part time pay over the the years?

konsole

Well-Known Member
Does anyone know what UPS paid the part-timers over the years? I have heard people mention that it was roughly $8/hr 25 years ago but does anyone have any more extensive knowledge on the pay over the years? What about benefits and other perks over the years? Anything that UPS went the extra step to satisfy its workers would be great to know about.

I was just amazed at how I've heard people saying that many many years ago UPS was paying almost as much then as they are now. Incredibly rediculous considering how the cost of living is drastically different. Makes me think that UPS should be starting its part-times at somewhere around $15 to be even remotely comparable to what it use to be.
 

Babagounj

Strength through joy
back in the 70's , I started at $7.50 and after a year went to top p/t rate, $11.50. Was making $ 16+ when the $8 starting rate began. Employee turn -over rates weren't that bad in the 70's & 80's , but at $8 it was out of control.
 

feederdriver06

former monkey slave
I started on the preload back in 1989 at 8.00 an hour. Learned the primary sort and received 1.00 raise a few months later. I actually have all of my paystubs from 1992 til present.
 

evilleace

Well-Known Member
I know that in my area in the early 80's starting pay for pt was $11 an hr and then when they instituted the $8.00 rate my building made the decision to pay $9
 

konsole

Well-Known Member
back in the 70's , I started at $7.50 and after a year went to top p/t rate, $11.50. Was making $ 16+ when the $8 starting rate began. Employee turn -over rates weren't that bad in the 70's & 80's , but at $8 it was out of control.

wow 30+ years ago and only 1 year into the job and your already making $3 then some part timers are making now? Were they not offering health insurance or what?

I can't believe this company paid considerably more 30+ years ago. This must mean that part timers today would have to be making like $20/hr to be relatively equal to the pay that you received back then.

I work the morning preload in Norwood, MA and I started at $9.50 back in 2001. 8 years later I'm up to about $17 but I can't believe the pay has only gone down over the years. No wonder why many people say "I hear thats such a great place to work and they pay pretty good" when I say I work there. They probably assume the pay is still really great.

What about other nice things the company did like parties or discounts or whatever?
 

wyyes

New Member
part timers started about $8 an hour in the early 80's with full benefits for themselves and children after 30 days. part time now starts at $8.50 to $9.50 with no benefits for one year for employee and none for family until after 18 mos. no wonder taco bell gets the better help, they pay better.
 

Nitelite

Well-Known Member
I thought starting pay was $12 an hour until 1982 when the union made mad concessions and lowered it to $8. That's what the old-timers say in my hub anyways.
 

Babagounj

Strength through joy
wow

What about other nice things the company did like parties or discounts or whatever?

Many a friday night we had some wild drunken bashes, after our 12am-3am shift. Most were paid for by the company, so not. And only if the weather was good, there were outside of course.
When they shut down that shift and transferred us to Twilight, we moved the bashes in doors, bars and restaurants , once we had it at a hotel.
And they used to have a weekend softball bash in Shrewsbury, now that was fun.
 

konsole

Well-Known Member
part timers started about $8 an hour in the early 80's with full benefits for themselves and children after 30 days. part time now starts at $8.50 to $9.50 with no benefits for one year for employee and none for family until after 18 mos. no wonder taco bell gets the better help, they pay better.

Do you have any idea what the raises were like back then?

What do you think has changed in the past 25 years to direct the company to keep its starting pay the same even through the midst of a less valuable dollar and general increase in living expenses?
 

Babagounj

Strength through joy
Currently 3 states min. wage is above $8 (Wa = 8.55, Or = 8.50, Vt =8.06 )
which makes a starting position at UPS below the poverty line.
How that for a good union job ?
 

LED

Well-Known Member
My Opinion:
UPS went into the overnight delivery business in the 1980's. That means they had to purchase airplanes and pay pilots - not cheap.

UPS also pays it's full-time drivers and management people very well. In order to do this they have to pay someoene less.

UPS prefers to hire college people to perform its part-time work. They want to use young strong people for a few years, then let them move on to their choice of career (outside of UPS), and then bring in more young strong people to take their place.

If UPS paid high part-time wages, then turnover would be very low. They would have people dong those jobs forever, making more and more money, driving up cost. The use of low paid part-time workers keeps the cost down and a fresh group of young workers coming through the door.

This is my opinion of the situation. I am not saying that it is right or wrong, just my observation.
 
My Opinion:
UPS went into the overnight delivery business in the 1980's. That means they had to purchase airplanes and pay pilots - not cheap.

UPS also pays it's full-time drivers and management people very well. In order to do this they have to pay someoene less.

UPS prefers to hire college people to perform its part-time work. They want to use young strong people for a few years, then let them move on to their choice of career (outside of UPS), and then bring in more young strong people to take their place.

If UPS paid high part-time wages, then turnover would be very low. They would have people dong those jobs forever, making more and more money, driving up cost. The use of low paid part-time workers keeps the cost down and a fresh group of young workers coming through the door.

