry but it is the truth. Regardless if you are full time and the other employee is part time.

First of all (as you may know but omitted), part-timers are guaranteed 3.5 hours pay , not necessarily 3.5 hours work. Yes, a lower seniorty person could be laid off for teh day. You can be sent home before 3.5 as long as the both parties understand that he/she will be paid for 3.5.

Secondly, what the author is saying ( in my judgement) is that he/she is being denied work/ OT, while a part-time employee is over 5 hours on OT doing the air run. In that case it's seniority that decides who gets the extra work, PT/FT regardless.

 

[steamroll]

Don't know about the rest of the country, but here in Local 104 territory combo's are being held to 8 hrs only, as has been the case in all slow times but now it's becoming steadfast. Today my ctr mgr sent out a part-timer to run air since I'm covering a middle of the night shuttle this week and would not have finished the air before my 8 hrs were up. I told him I had precedence over a part-timer, overtime or not, he actually stated to me that it was "in the contract" that combo's get 8 hrs!! What he meant was we are GUARANTEED 8 hrs, well part-timers are guaranteed 5-1/2 hrs but they are worked 12 hrs a day, no problem, all because some god above has decreed this. I have 13 yrs in, my coworker combo also many yrs and we feel like he__! Also, when the company gets stuck and runs out of drivers it's "go out and do this route, and you've got to finish it, I got the okay for you to go over 12"!

We're the red-headed stepchildren of the company. I'm filing every day this week that this happens.

Anyone else in this boat? It stinks! I'm a loyal, hard-working employee but UPS makes me feel like a turd.

what did us (22/3) workers in, the i.b.t. lost the 8 & out in arbitration, since we didn't have strong language in our contract. but we still have seniority over any part timer. we as combos don't get any love.

 

[tieguy]

what did us (22/3) workers in, the i.b.t. lost the 8 & out in arbitration, since we didn't have strong language in our contract. but we still have seniority over any part timer. we as combos don't get any love.

your union does not want you working overtime. They want the higher dollar fulltimer getting the OT.

combo jobs are not a cost savings for ups because we combined two cheaper part time jobs to create the combo job.

 

[MR_Vengeance]

yeah they also told my buddy that he can work up to 6 hours at unloading and 2 hours driving air. what a joke.........

 

[FAVREFAN]

In my hub, 22.3's were getting unlimited OT on the Twilight /Night shifts for years. On the Sunrise/Day there is near 0 OT. Recently they have begun to eliminate as much OT as possible on the Twilight/Night shifts. Why would UPS want to pay $33.93 for time and a half for a combo when they can have a part-timer do the same work for around $9-$10 per hour? It is what it is.

 

[brett636]

They used to cut the combos out at 8 hours in my hub, but the operations would suffer because of it. This was a good 3 years ago, but all the combos would hit their eight right as the final big push to end the night would begin leaving all the part-timers to handle the large flow of volume coming at them at the end of the night. They quit that practice, but now that I'm combo I would not mind them starting it up again. I don't see that happening now as we have one sort isle that is composed of 90% combo workers.

The OT rule as it was explained to me is as long as a part-timer is still on straight time while the combo worker is about to go into OT, they can work that part-timer and cut out the combo at his/her eight hours. If both are going into OT at the same time or the part-timer goes into OT first then seniority rules take effect.

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

Believe it or not....lately I haven't been getting much OT as a full-time driver either. I've been getting around 2 hours of OT each week and most of that has been from running missloads. Well, at least it's all been easy OT. OT with allot of "windshield time" is always good.

 

[FAVREFAN]

They used to cut the combos out at 8 hours in my hub, but the operations would suffer because of it. This was a good 3 years ago, but all the combos would hit their eight right as the final big push to end the night would begin leaving all the part-timers to handle the large flow of volume coming at them at the end of the night. They quit that practice, but now that I'm combo I would not mind them starting it up again. I don't see that happening now as we have one sort isle that is composed of 90% combo workers.

The OT rule as it was explained to me is as long as a part-timer is still on straight time while the combo worker is about to go into OT, they can work that part-timer and cut out the combo at his/her eight hours. If both are going into OT at the same time or the part-timer goes into OT first then seniority rules take effect.

Yeah, that OT rule seems to be the correct one.

