Article 54 - Meal Period or Why does UPS do this?

tranham

Well-Known Member
I am a driver in the SE. Back in the good old days if I needed off work early I would just skip lunch and my boss would pay me for the time (if I was going over 8). I was happy and he got a happy worker. Now his boss says no more. We must follow article 54. Ok I understand, except that UPS only wants to follow the part that it likes. The contract says we are required to take a 1 hour lunch. My boss says its ok to skip your lunch! I wonder if that's because UPS won't have to pay me that time, hmmmm? It also says that lunch starts between 3-5 hours after you begin work when practical. And all break time has to be taken in the first 8 hours of work. My boss says to take it whenever, what a great guy! After all, I would miss business stops if I took lunch before 5pm. And who wants to deliver in the dark anyway when you can sit in the hub eating out of a vending machine. So, the question is should I file and force UPS to make everyone take lunch before 4pm? I'm sure I would make all sorts of new friends that way, both union and management.

Robert
 

over9five

Moderator
Staff member
I think you should tale your lunch when you're supposed to. It is your managers job to adjust your route so all business gets delivered on time.

Why in the world would you wait till you get back to the building to take your lunch???? Are you a rookie?
 

Coldworld

60 months and counting
Lunch, whats a lunch. If every driver took their required breaks and a 30 minute lunch ups would have to hire HUNDREDS of new drivers. This company loads people up hoping that you skip these rest periods. About a year ago our center was told to not work anyone over 9.5 hours and to take your lunch and breaks. They hired a ton of new help, put in many new routes and told people to bring back stops if you were going over 9.5. People were bringing back between 10-30 stops a day. The bottom line is ups doesnt know how to load a 9 hour day onto a car...period. They cant even give a driver 2, 8 hour requests a month. A body needs to have a little down time during the day and you need to eat. This is especially true with people that have heavy business routes and are really under the gun most of the day. Its just another way on how ups cares for their employees. If any of you have a center manager who requires you rest periods and gives you time within your day to take a lunch without being out until 8 pm, your lucky...thats not the norm. You shouldnt have to be out 12 hours if you want to take a lunch.
 
7

7785761

Guest
They probably do it because most people don’t want to sit around for an hour for “lunch” – particularly when you’re done eating within 15 or 20 minutes. Makes the day drag, IMO.

Here you’ll take all your breaks and meal periods and you’ll take them at the proper times or you’ll be disciplined.

Yes, people have been written up, people have been suspended, and a few that couldn’t quite figure things out have been fired for not taking their breaks. No, your union didn’t get them reinstated.

That’s more a function of state law – and lawsuits by Teamsters claiming they were “prevented” from taking breaks - than anything else in our case.

My understanding is that it would be nationwide policy by now.

No, there won’t be additional drivers added and no, you don’t have any mechanism by which you can skip breaks to get off early. You have to get off early for some function you better burn a vacation or personal day or something.

Yes, most drivers hate it but that’s how it is whether they hate it or not.
 

The Brown Santa

Ping Pong Ball
You guys take lunch? I know it's my fault, but as a casual, I just can't afford to sit around for an hour. As it is, I'm out past 9.5 every day because my route is so spread out. I end up eating my lunch while driving. I'm hoping to make seniority so I can at least stop for 30 mins. during the day to take a mental health break! :tongue_sm
 
W

Wyobill1956

Guest
The Phantom lunch hour:
UPS makes us take an hour lunch because its money in there pocket.
No one in our center takes the hour between the 3rd and 5th hour.
Some skip it completely so they can go home and some take it at the end of the day. I live in the area I deliver so I take it when Im done. If I stop by my house for an hour Im always 1.50 over my time allocation.
Many of us would like a half hour but the union is against this because
UPS would put more work on each driver and this might result in a route
cut. If we all had honest and fair time allocations we could take that lunch
hour at noon and not have worry about missing Buissness stops or pickups.
Too bad the Union does not challenge time allocations! More routes would
have to be added in each center , Junior drivers would move up on the seniority list the the Union would get more Dues and we could actually take
a lunch. UPS likes employees to donate free time to make ther numbers look better. We have people giving over an hour free time on the sort and no one
says a thing about it. Time donation is welcomed at UPS!
 

mpeedy

Well-Known Member
UPS has settled a lawsuit in CA for not inforcing the lunch rules. They are looking out for other lawsuits in other states to follow.
 

browniehound

Well-Known Member
There was a previous thread started about wishes for the 2008 contract. One of my wishes would be to limit lunch to 20 min. Let's face it, who the heck needs 1 hour to eat a freaking sandwich? Its just UPS's way of keeping us out there an hour later on straight time. With our hour lunch, that 10 hour day is really 11. I don't care if on "paper" its 10, as far as I concerned if I'm away from home, that hour counts to me as worked. Add our 2 10 minute breaks and this becomes just too much. If you want to take that long, then fine, let these people "punch out" for the time they want to take. Don't just automatically doc us an hour. UPS is probably the only compnay I ever heard of that uses this practice.
 

