Law Suit starts people talking!

Loco170Brownie

Active Member
Hello,

New to this site, I like what I see so far.

We are having some interesting times up in Central MA.

Read this then let me know what you think.

http://telegram.com/article/20090210/COLUMN01/902100548/1101/LOCAL

The day after this was in the local paper a part time Sup was fired after being caught with 8 Lbs of weed in his back pack. I am guessing to sell to people at work, it is an on going story so that is all I know as of now.

Also Liberty Mutual (UPSes insurance Co up here, maybe everywhere I dont know) came into our building after hearing there had been unreported injuries. After digging around a bit they have found cases of Sups having the hourlys go how to "see how they feel tomorrow" and paying them for the day. I guess is some cases for weeks.

I have been at UPS for over 15 years, so I started thinking about all the stories and had heard about just in our local area, some I knew about first hand others I just saw the fall out from.

We have had Sups get caught on tape having sex in thier offices with other sups when they were supposed to be working. Two on Car sups (Guys with 20 + years in!) fired for covering up accidents so they would meet thier safety numbers. We had a shift manager with all his underlings caught playing with numbers so they would get bigger bonuses (You cant add 1000s of fake packages to your work day all the time and not get caught) Night manger let go for grabbing an employee by the throat. On and on.

Is it like this everywhere at UPS? Ffrom the feel of most the threads I have looked at I would say yes, but I would like to hear it from all you folks.


:smart:
 

UnconTROLLed

perfection
Hello,

New to this site, I like what I see so far.

We are having some interesting times up in Central MA.

Read this then let me know what you think.

http://telegram.com/article/20090210/COLUMN01/902100548/1101/LOCAL

The day after this was in the local paper a part time Sup was fired after being caught with 8 Lbs of weed in his back pack. I am guessing to sell to people at work, it is an on going story so that is all I know as of now.

Also Liberty Mutual (UPSes insurance Co up here, maybe everywhere I dont know) came into our building after hearing there had been unreported injuries. After digging around a bit they have found cases of Sups having the hourlys go how to "see how they feel tomorrow" and paying them for the day. I guess is some cases for weeks.

I have been at UPS for over 15 years, so I started thinking about all the stories and had heard about just in our local area, some I knew about first hand others I just saw the fall out from.

We have had Sups get caught on tape having sex in thier offices with other sups when they were supposed to be working. Two on Car sups (Guys with 20 + years in!) fired for covering up accidents so they would meet thier safety numbers. We had a shift manager with all his underlings caught playing with numbers so they would get bigger bonuses (You cant add 1000s of fake packages to your work day all the time and not get caught) Night manger let go for grabbing an employee by the throat. On and on.

Is it like this everywhere at UPS? Ffrom the feel of most the threads I have looked at I would say yes, but I would like to hear it from all you folks.


:smart:

I am in NNE, formerly ENE, and can vouch for the accident cover-ups.

What has been going on up this way are injuries that are not reported to liberty mutual and still treated by private doctors, and importantly kept as NOT DART injuries. Therefoer, the employee goes into work AND the supervisor works and "trains" for 4 hours while the employee stands there drooling.

This has been ongonig for months and well before peak.

I had let a shop steward know of this, and he said It's legitimate. A teamster is getting paid and there's nothing that can be done. But it still stinks of cover-up.
 

Loco170Brownie

Active Member
Oh I know first hand about the accident cover ups, and the 2 guys that got the axe are not missed.

As for the extended "demos", and I am guessing that is how they are explained, it does stink of cover-up. If someone is hurt and is seeing a Dr, not reporting it is Ins fraud, isnt it?! This would effect UPSs payments to the co at the very least.

I just find it funny sometimes working in a Co that has the attitude that the Union guy is always sticking it to the Co and these are our "Leaders"

Lead by example! :surprised:
 

gandydancer

Well-Known Member
Management's position is that it's not a DART until a doctor says you can't work, as I understand it. I got injured Thurs when someone turned on a belt I was on (not a conveyor securing violation -- I had unknowingly gone beyond the area I had secured -- something not covered by any of the training I've seen -- thinking that I'd turned off the whole series) and they kept me on my Union Safety Co-Chair duty (yes I am -- LOL!) Friday on my second shift instead of loading. I could still do a version of my Revenue Recovery job with one good limb (my knees are shot, too) and did, but my right shoulder is not getting better and I expect I'll be a DART come Monday.
 

