The UPS Strike, 20 Years Later

BrownMonk

Old fart Package Car Driver
Really ?

Lets see an actual use.


Everybody is waiting....

The load stand pictured goes under a 8-10 foot section of rollers going between package cars or extending a regular belt. You can raise or lower it to adjust for pitch. We just call the yellow plastic thing a step whether it is flat or 2 step.
 

Boxslinger11

Next gen teamster
The load stand pictured goes under a 8-10 foot section of rollers going between package cars or extending a regular belt. You can raise or lower it to adjust for pitch. We just call the yellow plastic thing a step whether it is flat or 2 step.
the load stand is the yellow stair bull:censored2: the other thing is called rollers and a T stand
 

nj2015

Active Member
Ok, I have to ask, what kind of set up is this? We don't have anything like that in Saddle Brook.

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-Bug-
 

542thruNthru

Well-Known Member
...and none of those belts lead to a boxline slide where boxline sorters sort into the boxline?

No the sorters are sending them down individual smaller belts that dump the packages down a slide to the loaders. We have 12 pens all with at least 26 cars on each. Never seen that box thing. Just seems slow.
 

j13501

Well-Known Member
Ok, I have to ask, what kind of set up is this? We don't have anything like that in Saddle Brook.
Boxlines are used in hubs, because the hold a lot of packages that can be sorted into the boxlines during hub sorts. That saves "re-loading" preload packages into trailers that were sorted during the hub sorts. The boxlines slowly revolve so that preloaders can pull packages from a cage and load their cars.
I believe the Saddlebrook building uses a slide-to-car system (at least they did). Slide to car is the most productive system because preloaders can load from an accumulation of packages. They just don't hold a lot of volume so are not the best idea for large hubs. You will also see slide to car in large package center building where there are no hub sorts.
Most smaller centers use the belt to car system. Easy to use, not much expense to build or operate.
 

35years

Gravy route
Memories from the strike...
-Pepsi drivers stopping by every day with free drinks

-Random people bringing food and encouragement.

-Picket duty at 11 P.M. was like a tailgate party every night.

-Rats come out at night and the guy next to me chased one down and stomped.

-Then steward (now retired) stopping every truck to inspect...UPS would send empties out to pretend they were making service.

-B.A. driving in front of every UPS semi as they exited the freeway...Trapped behind him, no way to pass, 2 MPH.

-Many drivers blocked package cars in at del stops.

-Laughing (and cat calls) at sweat laden sups and managers exiting the bldg after moving packages for 12 hours.

-Talked to a sup right before the strike and he asked me how long I could hold out... I said 4 or 5 years before I would have to touch my savings...Other carriers were hiring as many UPSers as they could for the duration of the strike. So, many of us were working and pulling strike duty.

-Utter astonishment at the complete mess inside the bldg after it ended. They had completed the equivalent of 1 day of delivery in 15 days. Piles of boxes everywhere.
 

brownIEman

Well-Known Member
-Then steward (now retired) stopping every truck to inspect...UPS would send empties out to pretend they were making service.

I've heard this many times over the years - never made any sense. I know in the building I was in we never sent out empties, would have been entirely pointless - like somehow seeing a UPS PC driving around would make people think they had actually gotten the package that they knew they hadn't.
If any buildings sent out empties it was likely as a decoy to try and draw off the goons some locals sent out to harass and intimidate the few delivering PCs that did go out.

-B.A. driving in front of every UPS semi as they exited the freeway...Trapped behind him, no way to pass, 2 MPH.

There was a feeder safety manager driving a feeder during the strike who was killed in a crash on a freeway off ramp. I remember speculation that a Union member had run him off the road. Guess now we know.

-Many drivers blocked package cars in at del stops.

Hence the need for the aforementioned decoys

-Laughing (and cat calls) at sweat laden sups and managers exiting the bldg after moving packages for 12 hours.

12 hours? Must have been the part timers. I remember working 14+hours over night and coming home where my roommate (a driver) would be lounging on a float in my pool and would raise his beer in salute and greet me with "how's it going scab!?"

-Talked to a sup right before the strike and he asked me how long I could hold out... I said 4 or 5 years before I would have to touch my savings...Other carriers were hiring as many UPSers as they could for the duration of the strike. So, many of us were working and pulling strike duty.

So you're saying during the strike you went to work for non Union competitors making non Union wages under non Union conditions? You realize that's one of the definitions of a scab, right?
 

542thruNthru

Well-Known Member
I've heard this many times over the years - never made any sense. I know in the building I was in we never sent out empties, would have been entirely pointless - like somehow seeing a UPS PC driving around would make people think they had actually gotten the package that they knew they hadn't.
If any buildings sent out empties it was likely as a decoy to try and draw off the goons some locals sent out to harass and intimidate the few delivering PCs that did go out.

It was also done to try and make the people on strike think things were moving as normal. If people though the strike wasn't hurting UPS they may have crossed or spoke up about ending the early
 

brownIEman

Well-Known Member
It was also done to try and make the people on strike think things were moving as normal. If people though the strike wasn't hurting UPS they may have crossed or spoke up about ending the early

I could almost buy this argument, almost. At least it has some logic to it. As I said, it never happened in the building I was in. Even with a couple drivers that crossed the picket line and all the management and non-union technical employees that could be rounded up, there was a tiny fraction of what was needed to run the facility. If we managed to get out the equivalent volume of even one day of normal operation during the entire strike I would be shocked. We simply did not have enough DOT qualified bodies to put a dent in the volume, much less parade around empties to try and make people think that we were.
 

35years

Gravy route
There was a feeder safety manager driving a feeder during the strike who was killed in a crash on a freeway off ramp. I remember speculation that a Union member had run him off the road. Guess now we know.
Not in my area and not my BA
So you're saying during the strike you went to work for non Union competitors making non Union wages under non Union conditions? You realize that's one of the definitions of a scab, right?
Worked at a Teamster employer/competitor shop. Nice try.
 
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