Gman24

Well-Known Member
You guys take lunch? I know it's my fault, but as a casual, I just can't afford to sit around for an hour. As it is, I'm out past 9.5 every day because my route is so sp read out. I end up eating my lunch while driving. I'm hoping to make seniority so I can at least stop for 30 mins. during the day to take a mental health break! :tongue_sm

This is what an hour of YOUR time is costing you a year, if you don;t take your lunch (at all) and just give it to UPS.

1 HOUR a day and in most cases it will be overtime= $40.78 X 240=$9787.20 THis is calculated if you are a topped out driver. If you aren't topped out, just put in whatever your overtime rate is.
That's how much money you will be doing for FREE my friend.

I took out 4 weeks of vacation that weren't in the equation.
 
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The Brown Santa

Ping Pong Ball
I know. But as I stated, I'm a casual, trying to make seniority. It is expected that if you are serious enough to want the job, you will skip your lunches. Not saying I like it, but it's part of the game I guess. As it is, during peak I'm getting in at 8:30 pm.
 

local804

Well-Known Member
This is what an hour of YOUR time is costing you a year, if you don;t take your lunch (at all) and just give it to UPS.

1 HOUR a day and in most cases it will be overtime= $40.78 X 240=$9787.20 THis is calculated if you are a topped out driver. If you aren't topped out, just put in whatever your overtime rate is.
That's how much money you will be doing for FREE my friend.

I took out 4 weeks of vacation that weren't in the equation.


I agree with Gman 100% with his post. Those that do not take their lunch are foolish and are not making the correct amout of money they are entitled to yearly.Take that $9000. and put it towards a vacation or save for you childs education. Keep your money in your pocket where it deserves to be.UPS as a corporation has plenty , keep whats yours.
 

jlphotog

Well-Known Member
I if you are serious enough to want the job, you will skip your lunches.

Around here we are told we must take our lunches. But then, even during non peak times, we are given enough to do that that is not possible. Plus around here, because this city is not busy enough to have UPS flights into it, our international air packages are trucked in from another city 2 hours away. Therefore they get to our center after all full time drivers have left the building. So they have the part-timers bring those packages to us at a pre arranged meeting spot. From the time I leave my area to go to the meet, get my packages and get back to my area is around 45 minutes to an hour. Then you add in the time for the additional stops I just picked up and there is another hour or so.

Two hours added onto my day because of this meet. It pretty much guarantees there is no time for lunch. And you should see the look on the faces when you ask to go code 5 because of it.
 

sendagain

Well-Known Member
In the early days before next day air, it was fairly easy to take a lunch break. They have always been 30 minutes out west. Now, with waiting for the air to arrive, then making sure all those stops are delivered by 10:30, you are late in the morning just getting your ground deliveries going. Add to this the occasional stops that will blow out or some other snafu, and your need to be flexible over a lunch break is really a necessity. Demanding that people take a lunch break at a certain time, when they know that might cause service failures, is just bad management. They are managing in an effort to avoid lawsuits, and that is what the idiotic legal profession has brought us to. It always took me about ten minutes to take my lunch, and I waited till everything was done to take the rest. This allowed me to always get my commercial off and cover my pickups with seldom a problem. Since I left, and breaks were made mandatory at certain times, they have had to break my route up, causing other drivers to get upset over having to handle someone else's work. A forced lunch also pushes drivers to deliver at night when it isn't safe and pickups are mingled in with deliveries.
 

LKLND3380

Well-Known Member
The Phantom lunch hour:
UPS likes employees to donate free time to make ther numbers look better. We have people giving over an hour free time on the sort and no one says a thing about it. Time donation is welcomed at UPS!

1 hour x 5 days = 5 hours
5 hours x 52 week = 260 hours
260 hours x $14.70 (Driver starting pay-pre seniority)
-------------------
$3,822.00
 

disneyworld

Well-Known Member
I am a driver in the SE. Back in the good old days if I needed off work early I would just skip lunch and my boss would pay me for the time (if I was going over 8). I was happy and he got a happy worker. Now his boss says no more. We must follow article 54. Ok I understand, except that UPS only wants to follow the part that it likes. The contract says we are required to take a 1 hour lunch. My boss says its ok to skip your lunch! I wonder if that's because UPS won't have to pay me that time, hmmmm? It also says that lunch starts between 3-5 hours after you begin work when practical. And all break time has to be taken in the first 8 hours of work. My boss says to take it whenever, what a great guy! After all, I would miss business stops if I took lunch before 5pm. And who wants to deliver in the dark anyway when you can sit in the hub eating out of a vending machine. So, the question is should I file and force UPS to make everyone take lunch before 4pm? I'm sure I would make all sorts of new friends that way, both union and management.

