Fired Over a Tier 1 Property Damage Accident

[Bald1der]

Hey Guys - First post to the site.

Yesterday (Friday) i pulled into a horseshoe shaped driveway in a P700 and crunched the top-passenger-corner of the truck on a tree branch. The center manager came out to take pictures and the customer said "its just tree bark, theres nothing to worry about." I was told to finish up the day, and upon returning to the building i was met by my on-road sup and business agent saying i was being discharged. My ID was taken and i was led out, but i was told to report to work 20 mins early monday morning.

I do have an outstanding discharge which was reduced to a suspension from february, from disobeying an order to help another driver after i completed working 10.5 hours on an 11 hour dispatch. I have 2.5 years of safe driving out of a 4 full-time years. I feel like i am well liked by all of my labor and management coworkers. I float on 15 trips and am willing to do whatever i am asked with a smile on my face.

In the past 6 months our center of 75 has discharged at least a half-dozen drivers, with 2 being gone for good. Suspensions or warnings have been thrown out the window and any offense is now an automatic discharge. Does anyone have any insight on people that have kept there job thru worse? Because i dont feel that my offenses are bad enough to warrant losing my job.

 

[ups2211]

they have to follow the proper chain for disciplinary action. if u served the suspension then you are on a termination, but if they issued the suspension before any other discipline you mave have some lee way youre shop steward should have barted for something better than a suspension if thats what theyre handing out before anything else. do your homework go over what happened in your head a thousand times over keep in touch with your steward or whoever is representing you and go over the facts over and over. its kind of funny though as members of management we dont fire you until the days work is done so we dont have to do it ourselves.lol... freakin classic

 

[JonFrum]

Your previous suspension should have nothing to do with your current situation. Don't let them reference it.

Sounds like you are technically terminated, but are allowed to keep working under Article 7 until your case is finally resolved. A "working termination" means you didn't commit a "cardinal sin" like stealing a package, or having sex with an alter boy.

The only good thing about some of these cruel and unfair discipline policies, is that the more Management overreacts initially, the better it is for you when your case is later heard by more reasonable people who will reinstate you.

 

[Ghost in the Darkness]

Well judging from what you said I would say you will be back to work soon. Minor property damage and you called it in which is good. I don't know the climate at your center or what kind of center manager you have but it sounds like they are trying to scare you and possibly the other drivers a little.

 

[Re-Raise]

I ve seen guys do a lot worse. It sucks that you have to play the waiting game, but I am sure you will be fine. You had an accident, you aren't the first.

As a higher seniority guy told me once, "you aren't the first one to ride that pony around here"

 

[cachsux]

Should be two different issues. Your previous discipline was not driving related, i.e. a previous crash. This one was not unreported so it`s just a tier 1, the most minor of the three.

I would not sign a thing for one. Grieve the established non-compliance with the contract if need be. And maybe even file a corporate complaint on managements actions and their creating a hostile workplace to boot.

 

[Jones]

I'd say it's a safe bet that the reason they want you in there 20 minutes before start time is so they can have the meeting, re-instate you, and put you on road.

 

[Anonymous 10]

I'd say it's a safe bet that the reason they want you in there 20 minutes before start time is so they can have the meeting, re-instate you, and put you on road.

+1

 

[menotyou]

Having been led out if the building before, I'd say being brought in 20 min early is a good sign. JUST DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING!!!! I DON'T CARE WHO SAYS WHAT!!! Good luck. I know how scary it is.

 

[soberups]

Your "management" team has probably been given a quota of terminations they are required to issue per month in order to satisfy some corporate mandate. I'm sure I.E. has come up with a metric for said terminations (along with an acronym to describe that metric), and some guy in a cubicle with no oxygen in it gets to sit there all day and issue reports monitoring each district's compliance with that metric. Its a tough job, but for $90K a year somebody has to do it.

 

[THETOWN]

I'm sure you'll be fine. Coming in 20 minutes early, it's as simple as this. Bend over take the blah blah from mgt and you'll be on the road.

 

[THETOWN]

Also, we all make mistakes, we're not robots.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I'd say it's a safe bet that the reason they want you in there 20 minutes before start time is so they can have the meeting, re-instate you, and put you on road.

They wouldn't give him the weekend to worry about it, would they?

I also think having him come in early is a good sign.

BTW, this is why we stay out of driveways.

 

[Dragon]

Lets address the other issue, your crash! What were you doing while driving up the driveway? Did you scan the area as you drove up to the house? Did you have to drive down this driveway? You have had 4 S&V's and countless PCM's to warn you about low hanging limbs, make sure you have space on all 6 sides, I could go on and on.

Use the safety training we gave you.

When you go in on Monday and get your job back, make sure you know and follow the safety training you were given and then you will really be liked by your labor and management co-workers!!

 

[soberups]

Lets address the other issue, your crash! What were you doing while driving up the driveway? Did you scan the area as you drove up to the house? Did you have to drive down this driveway? You have had 4 S&V's and countless PCM's to warn you about low hanging limbs, make sure you have space on all 6 sides, I could go on and on.

Use the safety training we gave you.

When you go in on Monday and get your job back, make sure you know and follow the safety training you were given and then you will really be liked by your labor and management co-workers!!

While I agree 100% that we should stay out of driveways and maintain a space cushion around the vehicle as much as possible, perhaps you could offer an opinion about a couple of questions that I have never been able to get a straight answer to from my own management team.

1. What exactly is the definition of a "driveway"?

2. What does breaking a tree limb have to do with "safety"?

I ask because many of the "driveways" I must travel on each day are actually 1/4 to 1/2 mile long private "access roads" that wind thru the forests of the Oregon Coast Range. During these journeys, I routinely leave a trail of broken tree limbs and/or downed fruit laying in the road behind me. My customers....who, like me, live and work in the real world....are well aware of the fact that by choosing to (a) live in the country and (b)order packages via UPS, they are accepting the reality that the large brown truck that delivers those packages will inevitably do whatever pruning and fruit removal they have failed to to themselves.

 

[TUT]

Also, we all make mistakes, we're not robots.

You mean perfect like this?

[video=youtube;CHFoVYGYOxc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHFoVYGYOxc[/video]

I see the resemblance.

 

[Jackburton]

Good times. Let's fire someone that might be the sole bread winner, who knows what types of bills be it medical or what have you, trying to service customers before dark falls and he really can't drive down that 1/2 mile road, and play mind games about bringing him back. Sounds like a great way to instill good habits. Or we could treat them like a human in accordance with the contract concerning progressive discipline.

Nah, let's play with the worm.

 

[brown bomber]

Your previous suspension should have nothing to do with your current situation. Don't let them reference it.

Sounds like you are technically terminated, but are allowed to keep working under Article 7 until your case is finally resolved. A "working termination" means you didn't commit a "cardinal sin" like stealing a package, or having sex with an alter boy.

The only good thing about some of these cruel and unfair discipline policies, is that the more Management overreacts initially, the better it is for you when your case is later heard by more reasonable people who will reinstate you.

 

[brown bomber]

maybe he should has been more concerned w/ ALTAR boys...........not alter (alterred boys). OK

 

[JonFrum]

maybe he should has been more concerned w/ ALTAR boys...........not alter (alterred boys). OK

Not sure what you're trying to say, but it does remind me that (believe it or not) I was once an altar boy way back when. We had to memorize the Mass and be able to recite the prayers and responses word for word --- in Latin!!! And you guys think the 10-Point Commentary and the other Safety Drivel is tough.