Hello and welcome to the Brown Cafe (and maybe UPS itself). Allow me to share what I've learned from nearly 3 yrs in a Hub (and from forums like this and the Local and International Unions). For perspective, I started at age 35 as a seasonal hire looking to make some $ (and try something different) while laid off. While there is a National Master Contract, there are many variations due to local and regional supplements, riders, and addenda (or in my case, a completely separate contract). Hence the wide variation in responses. My two cents to your original post and other points in this thread:
- Here, basic Health & Prescription coverage (provided by UPS, not the Local Union for part-timers) comes after you attain seniority (work through a trial or employment-at-will time period). It could be 30 or 40 working days, or xx amount of days in a 90 calendar period-varies. Only after 3 years will I receive Dental, Vision, & Dependent coverage.
- Pre-existing condition? Not really an issue for me, but I was under the impression most employers will provide you coverage up front, only excluding major pre-existing conditions for a longer time.
- Bennies book? Nah, not until you're made your bones. Part of the problem is (at least for me), there was more than one provider to choose from. I went with BCBS over the provider UPS was subtly pushing. There is some info. on the meager pension in the NMA elsewhere on this site
- Age discrimination? No. Heck, I'm probably the best overall in my area and next area over is a guy who first worked here in the 70's, and ended up here again last year (and while I haven't spoken in depth with him, a big part of it is the health bennies, I believe he's looking to get some work done on his right hand, pre-existing, something like a break that maybe wasn't properly treated at the time).
- Dock-worker sounds like it would be with one of the recently acquired companies, now UPS Cartage or UPS Freight. I would go directly to them with questions, I don't believe UPS Package employment/HR people have been cross-trained (or motivated) in those operations-we can't seem to get enough people for our Hubs & Centers.
- PT Supe, personally I was first asked on my first or second day of actual work to submit a letter of intent. Yeah, it would about double the money, and here they incentivize (is that a word?) by offering full benefits initially, plus $4k (vs. $3k for hourly empl.) Earn&Learn tuition assistance. There's generally a good reason PT Supe positions are vacant, I'd recommend 3-6 mos. or at least one PEAK season (officially Thanksgiving through Xmas) to get the lay of the land. For instance in my Hub, I can see I'd be there at least 30 hours/wk as a supe, and who's to say I'd even be in this Hub, they could say: Congratulation, you've been promoted to supe. Report monday to xyzst Center 50 miles away. And without a college degree, I just don't believe I would ever advance beyond pt supe in the corporate culture that developed since UPS went public. Although with your posted background, I can already see you would probably be a vast improvement (I'm on my fifth regular pt supe, fourth sort manager for that matter).
As far as the work, it's as much mental determination and technique as it is muscle, in fact I've heard it said muscles can be a detriment-too many muscles, you use up too much energy to make it through the shift. You'll work like a man possessed through the trial/seniority period: hot showers or baths, pain relievers/anti-inflamatories, staying hydrated will help. After you make seniority, work as hard as you can, keeping in mind it's going to be in your and UPS' best interest to not get hurt, so you can go do it all over again the next day/week/mo. etc.
Here you could be hired on as seasonal or for permanent status. I screwed up by not going for the permanent status initially, if for no other reason than I had to pay union inititiation fees twice. I doubt benefits would be offered to seasonal help.
If at all possible, make sure you get all your answers from UPS employment/HR in writing! Make sure your business schedule and UPS shift times allow plenty of time for commuting, traffic, a light meal or snack, changing (showering if you have the AM shift @ UPS and need to look presentable for your customers). If your business also peaks concurrently with the UPS Thanksgiving(really august/september)-Xmas, this probably isn't for you. However, it's my understanding the freight business peaks over the summer (the dockworker jobs you mentioned). Also, the advertised shift times seem to be merely early/late guidelines for starting non-peak, shifts don't end until the work is done, ask for a more realistic estimate-HR probably won't know, there may be a "tour" as part of the hiring process, with real, live UPSers, outside the rarified atmosphere of HR. If you do hire on as an hourly, you'll most likely be put to work loading or unloading, wherever they need a body. After a while (should be 6 mos. according to the labor contract), you should be allowed to move to a different position as they open up. Some jobs entail memorizing long lists of states/zip codes for sorting the packages and receive an additional $1/hr. If you're mostly in it for the bennies, you'll want to be unloading the trailers or doing the (primary) sorting of the boxes as they're unloaded. These workers start first (by anywhere from 5-15min.) and finish way earliest (on my twilight shift they might be done 9-9:30, whereas as a loader/ "backup" pickoff I'm rarely off the clock by 10 PM; often I'm out the gate @11,11:30 or midnight). The contract calls for a guaranteed minimum of 3.5 hours per day, but as an unloader/primary sorter, if the work's all done the supes generally want to get employees off the clock ASAP, regardless of your actual time worked, just find out if you need a minimum # of hours to maintain bennies/seniority. Alternatively, consider bidding into a part-time Air service package driver. It's much more money (though not when you start), and only 3 hour minimum, and probably better working conditions, though potentially more stressful with pickup/delivery commitment times to meet, while having to drive through traffic and deal with the customers.