What can Brown (people) do for you.

Bonhamga

Member
I work on Preload at a mid-sized hub in the south. There is only 3 African American's working on the entire boxline, myself being one of them. I work at the end of the boxline, the other guy works at the top of the line behind the slide, and the last works on the north side by the slide. Everyday we all three get constant attention from the Full-time and Part-time sups about our jobs. My area, during non-peak, is about 1000 Pieces and it's all residential. The guy at the end of our boxline has around 1,250 pieces (5 trucks) and the guy on the North side pulls around 1300 (of which 3 of 5 trucks are bulk).

The attention we get is always negative and in the yelling form about how we need to speed up, we need to wrap up our areas quicker, etc. etc. the almost normal echo from the sups, but, they only seem to say and yell this in front of us. Even with such a high volume our start time keeps moving back later and later. It's gotten to the point that we're having to come in and work off that clock some mornings just so we aren't stacked out til 9 a.m. We all three constantly make over our 250 an hour, while most of our white co-worker who load 800 or less a day fall way off their goal of the 250 and nothing is ever done to them. The boxline calls for a plan of 205 of which we're always in the 190's... Yet the only people blamed for the poor performance are the three of us who (even though made our pieces) some how weren't done quick enough. Yet our white co-workers who only load around 800 a day are always stacked out at 8:30 and when they finish their load walk around and sit in the office laughing and talking with p/t and friend/t sups while on the clock.

The other problem we're having is with the way management treats us in general. The guy on the north side literally just had his first child. He told the full-time supervisor a week in advance that he'd have to leave a half an hour early on one day so that he could drive his wife and newborn to her first doctor's appointment, and the full-time sup gave him hell and told him that he couldn't do it.

On the flip side, our white co-workers, a few in particular are late EVERYDAY, call in at least 4 times a month because of (and I quote "headaches") and consistently do not make their pieces, but yet no adverse action is ever taken against them whereas I have been written up for being 5 minutes late (When it takes 7 minutes to walk from the parking lot to the computer). I'm 5' 11 and they have me loading from the middle cages. I've asked my full-time sup to move my area because I constantly bang my head on the cages going in and out of them. The other day I left work and got home I realized I had a huge cut and knot on the top of my head from this, and she still has done nothing.

The white guy (that was in the area before me) asked to be moved out before peak because he didn't like all the smalls that area got (and the fact that the area went up to about 2000 a day.) All the bulk that the African American guy on the North side gets comes from a truck that they had a white guy loading right before peak, but the white guy asked to work the slide (during a peak season where we had no new hires and only a few new temps) and they let him even though we were seeing north of 65,000 a day.

There are some serious racial divides going on at our HUB, and it goes up past the hub supervisor who seems to condone this cracking down of African American's working for him. My question is what can we do about this or does anyone have any advice for what we can do.

I've been working their for a about a year and a half, and I've noticed the racism become less subtle over that time.
 
If you are feeling harassed talk to you steward and tell him how you feel. You can film a grievance under article 36 & 37 and then go and talk about it at the local level hearing. Wrighting down dates and times of when these things happen will help out a lot also.
 

ups1990

Well-Known Member
These are serious allegations of racial discrimination and if are true, UPS is in big trouble. Here in So Cal, UPS had to pay out big money back in the 90's to African-American workers to due discrimination and we currently have many on-roads that took part in that lawsuit and so we can somewhat curtail this type of behavior.
The problem I see is differentiating from just plain management typical attitutude towards workers and something that goes beyond the norm like your situation. Have you spoken to other Black workers about their respective working situation?
 

Brownslave688

You want a toe? I can get you a toe.
Black people see discrimination everywhere cause they look for it everywhere. I'm not racist but there is prob twice as much "reverse" discrimination in this country as there is actual discrimination. Worry about doing your job and your job alone. Sounds like ups in general to me they harrass EVERYONE your not special.
 

gostillerz

Well-Known Member
I work on Preload at a mid-sized hub in the south. There is only 3 African American's working on the entire boxline, myself being one of them. I work at the end of the boxline, the other guy works at the top of the line behind the slide, and the last works on the north side by the slide. Everyday we all three get constant attention from the Full-time and Part-time sups about our jobs. My area, during non-peak, is about 1000 Pieces and it's all residential. The guy at the end of our boxline has around 1,250 pieces (5 trucks) and the guy on the North side pulls around 1300 (of which 3 of 5 trucks are bulk).

