If supervisors aren't allowed to touch packages, why do so many of them pickoff/load

[timtoolmantaylor44]

My coworkers love the ones that pickoff and load.

The ones that only break jams or deal with the missorts slide are the unpopular and "lazy" ones.

But on this forum you guys act like it's impossible for this to happen, like it's a serious crime for a supervisor to do this.

The reason why I ask this is because if I became a supervisor, would I actually be fired for loading? It doesn't seem that way to me.

 

[Mugarolla]

My coworkers love the ones that pickoff and load.

The ones that only break jams or deal with the missorts slide are the unpopular and "lazy" ones.

But on this forum you guys act like it's impossible for this to happen, like it's a serious crime for a supervisor to do this.

The reason why I ask this is because if I became a supervisor, would I actually be fired for loading? It doesn't seem that way to me.

No, you would not be fired for loading, but that is bargaining unit work. Supervisors are to supervise, not work.

If you have exhausted all means to use bargaining unit workers, you may get away with it once or twice, but will probably get a grievance and you will have to pay an hourly for the time that you were loading.

If it continues to happen, UPS needs to hire more workers.

If it is a common practice for sups to work where you are, you need a better steward.

 

[baklava]

I hope your coworkers love them because they make a lot of money off of them through grievances.

It's not impossible for supervisors to work, but it's very possible for you to get paid for the work they stole from union employees.

I was once a PT sup, and I used to work, and I was grieved, and I got reprimanded for it, but that's it.

Grieve what you see.

 

[browner89]

My coworkers love the ones that pickoff and load.

The ones that only break jams or deal with the missorts slide are the unpopular and "lazy" ones.

But on this forum you guys act like it's impossible for this to happen, like it's a serious crime for a supervisor to do this.

The reason why I ask this is because if I became a supervisor, would I actually be fired for loading? It doesn't seem that way to me.

It depends on the mindset where you work, in my building, the sups and union PTers are all cool and get along rather well, sups will break jams but not much else, and generally its appreciated. We average 5-6 hours per employee here on the local sort in my building, this is FAR from the normal, maybe twice as much as the average local sort employee gets.

I can understand those struggling to hit their gtd 3.5 hours being angry about sups touching packages, techincally, they are not allowed to, and some contracts award OT pay for the shift if a sup is grieved against for working. They are stealing union work every time they touch a package.

The mindset depends on the building.

Like I said, in mine, no PTers grieve against sups helping with breaking jams, but eventually they need to lay low because the drivers, who have no connection to anyone on the sort, raise a fuss. I get it because its the rules but, we work twice the hours of most sorts in my building, I'm personally Ok with a sup breaking a jam here or there while im working 6 hour shifts. If I were only doing 3-3.5? I'd have an issue.

 

[MendozaJ]

The more I read about these shenanigans, the more I appreciate my local. In your case, management and the spineless union are flat stealing your money.

 

[Number24]

Tell your Sup's to STOP loading and to HIRE more preloaders.

 

[PT Car Washer]

The twilight sort uses "watchers". A high seniority PT who stands there and watches a supervisor work. Asked the daysort if I could do that working doubles next week.

 

[fres431]

Article 3 section 7 of national
"Section 7. Supervisors Working (a) The Employer agrees that the function of supervisors is the supervision of Employees and not the performance of the work of the employees they supervise. Accordingly, the Employer agrees that supervisors or other employees of the Employer who are not members of the bargaining unit shall not perform any bargaining unit work, except to train employees or demonstrate safety, or as otherwise provided in the applicable Supplement, Rider or Addendum. However, in the case of Acts of God, supervisors shall comply with the procedures in subsections (b) and (c) and may only perform bargaining unit work until bargaining unit employees are available"

If hourly grieves he gets 2x their hourly rate.

 

[AllOnTheHorses]

profitability over efficiency.
They work as few people as possible to get the job done.
They unload as fast as possible, then bottleneck it all down the belts, burn the belts up, break the belts, keep loading the belt when pickoff shuts it off, run 1 loader on too many trucks with no room to triage the bulk stops, no stacking out, cram the trucks from floor to ceiling at the end of sort, yell at the sups for lending a hand to keep sanity in check, crush moral etc etc etc..
But keep in mind.. profitability over efficiency... if that's how they want it? Slop in the gears? There's no other job I know of where a part timer makes the money and benefits that upsers do.
The best way to work at ups is to shake your head, help your neighbor if he or she is really trying, and stop caring.. I am sorry to say.