This is my opinion of the situation. I am not saying that it is right or wrong, just my observation.

Glad you brought up the collesge student issue...there was a time when the only way you could work for UPS P/T was to show proof the you were a college student.
 

konsole

Well-Known Member
A reasonable request would be to have maybe $1/hr taken off the starting pay of full timers and given to part timers and then give part timers a choice of what benefits they want. If there are 5 benefits part timers have right now then for each benefit the part timer chooses not to have then .50/hr gets added to their hourly wage. This would bring the current $8.50/hr part timers starting pay up to $12/hr if they choose to have no benefits. I've been a part timer for 8 years and now up to $16.44 which is reasonable but considering that I hardly ever use the benefits I wouldnt mind cutting off a benefit or two and add a $1 or $2 onto my hourly wage.

I know that some people would be against any significant raise for the part timers but it seems to me that there could be a few options available and a little money taken off the excesses to make the part timers starting pay a bit more appealing.
 

dannyboy

From the promised LAND
$3.65 start, then $3.75, then $4 an hour. I believe benefits were also included, but I can not say 100% for sure. Min wage was $1.60. I always figured on part timers drawing twice, and full time drawing 4 times min wage. But over the years after the 80's, it dropped like a stone.

And each quarter, as a condition of employment, you had to bring proof that you were enrolled full time in college. That stopped in 77, 78 or 79 here.

The Strike of 76 provided some increases to the pay rate, but kept part timers that were very close to going full time out of full time for at least two or three additional years. Strike bennies after union dues were 5-6 bucks a week. Not even enough to buy gas to walk the line.

Baling hay paid 5 bucks an hour BTW.
 

40 and out

Well-Known Member
The $8.00 starting pay began in 1982. The economy was bad then,but UPS was still doing well. For some unknown or forgotten reason, the union gave this concession then. Part-time pay before then was only somewhere between 50 cents to a dollar less an hour than package car driver pay. UPS wanted to make top rate for new drivers $24 an hour in our contract that we have now. I'm sure they will try this again or even worse for the next contract . We can't let this happen.
 

Overpaid Union Thug

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't have a problem with a full-time wage freeze (minus COLA of course) for a few years or more so that part-timers could make more per hour. I remember my roots well. Its hard to believe that I used to make $8.50/hr but I almost always had a second job so pay was never a worry. You part-timers deserve more.
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
Fulltimers give you $1.00? dude, we all were part timer at one point, in other words, we already paid our dues.


I was an off the street hire but have come to appreciate how hard the PTers work for what little they are paid. I would think that a payrate beginning at $12/hr with contractual raises would be a more appropriate wage for PTers and would be willing to accept a pay freeze for the duration of this contract until they reach this level.
 

konsole

Well-Known Member
Fulltimers give you $1.00? dude, we all were part timer at one point, in other words, we already paid our dues.

so your logic is that everyone had to go through it so its ok for future employees to go through it also? Just because you had to go through it doesnt mean there wasnt something wrong with it. I can agree that drivers should be making considerably more then part timers do since the requirments for there job are higher and they have higher expectations in general. I do not think its unrealistic for part timers to be making roughly half of what the drivers do. Right now the drivers make 3 times what the part timers do. Now do you honestly think that your job is 3 times harder then the job of the average grunt working in the warehouse? In a given 4 hour span do you think you work 3 times harder then the guy who loaded your truck? Don't you see how the company can't pay the part timers more partly because of the much higher paid drivers? I'm not saying that the drivers get paid too much, what I am saying is that there is an extreme imbalance between the 2 wages. You would have to be very selfish to not take a 4% pay cut so that the grunts in the warehouse (that load your truck for that matter) can get a 12% pay increase. What do you care though, as long as your pay keeps going up who cares that the stagnant low wages of part timers will stay the same and attract less and less quality workers in turn providing you with a less and less quality load and less and less quality work day.

pay the part timers 12% more and see if the load quality of your truck and the happiness of your work days increases by anything less then 4%. If your financial life changes significantly when going from $24 to $23 then you need to seriously reconsider the financial choices you have made and are making.
 
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JonFrum

Member
Fulltimers give you $1.00? dude, we all were part timer at one point, in other words, we already paid our dues.
Many full-timers over the years were never part-timers. Especially those hired several decades ago.

Originally part-timers made the same hourly wage, and received almost the same benefits, as a full-time package car driver. Even up to 1982, part-timers made only 56-cents less than full-time drivers. But full-timers voted in Contract after Contract to give themselves raises and benefits, and to pay for them by cutting the wages and benefits of New Hire part-timers. New Hires, of course, can't vote, because they haven't yet been hired at the time of the voting. Every three, four, five, and six years, the "unborn" were again thrown under the bus. Also, there weren't very many part-timers in the earlier years, so those who did vote were heavily outnumbered.
 
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