 

[daydreamer]

Boy, I feel stupid over the 5-1/2 hr thing, must have been half asleep. But aside from that, these p/t employees have all been over their guaranteed hrs when sent out, and I quizzed them every morning as to when they finished and what they did, three times they did ground shuttles also!

To add insult to injury, my ctr mgr delivered some air himself that the p/t empl would not have gotten done. Well, now I'm filing on supervisor working also. This should make a nice stack of grievances to present tomorrow!

I'm pretty tired of this, don't really wish to have to deal with it, but time to take the gloves off and jump in.

 

[IDoLessWorkThanMost]

Boy, I feel stupid over the 5-1/2 hr thing, must have been half asleep. But aside from that, these p/t employees have all been over their guaranteed hrs when sent out, and I quizzed them every morning as to when they finished and what they did, three times they did ground shuttles also!

To add insult to injury, my ctr mgr delivered some air himself that the p/t empl would not have gotten done. Well, now I'm filing on supervisor working also. This should make a nice stack of grievances to present tomorrow!

I'm pretty tired of this, don't really wish to have to deal with it, but time to take the gloves off and jump in.

Funny this is regular practice at alot of buildings. Send out the P/T air drivers for over 40 hours a week, and keeping the reg drivers or 22.3 hours low.

 

[JonFrum]

combo jobs are not a cost savings for ups because we combined two cheaper part time jobs to create the combo job.

Tie, Combo Jobs save UPS a fortune!

Every time a full-timer takes a combo job he takes a huge cut in straight-time pay and overtime.

Some part-timers take a cut in pay when they take a 22.3 job, so the new 8-hour 22.3 person makes less than the two part-timers who formerly did the work.

Every time full-time hours or entire full-time jobs are misclassified to create a combo job, UPS saves.

Every 22.3 person who doesn't get overtime saves UPS money.

Every 22.3 person in a new wage progression saves UPS money.

And remember, originally, there were no low-paid part-time jobs. So if all work was originally high-paid, and it is now being done by lower-paid 22.3 people, it is a big savings for UPS even if 22.3 jobs pay more that some very-low-paid part-time positions. Don't compare full-time 22.3 pay rates to post-1982 part-time rates; compare them to other full-time rates.

 

[FAVREFAN]

Tie, Combo Jobs save UPS a fortune!

Every time a full-timer takes a combo job he takes a huge cut in straight-time pay and overtime.

Some part-timers take a cut in pay when they take a 22.3 job, so the new 8-hour 22.3 person makes less than the two part-timers who formerly did the work.

Every time full-time hours or entire full-time jobs are misclassified to create a combo job, UPS saves.

Every 22.3 person who doesn't get overtime saves UPS money.

Every 22.3 person in a new wage progression saves UPS money.

And remember, originally, there were no low-paid part-time jobs. So if all work was originally high-paid, and it is now being done by lower-paid 22.3 people, it is a big savings for UPS even if 22.3 jobs pay more that some very-low-paid part-time positions. Don't compare full-time 22.3 pay rates to post-1982 part-time rates; compare them to other full-time rates.

You're way off. I see your point and that would be true if it were reality. I am in the hub with the most 22.3's in the country. Most of them were under $14-$15 p/hr when they went into the 22.3 wage progression. They are at or near scale of $22.62 per hour now. Working along side part-timers making $9 per hour. If drivers went 22.3, what you are saying would be true, but they are very, very few and far between. Most combo jobs are filled with former part-timers that are making double per hour as combo's now.

 

[IDoLessWorkThanMost]

You're way off. I see your point and that would be true if it were reality. I am in the hub with the most 22.3's in the country. Most of them were under $14-$15 p/hr when they went into the 22.3 wage progression. They are at or near scale of $22.62 per hour now. Working along side part-timers making $9 per hour. If drivers went 22.3, what you are saying would be true, but they are very, very few and far between. Most combo jobs are filled with former part-timers that are making double per hour as combo's now.

How many 22.3 jobs does your hub have employed?

 

[705red]

How many 22.3 jobs does your hub have employed?

Its in the hundreds if not a thousand 22.3. Hes out of cach which has over 6000 teamster jobs and is an around the clock operation.

 

[tieguy]

Tie, Combo Jobs save UPS a fortune!

