No union steward & management is out of control!

[JonClayton]

We had a uniun rep on our shift but now he works combo jobs so no one ever seens him. Because of this our full time and part time sups are working every day. For example: just yesturday we hada part time sup sorting packages the ENTIRE shift! Im good friends with all the supervisors so I feel bad for filing a grievance on them, but its getting out of control. We have part time sups unloading,loading,sorting, even helping with irregs! its ridiculous! I am also on the CHSP committee so i work with full time and part time sups alot and i need their cooperation, Im afraid if i stat filing they will stop cooperating with me as far as safety goes. Id like some advice on this. I do go to uniun meetings every once and awhile but i havent been to one in a few months cause its not posted any where... anyone have any advice on this kind of situation? any feed back would be most helpful.thank you!

 

[Anonymous 10]

re: No union steward & management is out of control!

Why don't you run for union steward or ask your B.A. if you can be an alternate?

 

[UnconTROLLed]

re: No union steward & management is out of control!

Stewart the steward from Stuart made stew for Art.

I have no good advice except relationships between coworkers should be professional and not "good friends". This is why we are supposed to be union, to protect from scabs and rats that steal contracted work and not worry about others deal making. Your predicament is a tough one, especially as a member of the CHSP. Do you want to be the bad guy and ruin your reputation? The problem is that even if you win the grievances, they will likely move the work performed by sups out of your area and somewhere else. You may not end up satisfied, filing or not.

 

[Upsdriver88]

re: No union steward & management is out of control!

Do you pay dues and are a member of the Union? If so, get a copy of the contract from your local and ask the B.A. how to file correct grievences. Or P.M. me, I'll give you a copy of winning supervisor grievence that you can use as a reference.

 

[TheKid]

re: No union steward & management is out of control!

The only way they are gonna stop is if you hit them in the wallet....file.

 

[probellringer]

re: No union steward & management is out of control!

you know what....filing isnt working---why dont we ALL slow down,,,,do less pph and lower sporh and let supes do more work---seriously-=----you know it will be a matter of time before they break down,,,get request loads,bring in sick loads and make them REALLY work----part time loaders can help us drivers by NOT going out with supes to deliver.....we can do this ...we can call it PROJECT MAYHEM....on cars are already working over 65 hrs a week!!! hahaha shame on you!!!! make them do 75!

 

[JonClayton]

re: No union steward & management is out of control!

Today i was bumbed down from sorter to loader to day and the same sup took my spot and sorted. I was very pissed about this obviously..so I talked to a union rep and now i have grievance papers. im filling them out right after this. I told the part time sup its nothing personal and actually has nothing to do with him,but the way full time sup is running the building. Since we dont have a stewart no one knows there worker rights and i talked to the rep about what all i need to do to become a union rep and stuff like that. Ive never filed and i hate doing it to a good friend, but i dont see any other way around it. In the past 2 days he was worked almost 6 hours! thats crossing the line... So i have my papers and im filling them out in a little bit. Thanks everyone for ur help and ill keep you all posted on what all happens. Im mainly worried about the cooperation of part time sups with me being on CHSP... but we will see how it goes.. thanks again.

 

[jimstud]

re: No union steward & management is out of control!

it is steward and if you don't have a steward than why don't you run for steward.

 

[grgrcr88]

re: No union steward & management is out of control!

I will tell you from experience, the part time sups usually welcome these grievances. They do not want to be working anymore than you want them to be. File the grievance and don't worry to much about it. Besides if they chose not to cooperate with you from this they were not nearly as good a friend as you thought!

 

[JonClayton]

re: No union steward & management is out of control!

Ive thought hard about running for steward and im going to talk to someone about it and see what all i need to do. I would think we would HAVE to have at least one steward on out shift. I mean i believe we have a mechanic or someone who is, but no one that actually works with us is.and i completely agree grgrcr88, like i said, i told him it wassnt anything personal and it actually has nothing to do with him, its the full time management and how they are running the it. He's pissed also that he is having to work cause he's got paper work and stuff to do, so i think he will probably be pissed that i did it, but in the long run i think he'll understand. I know its not that big of a deal, i think a lot of it is that ive never filed on a sup and a sup hasnt been filed on in several months for obvious reasons... but i filled out the grievance papers last night and im turning them in this afternoon and just hoping for the best. Do you guys have any advice as far as becoming a union steward?http://www.browncafe.com/forum/members/grgrcr88/

 

[jimstud]

buy a big bottle of malox. to be a steward to have to be able get through all the b.s. . and i mean all the b.s. from our guys as well as theirs. believe me our people with throw out just as much as theirs.

