Good Idea

rngri4

Well-Known Member
A center in our region has started a good idea, the weekly morale breakfast for PT'ers especially the new hires. The preload sups and manager will buy breakfast (like cracker barrell or Bob Evans...nothing like Mickey D's) for any employees wishing to attend, also they make it mandatory for all new hires with less than thirty days to attend at least one, before their time is up. Pretty good thing, the first little bit is open to the new hires, to express concerns or praise about their training, and any other issues, the next half is about what we (management) can do to improve conditions. Pretty good thing I think, and some pretty good ideas I hear have come from it.
 

crzy4trucks

AM Preloader
Yeah... We dont have anything like that here except for:

For every month we go without any injuries... We get a BBQ or we order Pizza..
Which im still interested to see happen...
 

dannyboy

From the promised LAND
Better not let the union hear about that! :wink:

Actually, any time management takes the time to listen to employees and what they think, there are many good things that can happen. But they have to do something about what the employees speak up about. Nothing says we really dont care than you sitting there for several of these, and the same suggestions keep coming up over and over.

Morale for drivers is somewhat low these days. It used to be that they would have the trucks loaded, no stack outs, airs run by 8-8:15, and you could leave at 8:20-8:30. Then they would try and get the majority of the drivers in by 5:30. Work was cut in to where each person had a decent day.

These days, you show up for your start time of 8:50, they still have 130% to run of the ground, the air is just now hitting the door, so you have to run it after the ground, the o/70's and irregs have yet to make it down the belts, and your sup and center manager is griping about how the paid day is too high and the numbers too low. You get ready to leave and the usual "no AM time to be shown on the diad" command is issued, even though you have an hour AM time. Also the edict of "no late air allowed" even though you have 20 stops and 65 packages, with a 30 mile drive to the first stop. Right, you get to leave at 10 till 10, with a 30 minute drive and all the NDA stops are gonna get delivered?

Then of course you have a 12-13 hour day ahead of you, all the day listening to the customer complaints wondering why you are late, your sup sending you 19 messages asking when you will be in, telling you no missed, no excuses, and no over 9.5, they leave at 3 and leave you out there for 13 hours.

Then the next day it is a repeat performance with no end in sight, except the weekends. And by the time you get in on Friday night, even it is half gone.

So they wonder why morale is so low? Maybe its because even though they say our company is the people in the company, there are those pencil pushers and bean counters that draw their monthly checks off figuring out plans to put more work on fewer drivers, and hire more management to fix the problems with the plan.

So, want to give drivers and part timers a true morale boost? Listen and then act on what they tell you. That is the A in TLA, something that seems to have dropped by the wayside.

d
 

toonertoo

Most Awesome Dog
Staff member
Sounds like things coming full-circle, when they knew morale was what helped build the company. We used to go to lunch or breakfast once a month way back then and the people I worked with enjoyed their work, showed up every day and did a darned good job,and enjoyed it, AND didnt mind the extras they were asked to do because they felt like part of a team, and got personal satisfaction from it. And the breakfast or the donuts were appreciated, because it showed they were appreciated.
 

helenofcalifornia

Well-Known Member
What's a Cracker Barrel or Bob Evans? And most of our preloaders are hustling out to their second jobs after work and don't have time to sit and eat. Yeah, work IS getting more tiresome. Would it kill management to tell us "thanks for doing a good job!" and throwing us a couple of donuts or fresh fruit before we head on out? I would feel more part of the company if they acknowledged the work issues and admit they have no control over the dispatch.
 

wornoutupser

Well-Known Member
Oh Please!

Our building had to get militant at Christmas because we were told that there would be NOTHING when we got in on Friday night before Christmas.
The next building in our area had a feast-and our recently departed manager went to a grocery store and bought sandwich meat trays after being chewed out by hourlies all day.

We also won a contest for the most sales leads turned in in our area. Our recently departed manager took our info including social security numbers to have payroll give us our gift cards.

The problem? He is gone and we did not get the cards- where did the money and our social security numbers go?

They wonder why we have attitude problems here.........
 

dannyboy

From the promised LAND
That is a serious breach of employee privacy. I believe a nasty grievance is in order. SS#. That is BS. Nobody has a right to get that information at UPS besides payroll.

d
 

tieguy

Banned
That is a serious breach of employee privacy. I believe a nasty grievance is in order. SS#. That is BS. Nobody has a right to get that information at UPS besides payroll.

d


danny the info is going to payroll. Finance requires the SS because the IRS require we show any gifts over a specifc amount.
 

dannyboy

From the promised LAND
But tie sir. payroll already HAS the SS#'s.

UPS at the center level is very lax with personal information. Under new federal guidelines, much of what UPS has practiced in the past is now against the law. Such as posting SS# in the building. That information can not and should not ever be posted. Also posting phone #'s on bid sheets is also not allowed. there should never ever be any personal information posted in a public place. Period.

d
 

wornoutupser

Well-Known Member
Tie,

Our building lost another center manager that quit on a Friday night a year ago.

The following Monday, all employee records were mising.
If you had discipline issues, that was great!

The down side was that our social security numbers were on those forms. That information should not be on a local level form. There is NO control on them at the center level. They sit on a shelf in plain site for anyone to grab here.
 

JustAnotherBody

Well-Known Member
>>> also they make it mandatory for all new hires with less than thirty days to attend at least one, before their time is up.