Every time a full-timer takes a combo job he takes a huge cut in straight-time pay and overtime.

Some part-timers take a cut in pay when they take a 22.3 job, so the new 8-hour 22.3 person makes less than the two part-timers who formerly did the work.

Every time full-time hours or entire full-time jobs are misclassified to create a combo job, UPS saves.

Every 22.3 person who doesn't get overtime saves UPS money.

Every 22.3 person in a new wage progression saves UPS money.

And remember, originally, there were no low-paid part-time jobs. So if all work was originally high-paid, and it is now being done by lower-paid 22.3 people, it is a big savings for UPS even if 22.3 jobs pay more that some very-low-paid part-time positions. Don't compare full-time 22.3 pay rates to post-1982 part-time rates; compare them to other full-time rates.

Why would i compare them to anything but the current part time rates they actually combined. A significant cost increase overall despite the few exceptions you listed which are very insignicant as you know.

 

[JonFrum]

You're way off. I see your point and that would be true if it were reality. I am in the hub with the most 22.3's in the country. Most of them were under $14-$15 p/hr when they went into the 22.3 wage progression. They are at or near scale of $22.62 per hour now. Working along side part-timers making $9 per hour. If drivers went 22.3, what you are saying would be true, but they are very, very few and far between. Most combo jobs are filled with former part-timers that are making double per hour as combo's now.

FAVERFAN, every Local implimented the Article 22.3 language differently. Some followed the contract's intent, others didn't. Your local apparently reserved the 22.3 jobs for part-timers as the contract and original negotiators intended. Believe me, it's not like that everywhere.

Also, normally one would assume that higher-seniority part-timers would be the successful bidders on the 22.3 jobs. You seem to say that low seniority part-timers got the jobs in your hub. that seems very odd, no matter how your local implimented the 22.3 proceedures. Although maybe, since you are a hub, part-timers get lots of double shifts and single-shift overtime. Maybe the high-seniority part-timers didn't bid on the 22.3 jobs.

In my building, the 22.3 jobs originally went to part-timers, but almost half the jobs were taken by full-time drivers a couple of years later.

Back in 2000 when the first wave of 22.3 jobs were posted, I heard second hand that in nearby Local 25, (which has four UPS buildings, including the Chelmsford Ma. Hub,) that the 22.3 jobs were originally bid on by part-timers, but then they all removed their names when they were told that the jobs would be going to full-timer drivers. Can anyone from Local 25 confirm or expand on this?

 

[JonFrum]

Why would i compare them to anything but the current part time rates they actually combined. A significant cost increase overall despite the few exceptions you listed which are very insignicant as you know.

Tie, those "exceptions" I listed are a lot more common than you think. And there are others I didn't list. The whole 22.3 process is out of control. After we voted on it in 1997, they changed the rules and made it up as they went along.

Take my specific case as just one screwy example. Part of my 22.3 job involves yard shifting. The contract has stated all along that no part-timer shall drive vehicles (except in an emergency, or to and from the carwash tunnel.) So that work really shouldn't be eligible for combination in the first place. (Even though all yard shifting has been done by myself and several other part-timers for many years.) In addition, the contract says all feeder work should be paid at feeder rate. So really UPS is saving money by paying me 22.3 wages instead of the higher feeder wages.

Another portion of my job is moving package cars inside the building and on the property, and washing them. It's called "carwashing," but I do very little actually washing of cars. The contract says the full-time rate for "vehicle positioner" is the same as for a package car delivery driver. But I don't get vehicle positioner pay, I get the lower 22.3 pay because the 22.3 language overrides the other parts of the contract. Again, I and many other so called "carwashers" have been vehicle positioners for decades, all at part-time pay, and now some at 22.3 pay.

- - - - -
Years ago the Teamsters agreed to a major concession by allowing part-time jobs to become established and to grow to dominance. Then the Teamsters agreed to a major cut in wages for new-hire part-timers in 1982. In addition, they agreed to freeze the starting wage at $8.00 an hour (and then $8.50) ever since. Almost everyone says the current part-timers are underpaid. Even you, I believe.

I choose to treat the highly-paid as the norm, and the lowly-paid as an aberation, (admitedly an increasingly widespread one), and you choose to do the reverse. This is a judgement call that we will probably have to agree to disagree on.