The UPS Strike, 20 Years Later

[BakerMayfield2018]

Best year ever. Remember it like it was yesterday.

 

[IVE GOTTA PACKAGE 4U]

Best year ever. Remember it like it was yesterday.

Can't believe it was 20 years ago

 

[BakerMayfield2018]

Can't believe it was 20 years ago

So many fun memories of it. Can’t post them here. Lol.

 

[Catatonic]

So many fun memories of it. Can’t post them here. Lol.

I think I love you!

 

[clean hairy]

Of course, when something would happen to a vehicle owned by an employee, they would shrug and say "Sorry, parking lot is not our property"
BUT, during the strike, we were not allowed in the parking lot which magically did become "their property" overnight.

Also, I heard some drivers were delivering pizzas in their regular delivery area during the strike. Running circles around the regular delivery personnel, and getting generous tips from their regular delivery customers.

 

[542thruNthru]

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.

I'm surprised you understood what I said. I just re-read what I said and I'm like. Good God was I drunk? I really need to check what my talk to txt writes!

 

[dudebro]

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

Meadowlands and Parsippany have them. Saddle Brook USED to have a slide to car back when it had a tray line with key entry people who keyed in the routes for each package.

Mgmt pro tip, you'd BETTER buy these employees coffee each day and otherwise kiss their rear end, or the building didn't run.

That was removed in the 90's and now there is a straight belt to car inside the building and PDCs around the rest of the building.

 

[dudebro]

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.

What we did in my area was pick through the volume and deliver whatever looked like medicine or hospital supplies, or perishable, and let everything else sit.

No one had any delusion that our throughput matched the drivers, it was pure damage control.

We DID pick up as much 1DA as we could and it was flown by management pilots (yes, there is such a thing), to try to max the revenue from the people we did have, before we would have to start laying off management too.

We didn't replace the pilots either, but EWR had a flight because of the pickups from the finance centers in Manhattan.

 

[Mrunderdog]

I thought the same thing, but I believe he was referring to the much more recent beer distributor strike which he mentioned as well.

Exactly, I have no idea what the other people were reading, but that's what I said and was referring to.

 

[Mrunderdog]

Yea he did a quick Google search where? On a computer with a dial up connection in his car. He left out the fact he was a time traveler in his story.

Or I left out the fact that Clare Rose was on strike in 2017, which I was referring to. I didn't realize I had to put the year in. Wish I was a time traveler, btw if I were, I wouldn't be using dial up in my car as you mentioned.

 

[Coldworld]

Can't believe it was 20 years ago

Can you even remember that far back grandpa???

 

[Indecisi0n]

I am so excited to strike next year.

 

[What'dyabringmetoday???]

What we did in my area was pick through the volume and deliver whatever looked like medicine or hospital supplies, or perishable, and let everything else sit.

No one had any delusion that our throughput matched the drivers, it was pure damage control.

We DID pick up as much 1DA as we could and it was flown by management pilots (yes, there is such a thing), to try to max the revenue from the people we did have, before we would have to start laying off management too.

We didn't replace the pilots either, but EWR had a flight because of the pickups from the finance centers in Manhattan.

Cool story.

 

[brownIEman]

What we did in my area was pick through the volume and deliver whatever looked like medicine or hospital supplies, or perishable, and let everything else sit.

No one had any delusion that our throughput matched the drivers, it was pure damage control.

We DID pick up as much 1DA as we could and it was flown by management pilots (yes, there is such a thing), to try to max the revenue from the people we did have, before we would have to start laying off management too.

We didn't replace the pilots either, but EWR had a flight because of the pickups from the finance centers in Manhattan.

We had a team of non DOT folks that would search package cars for packages that people came to the building to pick up. We probably got rid of way more volume that way than what went on road.

The second week they announced the air that management pilots were moving was enough to break even on the skeleton operation.

This myth that has grown that we regularly sent out tons of empty package cars just defies logic, IMO. DOT qualified folks were just too scarce to have them do other than deliver. Unless delivery became too dangerous, there was allot of intimidation and threats, and a sup or manager in Florida was stabbed while delivering.

 

[govols019]

Stabbed by who?

 

[dudebro]

We had a team of non DOT folks that would search package cars for packages that people came to the building to pick up. We probably got rid of way more volume that way than what went on road.

The second week they announced the air that management pilots were moving was enough to break even on the skeleton operation.

This myth that has grown that we regularly sent out tons of empty package cars just defies logic, IMO. DOT qualified folks were just too scarce to have them do other than deliver. Unless delivery became too dangerous, there was allot of intimidation and threats, and a sup or manager in Florida was stabbed while delivering.

I think they were empty because once the perishables were delivered they might have just delivered air. For the first week I drove a van to Hackensack Medical. The second week I loaded containers in Newark. I was glad we came back because I think they were going to start cutting mgmt after that.

 

[brownIEman]

Stabbed by who?

My bad, it was not a management person but a driver who crossed. And he was stabbed by Teamsters

 

[brownIEman]

I think they were empty because once the perishables were delivered they might have just delivered air. For the first week I drove a van to Hackensack Medical. The second week I loaded containers in Newark. I was glad we came back because I think they were going to start cutting mgmt after that.

That would make sense as well.
I was sorta having fun. I liked that fact that in our building they put all the vending machines on zero cost so just hit a button get a soda or snack. We joked about emptying them out and selling them to the picket line.

 

[542thruNthru]

My bad, it was not a management person but a driver who crossed. And he was stabbed by Teamsters

Sounds like a eye for an eye. He's stabs them in the back, they stab him.

 

[brownIEman]

Sounds like a eye for an eye. He's stabs them in the back, they stab him.

So, when a slacker runs a 8.5 sporh on a route everyone else in the center could easily run at least a 12 on, even blind, and puts my group overallowed in the toilet thereby kicking me in the nuts, figuratively speaking, you're saying it would be totally fine for me to literally kick him in the nuts?

Violence is not the solution.

Wonder how much the local had to fork over to the scab? That's gotta sting.