dannyboy said:
You know, I would suggest that we walk a mile in each others shoes. Maybe then we could understand and correct the problem. But in the customers eyes, I the driver am the one to blame for the air getting delivered late, and UPS for finding excuses to justify not returning the money for missing the guarantee.
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Dannyboy, the first response of yours I can agree with! Progress! I (the Pilot) would not have a job @ UPS if it was not for all the hard work that the sorters, loaders, package car drivers... do. You guys are the backbone of our company. My hat is off to you guys. What I've tried to point out to the groundside is perspective. (Walk a mile in each others shoes) Unfortunately, everyone is bitter, it is not going to get any better unless the company changes course. Both sides are backed into a corner and nobody wants to give. For the last 8 years UPS has paid WELL BELOW the industry wage standard. With the legacy carriers in trouble, their wages have deteriorated & we are now paid about the same scale. UPS is now proud to have the highest paid pilots. Are our Teamsters Drivers the highest paid drivers in the country? Guess what, American Airline, is one step away from bankrupy, their pilots make $196.00 after a 35% pay cut, a full $6.00 more! Go figure! A passenger Airbus A300 full of passengers vs. a UPS or FEDEX A300 full of overnite packages, which one has the higher profit? It is not all about the money. SCOPE! Are you familiar with the term? Jobs, basically it means if it is branded UPS, anyway, shape or form, the IPA flys it. Example, China Air flying a B-747 into Nashville TN with UPS cargo on board, Our contract permits UPS the fly up to 4 containers on someone elses aircraft (B-747 carries 30 plus containers) vs. a dedicating a UPS aircraft that the 4 cans that would not pay to operate, good for the company. The company is demanding a change in the new contract, from the 4 cans to 10. Do you know why? They can tie growth to a brand new aircraft that is coming available, a Boeing B737-700 freighter that will haul 8 cans. Guess what, UPS would not buy those aircraft. They would contract that flying out. Where would this flying take place? China, India. IPA JOBS going to foreign pilots. OUTSOURSING AMERICAN JOBS! UPS PR is in the media saying, "no pilot has lost their job, matter a fact, we are hiring". Yes they are right, nobody has lost their job, but there won't be new jobs. I've been reading about the Package Car Drivers spending more hours behind the wheel and delivering more packages and asking when are we going to get additional drivers, SAME THING!
What the IPA is asking for is reasonable. It is not out of line. These are good times for UPSers; Managers bonuses are up, growth, and a positive outlook! All the pilots are asking for is to be included in this growth. Nothing more: nothing less.
5 Items Remain:
1) COMPENSATION-lead the industry. Pay top scale, not by default but lead. Show how proud UPS is of their pilots!
2) RETIRMENT MEDICAL-take care of your people once you have used them up, Flying on the backside of the clock is killing us. In the past 2 years we've had 6 pilots have heart attacks & die! I don't know how many pilots have lost their medicals and can't fly. The backside of the clock flying is raking havoc on our pilots health. We will die at a younger due to or profession.
3) SCHEDULING-directly tied to #2. Quality of life, circadian rhythm issues (day/night/day... flipping of schedules), days off, believe it or not UPS/IPA negotiating what a day off is? (UPS 24 hours, no matter when it started, a rolling clock VS. IPA a defined start/stop time, the exact time we are asking for I don't know 7:00 AM or 7:00 PM) very important for writing the schedules
4) RETIRMENT-Guys retiring right now make less the 15% of their earnings
5) Scope-NO OUTSOURSING AMERICAN JOB!
Let me end by saying this, the Package Car Drivers are what makes UPS special! They, you are the face of the company, you interact with our customers, the customers love there PCDers. I personally feel that is what makes UPS so different, special!!! My job would be meaningless without you. That being said, what we expect out of this contact is addressing these issues and rewarding us for what we as pilots provide this company. What we expect is nothing more than the COST OF DOING BUSINESS! Nothing more, nothing less! The 5 items Ive listed have the potential of destroying this 100-year-old company; I will say again, THE BALL IS IN UPS COURT! I hope UPS decided to reward employees.
A small, short walk with ya, Hopefully you understand some of the issues facing OUR company,
BLUE SKIES, a.c. aka A LINE SLUG!