Red Dawn

Well-Known Member
Management's position is that it's not a DART until a doctor says you can't work, as I understand it. I got injured Thurs when someone turned on a belt I was on (not a conveyor securing violation -- I had unknowingly gone beyond the area I had secured -- something not covered by any of the training I've seen -- thinking that I'd turned off the whole series) and they kept me on my Union Safety Co-Chair duty (yes I am -- LOL!) Friday on my second shift instead of loading. I could still do a version of my Revenue Recovery job with one good limb (my knees are shot, too) and did, but my right shoulder is not getting better and I expect I'll be a DART come Monday.

its a "dart is you miss any time from work" If you just get hurt but can still work it still counts against you gma money but not towards you total Dart injuries for the year.

and far as non reported injuries, accidents, sups doing each other and hourlies, threats on employee voice mail...ect ect i could go allllllll day!! lol man when you think about all the stories...who need Jerry springer! lol
 

vin

Well-Known Member
Hello,

New to this site, I like what I see so far.

We are having some interesting times up in Central MA.

Read this then let me know what you think.

http://telegram.com/article/20090210/COLUMN01/902100548/1101/LOCAL

The day after this was in the local paper a part time Sup was fired after being caught with 8 Lbs of weed in his back pack. I am guessing to sell to people at work, it is an on going story so that is all I know as of now.

I didn't know that he was fired, I had just heard that he was on "vacation" when I asked about him last week. The only other thing I heard was that he had been arrested, which was why I asked about him in the first place. Too bad, he was actually one of the ones I liked.

I sent cheryl a PM with the link to this article the day after it was in the paper and she put a link to in in the UPS headlines section.
http://www.browncafe.com/community/threads/discuss-worker-says-ups-‘ignored-harassment’.220342/

Oh I know first hand about the accident cover ups, and the 2 guys that got the axe are not missed.

I don't like and don't agree with some of the decisions either one had made over the years. Neither one is among the supes I like best while working at UPS but both are far from what I would consider the worst. I will also say that I think I was treated fairly and never had any major problems with one of them.

Now, the one at the center of the sexual harrassment suit-- he is one of the ones I know a lot of hourlies and PT supes alike would like to see "let go" (myself included).

I don't know the full details of any of these incidents, I have just heard bits and pieces over the past few days.
 

gandydancer

Well-Known Member
its a "dart is you miss any time from work" If you just get hurt but can still work it still counts against you gma money but not towards you total Dart injuries for the year.

and far as non reported injuries, accidents, sups doing each other and hourlies, threats on employee voice mail...ect ect i could go allllllll day!! lol man when you think about all the stories...who need Jerry springer! lol

Well, I worked Safety my second shift Monday and Tuesday, but the real reason I'm not a daRt ("days away RESTRICTED or transferred to other duty") is that the company doc I saw on Monday filled out the Work Status Report as "X Return X Continue... to work without restrictions". Actually I'm most definately restricted, but as long as the doc doesn't say so on the form I'm not a DART. And since I don't want to eat three days and think/hope I'll be ok before 14 I'll play along. Depending on what the MRI shows, of course. But I think I'm a little better.
 

Nitelite

Well-Known Member
What's funny is that the part time sup that got caught with 9 pounds of weed (in a school zone, with a passenger that had a gun), did NOT get fired from UPS. He was up in the sort aisle the other night.

As for covering up the injuries, everyone says the night sort manager was canned, but the sups are saying he isn't, so who knows.
 
W

westsideworma

Guest
What's funny is that the part time sup that got caught with 9 pounds of weed (in a school zone, with a passenger that had a gun), did NOT get fired from UPS. He was up in the sort aisle the other night.

As for covering up the injuries, everyone says the night sort manager was canned, but the sups are saying he isn't, so who knows.

he was there the past couple nights (night manager). Plus his name is still on the door :wink2: I dont know the pt supe in question.
 

