Laid off Drivers as helpers at $8.50

Brown Rocket

Well-Known Member
I am a laid off driver and for four and a half months I have patiently waited for the volume to get here and it finally has. Except there is one problem. They've put helpers on to keep the routes and laid off drivers off the road. They pull TP60s out to gated communities and have helpers delver them with a golf cart. To add insult to injury they are offering this work to the last few laid off drivers and want to pay them $8.50. I haven't looked up the language in my contract yet but can someone with a little more time help me out on this (I know i have time to type this but not read). I know the can use helpers in season (Oct - Dec) but is the language so ambigious that they can put helpers on before laid off drivers? I mean ***?

My BA knows and so does the whole south east reagion of the union. They are making plans to fight it but our union is not the quickest to the fight.
 
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rorojo

Well-Known Member
same thing is happening here. 6 of us are laid of and were ask if we wanted to be helper told them no way. They even trained new drivers.Filed grevaneces and lost. union telling us we can't do any thing until they finish thier 30 day packet.
 

Brown Rocket

Well-Known Member
I do it if the jump exceeds 6 hours than I make more money than working my second part time shift because they pay us unskilled on our second shift and I have rather low building seniority.
 

959Nanook

Well-Known Member
I've gotten in the habit of lurking but BrownCafe keeps suggesting I should consider posting since it has been so long since I last posted and this topic hit close to home so ....

This right here is one (just one but it is a significant one for me that is indicative of what happens) of the reasons I'm planning on finally walking after this peak season. Temporary part timers that are not paying dues much less even going to be initiated into the Teamsters get to work today and I'm not allowed on the clock as a dues-paying permanent seniority full-time driver. Then they add insult to injury by having supervisors shuttle packages to routes that blew out because they refused to bring in laid off drivers to run dump routes as needed.

I understand that when the peak season volume hits, they want to have experienced people so they wanna work all the new hires as much as possible before the flood. At the same time, more than enough bid route drivers would voluntarily go home if given the opportunity if they are that hell bent on keeping the routes to minimal and overtime to maximum for drivers on the clock.

Honestly, I have no idea what I would do if they offered me the chance to be a helper on the days I'm laid off. It seems to be a mute issue locally as the company stance is that full-timers and part-timers are different seniority lists so laid off full-timers are assed out even if there are part-time vacancies in the building. Last peak season, I was paid my driver wages when I was a "helper" but that was actually using me as a "helper" to train the peak season drivers. Don't bother asking for your $.50 because they look at you like you just looked a gift horse in the mouth since they were gracious enough to work you while they are training peak season drivers. Never mind, that you should have been driving the route in the first place.

Every time the situation changes, they change the work practices to suit the situation. Hopefully, your union leadership has more gumption than mine.

My question is how they are paying them $8.50. If they are part-timers, shouldn't they be getting their current unskilled pay rate? If they are full-time drivers, shouldn't they at least be getting top scale part-time wages? Understanding that different jurisdictions have different rules, but it seems that dropping them to $8.50 is ludicrous.
 

bumped

Well-Known Member
Have any of you grieved this? I know 10 years ago I was paid my driver wage to be a helper, and I requested my full 8 hours.
 

Cementups

Box Monkey
You get paid at the jobn you are working. If you are working as a DRIVER you will get paid as a driver. If you are working as a helper, you will get paid as a helper. The only way you will get paid driver rate to be a helper is if you work part of your day as a DRIVER.

DRIVER means you are delivering packages as well as operating a company vehicle.

And as far as waiting for newly trained drivers to reach their 30 days they no longer have to be consecutive days. Plus days during peak do not count toward their 30 days either.
 

brownrodster

Well-Known Member
We are cutting routes and using helpers here to. Although, to my center manager's credit, anyone with high seniority who wants time off is getting it and the all the low seniority drivers who would be laid off are working.
 

Six Sides

Well-Known Member
I do it if the jump exceeds 6 hours than I make more money than working my second part time shift because they pay us unskilled on our second shift and I have rather low building seniority.
Brown Rocket,
Unfortunately this is happening in the seasonal period, meaning the rules change to a certain degree. It’s kind of like not moving part-timers to driving and hiring off the street drivers. If the contract rate in your area is 8.50 for helpers that is what you will get if you work as a helper. :angry:
 

959Nanook

Well-Known Member
We are cutting routes and using helpers here to. Although, to my center manager's credit, anyone with high seniority who wants time off is getting it and the all the low seniority drivers who would be laid off are working.

We used to do that as well. We are at the end of the road with no Managers (we have sups) within 360 miles minus the odd few days a year when the Extended Center Manager comes for a visit (the down economy cuts that down to almost zero...bad economies are good for something after all).

