Supervisors Working During Peak Season

[Dracula]

Start file grievances. Don't let up until they stop. Your Business Agent is an ignorant fool. Under no circumstances should management do our work. Not without paying for it, anyway. If you let them do it once, you open the door for every other lame excuse the company will come up with. We have a peak season EVERY year. Union employees have no power to staff this company. NONE. Unfortunately, we gave UPS the right to hire seasonal workers for a third of the year. They should not have another day of the year to work without our labor.

 

[turdburglar]

Start file grievances. Don't let up until they stop. Your Business Agent is an ignorant fool. Under no circumstances should management do our work. Not without paying for it, anyway. If you let them do it once, you open the door for every other lame excuse the company will come up with. We have a peak season EVERY year. Union employees have no power to staff this company. NONE. Unfortunately, we gave UPS the right to hire seasonal workers for a third of the year. They should not have another day of the year to work without our labor.

Don't worry about it. I really am going to file grievances until supervisors stop working (which will be a first in the building where I work). Too many people who start filing do not follow through with it. I will.

 

[Bubblehead]

Don't worry about it. I really am going to file grievances until supervisors stop working (which will be a first in the building where I work). Too many people who start filing do not follow through with it. I will.

We need to change your name.
It should not have the word turd in it.
You are a great man, doing your co-workers and all who follow a valuable service.
I'm proud to know you.

 

[turdburglar]

We need to change your name.
It should not have the word turd in it.
You are a great man, doing your co-workers and all who follow a valuable service.
I'm proud to know you.

Thank you. I think I am beginning to make a difference in the building where I work, since I have not been able to file nearly as many supervisors working grievances recently as when I started. The key is consistency. I was disappointed when I heard from the steward that I would not be able to file through peak season, since that would give management the impression that I gave up like everyone else has, but I am glad to find that I can indeed file through peak. Maybe I will be able convince more people to file once they see that there is nothing to fear (at least termination-wise).

It really is too bad that I would not have the time to be a steward right now, since I am going to school. Another person told me today that I would make a good steward, seeing as how I have actually read the contract and know my (and everyone else's) rights. However, I am going to take a break to study for the LSAT after graduating, and will be working at UPS through the break, so I am going to look into becoming a steward for that time period. At the least, that will help me get into labor law at whatever law school I end up in (hopefully Yale). I will definitely be able to make a greater impact on the building where I work as a steward.

 

[Inthegame]

Thank you. I think I am beginning to make a difference in the building where I work, since I have not been able to file nearly as many supervisors working grievances recently as when I started. The key is consistency. I was disappointed when I heard from the steward that I would not be able to file through peak season, since that would give management the impression that I gave up like everyone else has, but I am glad to find that I can indeed file through peak. Maybe I will be able convince more people to file once they see that there is nothing to fear (at least termination-wise).

It really is too bad that I would not have the time to be a steward right now, since I am going to school. Another person told me today that I would make a good steward, seeing as how I have actually read the contract and know my (and everyone else's) rights. However, I am going to take a break to study for the LSAT after graduating, and will be working at UPS through the break, so I am going to look into becoming a steward for that time period. At the least, that will help me get into labor law at whatever law school I end up in (hopefully Yale). I will definitely be able to make a greater impact on the building where I work as a steward.

Good luck and I agree 100% with Bubble. Keep filing, you are making a positive difference.

 

[stink219]

Hello everyone. My union steward told me that on November the first peak season officially starts. He also said that from November the first to December the thirty-first supervisors have free rein to do whatever they want to make sure that all the packages are delivered on time. This does not really make sense to me, especially because supervisors are still not working in front of me in my building since they know I will file on them. If I would lose all my grievances because supervisors are allowed to work during peak season, then I would think they would work whenever it was "necessary", but a whole metro was terribly backed up today and no supervisors touched a package on that metro. If supervisors really are able to work during peak season, then I will stop filing grievances for now, but does anyone know if this is the case? Thanks in advance for any responses.