Red Dawn

Well-Known Member
Well, I worked Safety my second shift Monday and Tuesday, but the real reason I'm not a daRt ("days away RESTRICTED or transferred to other duty") is that the company doc I saw on Monday filled out the Work Status Report as "X Return X Continue... to work without restrictions". Actually I'm most definately restricted, but as long as the doc doesn't say so on the form I'm not a DART. And since I don't want to eat three days and think/hope I'll be ok before 14 I'll play along. Depending on what the MRI shows, of course. But I think I'm a little better.
just be careful...one of our drivers hurt his ankle. went to company doctor said he was ok. Just a sprang. It kept hurting all week driver couldn't take it any more went to his doc. and found out he had torn ligaments in his ankle. so just be careful they are only worried about their numbers and not you. best quote from safety was.."don't give yourself a life time of hurt for a part time job!"
 

gandydancer

Well-Known Member
just be careful...one of our drivers hurt his ankle. went to company doctor said he was ok. Just a sprang. It kept hurting all week driver couldn't take it any more went to his doc. and found out he had torn ligaments in his ankle. so just be careful they are only worried about their numbers and not you. best quote from safety was.."don't give yourself a life time of hurt for a part time job!"

Well, it's full time for me, and 20 years in. But I'm not doing PT until I get the results of the MRI. Which is scheduled this afternoon.
 

Braveheart

Well-Known Member
I am in NNE, formerly ENE, and can vouch for the accident cover-ups.

What has been going on up this way are injuries that are not reported to liberty mutual and still treated by private doctors, and importantly kept as NOT DART injuries. Therefoer, the employee goes into work AND the supervisor works and "trains" for 4 hours while the employee stands there drooling.

This has been ongonig for months and well before peak.

I had let a shop steward know of this, and he said It's legitimate. A teamster is getting paid and there's nothing that can be done. But it still stinks of cover-up.
It is against the law! These idiots that are not reporting their injuries are not protecting their future in case the injuries get worse or even disable them. A minor ankle sprain or cut finger may be one thing to take a sick day and heal on its own but to have a hurt knee or back and not report it as job related is just moronic.
 

trickpony1

Well-Known Member
I know a guy who failed to report a back injury and now he lost his job and has a bad back for life.

This is one of many classic examples of the company playing the "double bind" default card against the employee and winning.

For those of you who don't know, a "double bind" situation is one in which you, essentially, are "darned if you do and darned if you don't" and has been proven to cause frustration, anxiety and depression in humans, primates and lab rats. It also takes a physiological toll.

Although this concept can/does apply to everyone (union, non union, hourly, salary, FT, PT, Loader, preloader....whatever), I will use, as my example, a pkg car driver fictitiously known as "Joe".

Joe has been instructed to report ALL injuries, no matter how slight, to his boss. So he does......

"boss, my back is kinda stiff today". Boss writes that in Pittsburgh.
"boss, my neck hurts from sitting on that rigidly mounted seat post with no air ride or floating seat". Boss writes that in Pittsburgh.
"boss, my right wrist and elbow hurt from shifting". Boss writes that down.
"boss, my shoulders hurt from driving a non power steering PC. Boss writes that down.
'boss, my right knee hurts from that high first step into PC. Boss writes that down.
"boss, I'm getting head aches from the exhaust leak into my cab". Boss writes that down.
"boss, my left knee hurts from shifting that clutch". Boss writes that down.
"boss, I hurt my back lowering an over 70 off the top shelf today'. Boss writes that down.

I'm sure there are many more examples but I will condense this part of the example. Did you notice that I didn't mention that "boss" didn't call any of these into Liberty Mutual? That's because boss wants to conceal and tell Joe that, "....we just need to know about it.".

Where am I going with this?

At some point, Joe will become a hypothetical liability and will have a meeting with several suits that either threaten him or just plain take him out of service. I know of a PC driver that had 26 "injuries" over a period of time. Was the fact that he took a little time off with each occurance a hinging factor? You decide. Number 26 was the one that got him terminated.

Moral of story? The other drivers see what happens to Joe and are afraid to report the everyday aches and pains that EVERYONE walks out the gate with each day.

Hence the "double bind" scenario and the resulting frustration, anxiety and depression.

And, yes, I know a PC driver who is taking anti-anxiety medication. Gosh, I wonder why.
 

tieguy

Banned
Hello,

New to this site, I like what I see so far.

We are having some interesting times up in Central MA.

Read this then let me know what you think.

http://telegram.com/article/20090210/COLUMN01/902100548/1101/LOCAL

The day after this was in the local paper a part time Sup was fired after being caught with 8 Lbs of weed in his back pack. I am guessing to sell to people at work, it is an on going story so that is all I know as of now.

