As I've stated in other related threads, the UPS offer is an insult as well as a tactic to show veteran part-timers the door and ensure that 98% of future new hires don't stay with the company long-term. Of course, this is so they can have as many of their employees making the minimum rate as possible. From what I've seen, the majority of the last 12-15 most recent new-hires in my area were hired even though they admitted they were taking on the job temporarily for the tuition assistance as a summer, seasonal, or otherwise short-term option (this is what UPS now desires). With technology, these guys don't need to know anything other than how to stack a package and UPS is happy with giving these guys the minimum. In my area, nobody else knows what is going on and they don't know the reads. But that's fine by UPS because they come cheap and technology tells them when they're doing something wrong so the area still functions (pretty low standard).
I started at UPS 9 years ago for the health insurance that I didn't have have at my previous higher paying job. I saw UPS as a long-term solution for me. As I grew with the company and used the health benefit, I started to see how outstanding the health insurance at UPS has been. Because of that, I've bled brown. When I'd go to the doctor, the facility would often times make a remark about how good my insurance was compared to the plans they would generally deal with. Within my course of employment, I earned a solid college degree, but have ignored that to this point because of my satisfaction with the UPS pay increases throughout the years combined with the health insurance and the pension. At the least, I believed these would continue amidst UPS raking in record profits.
In fact, approximately 8 months ago when I started thinking about the impending UPS/Teamster's contract, my biggest concern was the creation (holding UPS to their obligation) of 22.3 combo jobs. I knew UPS was making record profits and certainly expected a minimum of similar pay increases and health care coverage. Now, amidst the health care proposal and other rumors (such as zero raises for the duration of the contract), I don't see any incentive to continue with the company if these rumored proposals pass (which they won't because our union will fight and we'll strike if we have to).
What I love about the current health insurance is that sense of security that you can see a doctor and take on any health issues if they arise without the concern of getting into a financial hole. With the recent UPS proposal, you're not going to even want to go to the doctor because of the inadequate health coverage. If I had a family under the proposed coverage, I would be absolutely OUTRAGED!! Holy cow.
Why should we now pay for our health care when the coverage is profoundly reduced and it's essentially the same as any other run-of the-mill coverage you could find at any other job? I'd understand it to a certain extent if the company was having a difficult time, but UPS is making record profits -- $4.38 Billion in profits! They're making such profits because we are asked to do significantly more and take more B.S. I'm fine with doing significantly more and such, but then when I see these insulting offers as UPS' way of showing us what they think we're worth, it's downright reprehensible.
And the biggest kicker of all is that part-timers would have to pay nearly double the annual deductible and a 20% higher annual out-of-pocket maximum as compared to full-timers for the same weekly premium?! UPS is giving full-timers (drivers) more hours than they could ever want or care to handle at over $30 per hour (which they deserve). Meanwhile, part-timers can't get any hours if they try. The average part-timer at my hub gets around 16 hours per week. I probably get around the most hours at my hub of any part-timer and I average around 21.2 hours per week this time of year. That's sad that you can't even get the hours if you want them and others do not. But yet, with this proposal we're expected to have reduced benefits while paying the same weekly premiums as full-timers? Part-timers can not afford this insurance and it's not even worth paying for if you have other options. It's like UPS is trying to give the full-timers a greatly reduced benefit package relative to what they currently have, but yet try to justify it in order to get them to approve it by showing them that they are once again getting far more than the part-timers. I know the full-timers on this board are smarter than that, but who knows what UPSers nationwide will think.