Tell your steward, from one steward to another he needs to go back and Reread the contract. I'll be glad to inform him of the way we do business. Emergency case only!!! ONLY!!

 

[turdburglar]

Tell your steward, from one steward to another he needs to go back and Reread the contract. I'll be glad to inform him of the way we do business. Emergency case only!!! ONLY!!

That was the part that threw me off. When I talked to him today, he was looking through the contract for "peak language". If there is indeed any peak language, it would not say that supervisors can do whatever they want or get away with more just because it is peak. I could have told him that much without him having to call union hall to find out. And from my reading of the contract, there is no language on peak operations, at least pertaining to supervisors working (correct me if I am wrong). There is language about T.O.friend.C. loads being excepted from being moved by bargaining unit employees during peak season, and language pertaining to the requirement to hire enough seasonal workers to handle peak season volume and using union carriers whenever possible (all under Article 26), but nothing on supervisors working.

 

[air_upser]

Do driver helpers qualify as BU jobs? We always send out a lot of supervisors from IT to help out. It's been about 5 years since I've done it and had a great time with the driver....even though he always gave me the long driveways

 

[stink219]

Tell your steward, from one steward to another he needs to go back and Reread the contract. I'll be glad to inform him of the way we do business. Emergency case only!!! ONLY!!

That was the part that threw me off. When I talked to him today, he was looking through the contract for "peak language". If there is indeed any peak language, it would not say that supervisors can do whatever they want or get away with more just because it is peak. I could have told him that much without him having to call union hall to find out. And from my reading of the contract, there is no language on peak operations, at least pertaining to supervisors working (correct me if I am wrong). There is language about T.O.friend.C. loads being excepted from being moved by bargaining unit employees during peak season, and language pertaining to the requirement to hire enough seasonal workers to handle peak season volume and using union carriers whenever possible (all under Article 26), but nothing on supervisors working.

Great work!! You are correct. There is no peak article. Regular rules apply. Is this steward new? I mean, we are talking about remedial stuff here. Maybe you should be steward. You obviously did your homework.

 

[soberups]

I suspect that your supervisors will actually be grateful for the fact that you are filing grievances on them for doing BU work. They usually wind up having to work about 80-90 hours per week during peak, they are buried in paperwork, and if it were up to them they would devote their time and energy towards training drivers rather than being drivers.

 

[turdburglar]

I suspect that your supervisors will actually be grateful for the fact that you are filing grievances on them for doing BU work. They usually wind up having to work about 80-90 hours per week during peak, they are buried in paperwork, and if it were up to them they would devote their time and energy towards training drivers rather than being drivers.

I know that some of them do not care (and a couple have explicitly stated that they would be glad to stop having to do bargaining unit work), but the full-time supervisors that I file on and one part-time supervisor in particular get in my face and yell at me about filing on them. It is as if they are surprised that they are not excepted from my rule that I will file on any and all supervisors that I see working.

 

[turdburglar]

Great work!! You are correct. There is no peak article. Regular rules apply. Is this steward new? I mean, we are talking about remedial stuff here. Maybe you should be steward. You obviously did your homework.

This steward is not new, he has been there as a steward for at least as long as I have been working there (a little more than 5 years). It was simply mind-boggling that he was looking through the contract for peak language when I already knew that there was no such language. I will definitely look into becoming a steward during my LSAT studying break after graduation.

 

[menotyou]

I know that some of them do not care (and a couple have explicitly stated that they would be glad to stop having to do bargaining unit work), but the full-time supervisors that I file on and one part-time supervisor in particular get in my face and yell at me about filing on them. It is as if they are surprised that they are not excepted from my rule that I will file on any and all supervisors that I see working.

Make sure you file Art 37 Grievances on those jerks.

 

[Bubblehead]

Make sure you file Art 37 Grievances on those jerks.

This is important and will provide a paper trail in the event they try and retaliate against your protected union activity.