Also Liberty Mutual (UPSes insurance Co up here, maybe everywhere I dont know) came into our building after hearing there had been unreported injuries. After digging around a bit they have found cases of Sups having the hourlys go how to "see how they feel tomorrow" and paying them for the day. I guess is some cases for weeks.

I have been at UPS for over 15 years, so I started thinking about all the stories and had heard about just in our local area, some I knew about first hand others I just saw the fall out from.

We have had Sups get caught on tape having sex in thier offices with other sups when they were supposed to be working. Two on Car sups (Guys with 20 + years in!) fired for covering up accidents so they would meet thier safety numbers. We had a shift manager with all his underlings caught playing with numbers so they would get bigger bonuses (You cant add 1000s of fake packages to your work day all the time and not get caught) Night manger let go for grabbing an employee by the throat. On and on.

Is it like this everywhere at UPS? Ffrom the feel of most the threads I have looked at I would say yes, but I would like to hear it from all you folks.


:smart:

if mr. sobo whatevers entire case of retaliation is based on being forced to take a full day off for doctors appointments rather then being allowed to work a half day then he has a pretty weak case.

Otherwise the issues you list appear to indicate ups is holding those people accountable rather then ignoring the problem.
 

tieguy

Banned
just be careful...one of our drivers hurt his ankle. went to company doctor said he was ok. Just a sprang. It kept hurting all week driver couldn't take it any more went to his doc. and found out he had torn ligaments in his ankle. so just be careful they are only worried about their numbers and not you. best quote from safety was.."don't give yourself a life time of hurt for a part time job!"

you guys make it sound like its all a management induced cover up. The hourly will report all possible injuries to cya. many do not want to get it looked at because they think they will be all right. In any case the sup should call it in once reported to avoid the possibility of a late reported injury.
 

UPSNewbie

Well-Known Member
you guys make it sound like its all a management induced cover up. The hourly will report all possible injuries to cya. many do not want to get it looked at because they think they will be all right. In any case the sup should call it in once reported to avoid the possibility of a late reported injury.

When I sprained my ankle inside the trailer, I somewhat "yelped" right as the safety supe walked by. I didn't have much to worry about them trying to cover it up with her there. :knockedout:
 

Loco170Brownie

Active Member
To Tieguy:

I didn't start this thread saying every Sup is involved with a grand coverup, but the cases I put out there were real (as shown by the fact others are aware of them and added more info). I am just wondering as a UPS Teamster who has spent his almost 16 year at one building if it is as bad everywhere as here.

Most of the Management team talk the talk about doing the right thing, but in my experience when its time to report things if they can be swept under a rug they will be. A quesioin to all the Tieguys out there would be if you know of another Sup you work with is doing the wrong thing do you say something to them say something to their boss, or mind your own buiseness?

I also think Trickpony1 brings up a good point. I have always reported any injury that caused me some concern. In almost 16 years that has been a total of 13, 3 that added up to a total lost time of 6 months. Now looking around in my area I would say this is on the good side, but because of the reported injuries I get a review every couple months as a repeat offender. It has been a couple years since the last reported injury and I find myself less inclined too report things I may have years ago. Its a bad trend, one that works against the workers and in the long run against the co who is working the walking wounded.
 

Red Dawn

Well-Known Member
you guys make it sound like its all a management induced cover up. The hourly will report all possible injuries to cya. many do not want to get it looked at because they think they will be all right. In any case the sup should call it in once reported to avoid the possibility of a late reported injury.

Not all, we have some really good sups. full-time to part time. How about this center manger in our eam did NOT report 3 accidents last yr. Have a feeling 2 more might not of been reported because he never produced paper work on drivers for safety book. Every meeting we asked for it to put in book he said yea i need to get it to yall I have it in my office. this yr we had a ice storm come threw. one of our drivers slipped on ice hurt arm. reported it, went up to center manger with steward. steward left when all that need to be done was call 800#. driver was not allowed to call himself. he said I'll do it. we are only allowed one dart for the year.He also received two safety plaques at safety conference in Jan. At meetings we kept asking him if it was reported he said yea i called it in. so driver informed steward that they were not allowed to call 800#. about a week or so later this driver said pain isn't going away a need to go to doctor. He took her.
 
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