 

[grgrcr88]

You need to have a very thick skin and learn the contract backwards and forwards. You need to be level headed, but have the ability to "lose it" every once in a while,(sometimes you gotta get loud to get your point across, but only behind closed doors. Never, ever disrespect a management person in public. You are going to be held to a higher standard and looked to by the members and management to set an example to the workforce you represent. You will learn that 90% of your representation will come from 10% of your employees, those are the ones you need to talk with early and often to make sure they are covering their asses and following the methods.

It is a time consuming and unrewarding job, with no extra pay or benefits except the times when you actually HELP someone. Do not take this lightly, if you really think you can dedicate the time to do it properly then by all means step up and do it. If you cannot, don't.

Good Luck!!

 

[Catatonic]

You need to have a very thick skin and learn the contract backwards and forwards. You need to be level headed, but have the ability to "lose it" every once in a while,(sometimes you gotta get loud to get your point across, but only behind closed doors. You are going to be held to a higher standard and looked to by the members and management to set an example to the workforce you represent. You will learn that 90% of your representation will come from 10% of your employees, those are the ones you need to talk with early and often to make sure they are covering their asses and following the methods.

It is a time consuming and unrewarding job, with no extra pay or benefits except the times when you actually HELP someone. Do not take this lightly, if you really think you can dedicate the time to do it properly then by all means step up and do it. If you cannot, don't.

Good Luck!!

Sounds a lot like management ... except knowing the contract part.

 

[Anonymous 10]

Sounds a lot like management ... except knowing the contract part.

+1

 

[SWORDFISH]

Sounds like your looking for an answer that is just not available. Im sure your a smart guy you know what you have to do. Its like the movie matrix, the choice is yours do you want the red pill or the blue pill? I could tell you what I would do but thats a moot point. I will say this though, our company (corporate)is at a point in its existence to where it is going to push the envelope, make its own rules, and harass people as much as they can to get what they want. Those actions will only get worse if everyone looks the other way.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

Sounds a lot like management ... except knowing the contract part.

You have to be kidding on this one, Hoax. Good one.

 

[grgrcr88]

You have to be kidding on this one, Hoax. Good one.

No, he's right Management has no idea whats in the contract!!

 

[Blizzard]

my experience has been they know the things that help them.

 

[JonClayton]

I filled out the paper with all the details and stuff like that and my union steward, I, and my full time up set down last night and talked about it. This had been the first time Ive ever filed a grievance so I didnt know what to expect. But we all set down and the full time actually agreed with me....haha. He explained what he did and why he did it. I was not aware of this, but the 2 days i had filed he had told the union rep he was going to be having one of his part time sups work because we were very under staffed. Im not saying that justifies it... but we talked about it and dealt with the problem.We had the meeting last night and just by coincident Im getting trained tonight on car wash...haha..what a company!! Im pretty hesitant about becoming a union steward because like you all said..there is a lot of b.s. to deal with and I hate dealing with bull****. But on the other hand Id like to do it because I enjoy taking on new and challenging opportunities.. But I'm only part - time so Im not sure if its all worth the time and effort while still bringing home the same small check each week, you know? But again, thank you all for helping me. Its much appreciated.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

my experience has been they know the things that help them.

My response is: Management knows the contract better than most Teamsters. Not good. Which, by the way, is exactly how UPS wants to maintain the culture. Hiring process, ERI, fraternizing with employees, PAS, EDD, all of these things contribute in a passive? or extremely muted way to pacifying union activity. Call me paranoid

I think Hoax meant UPS supervisors and managers were 95% honest and ethical, which maybe was true at one time but is no longer.