 

[htown0721]

OK, as a supervisor I try to do as little bargaining unit work as possible but at certain times I find it necessary. Let me preface it with my employees expect me to work all night and I don't on most occasions. However, when one of them goes to the bathroom I will cover him as well as if they are really backed up they will ask for help. My employees will file grievances occasionally (when it comes from the top that they want to run a specific number and all supervisors are expected to work) and when this occurs I actually encourage them to file, yet the will not file a grievance on me. Just curious as to how you feel when a supervisor works on such occasions.

 

[menotyou]

I will not grieve the center manager. It's his house. My on-car is my former center manager, who hired me; not to mention, I know his family and have spent many days at his parents home hanging with his younger brothers. I won't grieve him, either. But, I don't think covering for a bathroom break is legitimate. I'd file on that. I understand we need to service the customer, but I didn't cut the staff so much that sups have to work to make their numbers. Not my problem.

Let me add this, they work very sparingly. It's a respect issue.

 

[Nimnim]

OK, as a supervisor I try to do as little bargaining unit work as possible but at certain times I find it necessary. Let me preface it with my employees expect me to work all night and I don't on most occasions. However, when one of them goes to the bathroom I will cover him as well as if they are really backed up they will ask for help. My employees will file grievances occasionally (when it comes from the top that they want to run a specific number and all supervisors are expected to work) and when this occurs I actually encourage them to file, yet the will not file a grievance on me. Just curious as to how you feel when a supervisor works on such occasions.

In my building it's excused if a supervisor works when someone goes to the bathroom. The reason is management has threatened to ask for doctors notes for those employees that always seem to have to use the bathroom every shift. 5 minutes of a supervisor working instead of extra hassle/paperwork well it's an easy choice. There are some employees who abuse the whole "you can't be stopped from using the bathroom" so it's a give and take here. The PT supervisors usually don't want to be working either but the FT hammer them on production so this is a little game that's played.

A 5 minute sup working grievance just isn't worth if it ends up causing huge headaches for everyone later.

 

[htown0721]

If it helps I bring food for them weekly, not because they don't file, rather for making it through another week of BS haha. I understand your point but personally I feel it is easier to step in for a few minutes and than call around and try to find help because by the time they get there the employee is already back from the bathroom. Also, I refuse to let my full timer adjust my staffing I schedule all my employees vacations and everything that way I know exactly who I have and what I need everyday to make sure I am fully staffed. I don't think anyone should have to do more work than they have to.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Even I know that there is no "peak language" in the contract; however, that being said, the rules are somewhat more flexible during Peak.

 

[turdburglar]

OK, as a supervisor I try to do as little bargaining unit work as possible but at certain times I find it necessary. Let me preface it with my employees expect me to work all night and I don't on most occasions. However, when one of them goes to the bathroom I will cover him as well as if they are really backed up they will ask for help. My employees will file grievances occasionally (when it comes from the top that they want to run a specific number and all supervisors are expected to work) and when this occurs I actually encourage them to file, yet the will not file a grievance on me. Just curious as to how you feel when a supervisor works on such occasions.

I do not file on anything that is less than five minutes unless it is clear that the supervisor makes sure that he works less than five minutes each time he works, but repeatedly throughout the day. Therefore, I would probably not be filing on a supervisor covering for someone taking a bathroom break. But if the flow is so heavy that a short bathroom break will make or break the sort, there is a problem with staffing. In a situation where a loader is getting flooded with packages and asks for help, I still file, since that is another staffing issue (in my building, we used to have "alt-picks" or "off-picks" that would act as floaters when the flow was not so heavy that the pick could not sort properly. There are never any permanent "alt-picks" anymore).

The point is that if some situations are let go, it will seem like no one cares, and management will never staff the operation properly. That is what I am trying to prevent. It may seem like nitpicking on my part, but they do not mind nitpicking us when they are trying to prove a point or push production, misloads, etc.