>>>also they make it mandatory for all new hires with less than thirty days to attend at least one,


that is awsome they get paid to go eat breakfast?
doesn't seem likely
A 'free' breakfast would be kinda nice... but you just reminded me of the only thing i remember from economics T.I.N.S.T.A.friend.L. Eating breakfast with SOME of my managers would make this 'free' breakfast rather costy because I would probly choke and require emergency medical attetion when I heard what they said if I had food in my month.

Like when a sort manager 4 years ago gathered all the pullers (pickoffs) and told us based on the volume and the hours that you will never need a weakside (second person on the top or HVD) because of how it averages out. I asked how that would work out seeing as they dont unload and sort a box for pd-1 then pd-2 all the way threw to pd-12 then start over again.... As great as that would be things don't go that way, unfortunatly.

(he repeated his little speech about volume divided by hours = I can do it alone)

Needless to say we got slammed later that week, and not in the intrest of destroying UPS, which lots of sups/managers seem to think is the only reason a belt would shut off, but because of SAFETY. the fact that at 5'10 it is still neccessary to bend forwared until my back is at 90 degree angle with my legs, to reach all the way across, while boxes not all the way across the belt were being pressed into my ribs.

Well I believe I had my weakside back sometime the same day they came up with that great idea.

#s #s #s blah blah blah. Reality what?
 

Joopster

Boxline Sorter
How can you make it mandatory for a new hire to come early to work to participate in a breakfast? What BS. "Did you learn your methods?", "Remember to lift with your knees!".

I get so sick of hearing this crap, everybody with half a brain knows how to lift a package to avoid injuries. What should be taught is that management needs to quit hounding it's workers to get things done. If I had 8 hrs to do my 4 hours worth of work in, I could do it "correctly".
 

tieguy

Banned
But tie sir. payroll already HAS the SS#'s.

d

Ah Dannysan I was not trying to be "KOI" I was merely pointing out that the SS numbers probably were going to payroll per your original grievance. Redundancy of submission would be another issue which I am not prepared to argue at this point. :laugh:
 

dannyboy

From the promised LAND
Bottom line is this Tie, UPS has a lot of employees, and many of them make a lot of money. But so then why is it that only the hourly SS# get posted in the buildings, and only the hourly personal phone # get posted at the center? You never see the center managers SS# or phone number posted, or the ones for the division or district. So why is that. You will without one thought post that personal information about the hourly, but yet never once have that information posted on the management team.

Why is that?

d
 

trickpony1

Well-Known Member
It's the "us versus them" mentality combined with the "big versus little" motiff.

I was told some time ago that " management are higher quality people than the hourly.
 

tieguy

Banned
Bottom line is this Tie, UPS has a lot of employees, and many of them make a lot of money. But so then why is it that only the hourly SS# get posted in the buildings, and only the hourly personal phone # get posted at the center? You never see the center managers SS# or phone number posted, or the ones for the division or district. So why is that. You will without one thought post that personal information about the hourly, but yet never once have that information posted on the management team.

Why is that?

d


Why Danny whatever are you talking about? we are not posting anyones SS numbers anywhere I work. And we do have our managment teams phone numbers posted in our main office so anyone can reach us including our drivers. You're trying to beat me up for something going on in your building.
 

dannyboy

From the promised LAND
Tie, why would I want to beat you. I would rather have an intelligent conversation with your views as a manager so I can understand the way things are perceived at your level.

You're trying to beat me up for something going on in your building.

Not just in our building but in many others as has been posted. While UPS does have privacy policy and procedures in place, they are either ignored or not stressed enough on the front lines. When it has to be written into the contract where UPS is violating the privacy rights of the employees. then there is a disconnect between the company and the front line sups and managers.

As for the personal phone numbers posted in the building for sups and managers, never has been, and takes an act of congress to get it. You see, their private time is their private time. When they leave at 3:30 or 4, they dont want to be disturbed. With the exception of the center manager in our building. An OMS calls him at home when all the drivers are in an diads are uploading. That way he can apply the Vaseline himself for the morning calls about missed, late air, production, over 9.5's etc.:blush:

But then again, you knew that.

d
 

rngri4

Well-Known Member
How can you make it mandatory for a new hire to come early to work to participate in a breakfast? What BS. "Did you learn your methods?", "Remember to lift with your knees!".

I get so sick of hearing this crap, everybody with half a brain knows how to lift a package to avoid injuries. What should be taught is that management needs to quit hounding it's workers to get things done. If I had 8 hrs to do my 4 hours worth of work in, I could do it "correctly".

Mandatory would not be the right word....they are highly encouraged to go once, and yes THEY ARE paid for the time. The meetings are always attended by management and a steward, and insight is always given, and things are getting done here finally. Maybe if some people would stop being so negative and listen around UPS, they could see that not all management is out to get them, and some of us wan't to fix problems that will help out everyone. This is one of the ways we get input, and yes morale is up, we had over thiry people show up this week, almost half the preload, and got some great suggestions, which we are putting in place, mostly to help with misloads and service problems, and some areas where people were load volume was out of whack.
 

rngri4

Well-Known Member
How can you make it mandatory for a new hire to come early to work to participate in a breakfast? What BS. "Did you learn your methods?", "Remember to lift with your knees!".

I get so sick of hearing this crap, everybody with half a brain knows how to lift a package to avoid injuries. What should be taught is that management needs to quit hounding it's workers to get things done. If I had 8 hrs to do my 4 hours worth of work in, I could do it "correctly".

Oh and what you are talking about is a Safety Committee meeting, not this meeting, mainly we just want to make sure they feel themselves that they had ample training, and what help if any they may need, not test their knowledge, that is up to their Sups to do in their training packet.
 
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