That all came to a screeching halt this spring when we popped on some report at the District level for having too many drivers working fewer than eight hours and someone was hot to trot. Needless to say, my Center Supervisor hasn't offered time off from top down since after that got done rolling down hill.

They just staff bare bones on the schedule now and call in lay offs in order of seniority if needed. If they make a mistake and end up with too many, they abuse the "bottom two on seniority list don't have any guaranteed hours" and say the bottom two scheduled drivers don't have any guaranteed hours so they can force them home without having to offer from the top down.
 

JustTired

free at last.......
Last peak season, I was paid my driver wages when I was a "helper" but that was actually using me as a "helper" to train the peak season drivers. Don't bother asking for your $.50 because they look at you like you just looked a gift horse in the mouth since they were gracious enough to work you while they are training peak season drivers. Never mind, that you should have been driving the route in the first place.

First off.....Why would you be training peak season drivers if you have full time drivers laid off? If it is anticipated that the need will be there after the full timers are all called back, then I guess I could see it.

Secondly.....it is not your job to train drivers, peak season or not. I guess I could see training them to use the diad and such. But anything to do with actual driving should be left to those whos job it is to do so. I would think that there may be DOT legalities involved as you were not trained to be a trainer. Not saying you couldn't do the same (if not better) job.

Third(ly).....If I was going to be making $8.50/hr as a jumper, I think I would opt to stay on the inside job(s) I was bumped to. No weather to contend with. No aggrevations to contend with. But that's just me.
 

whiskey

Well-Known Member
I am a laid off driver and for four and a half months I have patiently waited for the volume to get here and it finally has. Except there is one problem. They've put helpers on to keep the routes and laid off drivers off the road. They pull TP60s out to gated communities and have helpers delver them with a golf cart. To add insult to injury they are offering this work to the last few laid off drivers and want to pay them $8.50. I haven't looked up the language in my contract yet but can someone with a little more time help me out on this (I know i have time to type this but not read). I know the can use helpers in season (Oct - Dec) but is the language so ambigious that they can put helpers on before laid off drivers? I mean ***?

My BA knows and so does the whole south east reagion of the union. They are making plans to fight it but our union is not the quickest to the fight.
Our center hosted a golf cart rodeo. But most of the guys shunned it.
 

grgrcr88

No It's not green grocer!
I think you should be able to use Article 32 of the national master as well as any seniority language in your regional supplements!!!
 

959Nanook

Well-Known Member
First off.....Why would you be training peak season drivers if you have full time drivers laid off? If it is anticipated that the need will be there after the full timers are all called back, then I guess I could see it.

Secondly.....it is not your job to train drivers, peak season or not. I guess I could see training them to use the diad and such. But anything to do with actual driving should be left to those whos job it is to do so. I would think that there may be DOT legalities involved as you were not trained to be a trainer. Not saying you couldn't do the same (if not better) job.

Third(ly).....If I was going to be making $8.50/hr as a jumper, I think I would opt to stay on the inside job(s) I was bumped to. No weather to contend with. No aggrevations to contend with. But that's just me.


Bad word usage on my part. Not training them how to "drive", they passed their driving test and/or come from the Teamster Hall... training them how to "deliver": how to follow the trace, where stops are delivered (e.g. "they have a receiving dock in the back"), how to handle the DIAD, etc.
 

959Nanook

Well-Known Member
Same here!! Every driver needs to file grievances for 8hrs pay for every day you are laid off and a helper is used!!

Won't even get off the ground in my neck of the woods...

(1) my hours are not guaranteed because of Local supplement language that explicitly gives no "guaranteed hours" protection to bottom two seniority full-time drivers (never mind the issue that they abuse the language with permission from the union and say it applies to bottom two "scheduled" seniority full-time drivers).

(2) the stance is that the full-time seniority and part-time seniority are different animals so they can lay off full-timers and work part-timers with no repercussions (my Local allows it as a "local practice").

Incidentally, I have never gone 30 days with no work even when operations would have allowed it...they convince drivers to take option days on a Friday that they know someone is likely to call in sick, bring me in for "safety" hours and the monthly training, or whatever it takes to make sure I never go more than four full weeks with no work. My Center Manager feigned shock when I suggested that they would never allow me to go 30 days with no work.
 

959Nanook

Well-Known Member
I think you should be able to use Article 32 of the national master as well as any seniority language in your regional supplements!!!

If you are talking about the peak season language that says they should use bargaining unit employees... this has always been problematic enforcement for us. Technically, helpers are bargaining unit employees (even if not Teamsters) I would imagine.
 
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