 

[Catatonic]

The twilight sort uses "watchers". A high seniority PT who stands there and watches a supervisor work. Asked the daysort if I could do that working doubles next week.

Sounds like a supervisor job to me.
Does the Union allow Teamsters to do Management's job?

 

[PT Car Washer]

Sounds like a supervisor job to me.
Does the Union allow Teamsters to do Management's job?

Only when management is performing Union work. Crazy I know. A Union steward years ago started this thing on Twi. I have threatened to file on it but then the Union watchers get mad.

 

[DumbTruckDriver]

Only when management is performing Union work. Crazy I know. A Union steward years ago started this thing on Twi. I have threatened to file on it but then the Union watchers get mad.

Of course. Who would give up that gravy job?

The whole situation sounds idiotic, by the way.

 

[werenotthepostoffice]

Document date,time,location,specific job they were performing and the length of time they were performing a job an hourly should be doing and file!

Supervisors working is stealing.

 

[PT Car Washer]

Of course. Who would give up that gravy job?

The whole situation sounds idiotic, by the way.

It really is. Only on twi sort.

 

[olroadbeech]

if you became a supe and did hourly work you would be loved by your boss but detested by hourlies. ( and grieved on )

you would be a typical supervisor.

 

[El Correcto]

Supervisors working is a way for management to get them to do more work and show their bosses how they are getting the job done understaffed saving the company money. Supervisors even threw away my union booklet I was using to clock their hours they worked. Then tried to give me about my watch saying it was considered jewelry and more of a bracelet. Also, how I should be working rather then documenting.

 

[Turdferguson]

Sounds like a supervisor job to me.
Does the Union allow Teamsters to do Management's job?

Is it I'm the contract that they can't?

 

[timtoolmantaylor44]

No, you would not be fired for loading, but that is bargaining unit work. Supervisors are to supervise, not work.

If you have exhausted all means to use bargaining unit workers, you may get away with it once or twice, but will probably get a grievance and you will have to pay an hourly for the time that you were loading.

If it continues to happen, UPS needs to hire more workers.

If it is a common practice for sups to work where you are, you need a better steward.

It's very common practice. I don't know who the steward is. I heard we don't actually have one anymore for our shift.

I hope your coworkers love them because they make a lot of money off of them through grievances.

It's not impossible for supervisors to work, but it's very possible for you to get paid for the work they stole from union employees.

I was once a PT sup, and I used to work, and I was grieved, and I got reprimanded for it, but that's it.

Grieve what you see.

I think it'd be really scummy of me to grieve all the supervisors in my building or even my own. Since they all do it and is part of our buildings culture. That'd be stabbing him inthe back. He only does it because he wants to finish on time and the full time supervisors get angry at us when we work overtime.

The more I read about these shenanigans, the more I appreciate my local. In your case, management and the spineless union are flat stealing your money.

I didn't realize this. But the full time supervisors don't want us to get overtime. But the only reason the sups have to load is because we're understaffed throughout the whole building. The supervisors usually say bad stuff about their full times to us.

Tell your Sup's to STOP loading and to HIRE more preloaders.

I don't think it's the sups job to do that. I asked the trainer sup why this was happening and he said "it's because we need 7 workers in this area, but they only give me 4"

if you became a supe and did hourly work you would be loved by your boss but detested by hourlies. ( and grieved on )

you would be a typical supervisor.

Not in my hub. Trust me. The ones that help out the employees in this hub are heroes. I've never heard of anyone getting mad at a sup for helping, quite the opposite.

I'm pretty sure if I grieved it. Everyone in the building would hate me. I don't feel it's morally right. Also I was not aware that my building was violating UPS culture. But it seems that management is trying to save us much money as possible in my hub.

 

[PT Car Washer]

And how is having supervisors working saving you money? He is saving the company money by decreasing your paid day. After a while that sup will save the company so much money you will not be needed anymore.

 

[Wally]

My coworkers love the ones that pickoff and load.

The ones that only break jams or deal with the missorts slide are the unpopular and "lazy" ones.

But on this forum you guys act like it's impossible for this to happen, like it's a serious crime for a supervisor to do this.

The reason why I ask this is because if I became a supervisor, would I actually be fired for loading? It doesn't seem that way to me.

Supervisors work like mad in the hub, no union watching.

 

[PT Car Washer]

Supervisors work like mad in the hub, no union watching.

They are watching. Just too scared to say anything. Put a target on your back and the Union will not back up a PT Union member.