Robert
UPS wants you to think there is no time for lunch. If you don't take an hour lunch you're out of your mind if you think you'll be home an hour earlier. UPS will just give you more work,more work on you means less routes.
 

satellitedriver

Moderator
This is what an hour of YOUR time is costing you a year, if you don;t take your lunch (at all) and just give it to UPS.

1 HOUR a day and in most cases it will be overtime= $40.78 X 240=$9787.20 THis is calculated if you are a topped out driver. If you aren't topped out, just put in whatever your overtime rate is.
That's how much money you will be doing for FREE my friend.

I took out 4 weeks of vacation that weren't in the equation.

I agree Gman. But why is it in the "REAMSTER" contract? They could care less that a driver gets home at 9 or 10 at night, as long as they get union dues. How about time actual lunch breaks? With DIAD they can tell if you stop for 10 , 20 or 60 minutes for lunch. As long as the DIAD matches the time entered by the driver ,that should be the lunch time not the give away to UPS by the "REAMSTERS" contract.
 
S

speeddemon

Guest
I am a driver in the SE. Back in the good old days if I needed off work early I would just skip lunch and my boss would pay me for the time (if I was going over 8). I was happy and he got a happy worker. Now his boss says no more. We must follow article 54. Ok I understand, except that UPS only wants to follow the part that it likes. The contract says we are required to take a 1 hour lunch. My boss says its ok to skip your lunch! I wonder if that's because UPS won't have to pay me that time, hmmmm? It also says that lunch starts between 3-5 hours after you begin work when practical. And all break time has to be taken in the first 8 hours of work. My boss says to take it whenever, what a great guy! After all, I would miss business stops if I took lunch before 5pm. And who wants to deliver in the dark anyway when you can sit in the hub eating out of a vending machine. So, the question is should I file and force UPS to make everyone take lunch before 4pm? I'm sure I would make all sorts of new friends that way, both union and management.

Robert

It boils down to the "Flavor of the month". Corporate or division will get on a rant about something and take it to the extreme for a while. Just give it time, it will pass on to the next one, and then you wont be able to use the bathroom more than twice a day.
 

Griff

Well-Known Member
I take my lunch every single day, regardless of what trip I'm running, at 1:30PM - 2:30PM. I find it's a great time to take the full hour, not too early and not too late.

Anyone who works through their lunch is not only stupid for working for free but they are also stealing work from other teamsters. If every driver took their full hour and breaks, management would be forced to hire more drivers and possibly not cut so many trips in the offseason.

The managers and oncars laugh their balls off in the office when they read those sheets the next morning and see how many idiots worked for free.
 

browniehound

Well-Known Member
I agree Gman. But why is it in the "REAMSTER" contract? They could care less that a driver gets home at 9 or 10 at night, as long as they get union dues. How about time actual lunch breaks? With DIAD they can tell if you stop for 10 , 20 or 60 minutes for lunch. As long as the DIAD matches the time entered by the driver ,that should be the lunch time not the give away to UPS by the "REAMSTERS" contract.


This is my point. The DIAD will tell management how long we stopped for (especially now with GPS technology) lunch. Why force drivers who only want to take 20 min. into an hour lunch? I'll tell you why. Its because there is huge volume accounts out there that want a 530 pickup and forcing an hour lunch with a start time of 9:00 allows the company to pay straight time to driver making that pickup. Thats the real reason, because in my opinion an hour lunch break on top of 20 minutes paid break is just ridiculous.:mad:
 

trickpony1

Well-Known Member
Satellitedriver-
I could be wrong but it's my understanding that Jim Casey (you know, the guy that founded the company) invited the Teamster's into the workplace because he (Casey) knew they (Teamster's) had the clout to get him (Casey) where he (Casey) wanted to be.
It's also my understanding that various state and federal laws require a person to take a meal or "break".
Your battle cry this week seems to be "union dues".
I suppose you think the APWA isn't gonna charge union dues? I am not for or against the APWA or the Teamster's but I do know we need a third party to intermediate the nonsense the company tries to pull over on us.
Yes, I was a pkg driver in the early 80's. Did I take my meal? No, and I became physically ill from the guilt and stress when I decided to quit showing up an hour early and running through my meal. When I quit working for free I was informed I had a "bad attitude". I responded by saying "just because my attitude isn't the same as yours doesn't make it bad."
My point?
I think most unions charge unions dues. How else are they to support themselves? If you want to be a pioneer, lead the charge against our union officials retiring with multiple pensions.
As far as lunch? I believe some areas of the country only allow 30 minutes for a meal.
I do agree with the poster that said if everyone took their full hour meal and breaks it would definately force the company to put in new areas (routes) and possibly end the 10-12 hour days. BUT this isn't gonna happen because too many pkg drivers have skipped meal for many years and it would throw their day out of balance to do so. My suggestion? Slowly (over a 3-4 week period) start showing up for the PCM not quite so early and gradually start taking more and more of your hour meal. The reason they don't send help when you call for help is to teach you a lesson.
 
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