The attention we get is always negative and in the yelling form about how we need to speed up, we need to wrap up our areas quicker, etc. etc. the almost normal echo from the sups, but, they only seem to say and yell this in front of us. Even with such a high volume our start time keeps moving back later and later. It's gotten to the point that we're having to come in and work off that clock some mornings just so we aren't stacked out til 9 a.m. We all three constantly make over our 250 an hour, while most of our white co-worker who load 800 or less a day fall way off their goal of the 250 and nothing is ever done to them. The boxline calls for a plan of 205 of which we're always in the 190's... Yet the only people blamed for the poor performance are the three of us who (even though made our pieces) some how weren't done quick enough. Yet our white co-workers who only load around 800 a day are always stacked out at 8:30 and when they finish their load walk around and sit in the office laughing and talking with p/t and friend/t sups while on the clock.

The other problem we're having is with the way management treats us in general. The guy on the north side literally just had his first child. He told the full-time supervisor a week in advance that he'd have to leave a half an hour early on one day so that he could drive his wife and newborn to her first doctor's appointment, and the full-time sup gave him hell and told him that he couldn't do it.

On the flip side, our white co-workers, a few in particular are late EVERYDAY, call in at least 4 times a month because of (and I quote "headaches") and consistently do not make their pieces, but yet no adverse action is ever taken against them whereas I have been written up for being 5 minutes late (When it takes 7 minutes to walk from the parking lot to the computer). I'm 5' 11 and they have me loading from the middle cages. I've asked my full-time sup to move my area because I constantly bang my head on the cages going in and out of them. The other day I left work and got home I realized I had a huge cut and knot on the top of my head from this, and she still has done nothing.

The white guy (that was in the area before me) asked to be moved out before peak because he didn't like all the smalls that area got (and the fact that the area went up to about 2000 a day.) All the bulk that the African American guy on the North side gets comes from a truck that they had a white guy loading right before peak, but the white guy asked to work the slide (during a peak season where we had no new hires and only a few new temps) and they let him even though we were seeing north of 65,000 a day.

There are some serious racial divides going on at our HUB, and it goes up past the hub supervisor who seems to condone this cracking down of African American's working for him. My question is what can we do about this or does anyone have any advice for what we can do.

I've been working their for a about a year and a half, and I've noticed the racism become less subtle over that time.

Look in the mirror if you want to see racism.
 

NYdriver

Well-Known Member
It's not because your black, it's because you work at UPS.

UPS doesn't discriminate, they hate everyone equally.
 
Black people see discrimination everywhere cause they look for it everywhere. I'm not racist but there is prob twice as much "reverse" discrimination in this country as there is actual discrimination. Worry about doing your job and your job alone. Sounds like ups in general to me they harrass EVERYONE your not special.
This is an example of a post that shouldn't be made that someone wishes they could have back. Ignorant generalization of a Whole race of people.
 

Returntosender

Well-Known Member
It's not because your black, it's because you work at UPS.

UPS doesn't discriminate, they hate everyone equally.
The company UPS does'nt discriminate "supposedly". However Supervisors at UPS discriminate. As the other poster mentioned So Cal had to pay for discrimination.

UPS created mormon shorts for drivers who are LDS.
 
We call them "gangsta shorts" up here as they go down to your knees.
And they do look stupid but I wear them because they are a lot more comfortable than the short short daisy duke ones. Plus there is a lot more room for my man junk ( I got sick of women looking ant my bulge) it makes me feel like a civilian.
 
And they do look stupid but I wear them because they are a lot more comfortable than the short short daisy duke ones. Plus there is a lot more room for my man junk ( I got sick of women looking ant my bulge) it makes me feel like a civilian.

Looking at it or squinting to see it?
 

AssistantSanta

Well-Known Member
I've been working their for a about a year and a half, and I've noticed the racism become less subtle over that time.

How long have those people who are getting preferential treatment working? Its understanding that sometimes union reps provide preferential treatment for high seniority people.

Sometimes, people voice their concerns and there are responses like "it's unacceptable to treat an 18 year employee like this!" which seems to indicate there's a sense of preferential treatment for high seniority people.

Not sure if shop stewards carry this view as well.

Another thing I've noticed is that the way some people look down on someone for their age, which the law considers it a protected class discrimination (gender, AGE, race, sexual orientation, etc etc). You'll hear "some 20 year old KID who's wet behind the ears...." and such insulting comments.

Since you're observing fairly convincing dispearate treatment like some employees sitting and joking around while you're held to higher standards, its probably easier to make a case on that than racism, which is easier to deny.

When the supe is asked "please explain why you were observed sitting around and laughing on the clock with some employees while other employees who performed superior to those who did their work are getting performance warnings" its more challenging to give an answer than "its not racism".
 
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