steeltoe,
What you see in this contract is exactly what I am talking about. UPS' expenses are too high to remain competitive. So in this past contract UPS tried to get some costs down. The union protected the drivers and gave up the part timers like sacrificial lambs. Funny how that changed from '97 when it was all about the poor part timers, huh?
In any case, the problem is that while yes, UPS is saving millions on the year delay in health care for new hires, the problem is in the hundreds of millions if not billions. This will not be enough.
Personally, I think it sucks, and I am a bit shamed every time I have to tell a less than one year part timer that he does not get the benefits yet.
As for the 20-30 somethings that are just after the coverage for their family, I will tell you this is the one silver lining in the Companies and Unions deal to screw the part timers. Stopping the hiring of those people is the best thing that has happened to UPS in the past several years. I have worked with and supervised many employees who were working part time at UPS just for the benefits. In my experience, they all, without a single exception, did not give two craps about doing a good job for UPS and thus were horrible employees, showing up the barest minimum amount and giving the barest minimum effort that they could get away with.
I would rather higher the young kids who have no desire to stick around. I was hired by UPS in 1991, I was in college and lived with my grandmother. I not only did not care about the health insurance, I did not know about it and was stunned when they gave me the forms to sign up. I had absolutely no plans to stay with UPS as a career. Funny how things work out sometimes...