What do you want in 2013 contract ?

[What'dyabringmetoday???]

That is UPS' reason for not allowing the practice in some areas. And truth be told, the real reason UPS frowns on the practice, is that your vacation pay is calculated as 1/52 of your prior years pay, so if you get paid your vacation AND work it, you increase your yearly pay and there by increase what a vacation will be worth next year.

I was more curious from a union stand point why many union members believe the practice should not be allowed and in fact will threaten to file grievances if it is. I get that it sucks for the lower seniority folks, but then so does most of the bumping that they have to put up with, but in those other situations they are told to live with it and wait their turn. I just don't get why that same philosophy does not apply here.

407, your thoughts?

Perhaps that is how vacations are calculated in some areas, but not here. 45 hours pay no matter how many hours you work or how much money you earned the prior year.

 

[RedThunder]

Well, if you select a weeks vacation it's not available for another driver to choose. Then you work said vacation. Cover driver is unable to take vacation and is unable to work also. As far as paying you twice, it's a wash. If you take it you get a weeks vacation pay plus cover driver gets his pay. 2 checks. If you work you get a vacation check plus your regular check, cover gets nothing. 2 checks.

Here vacation coverage jobs are bid jobs(regular full time drivers). On thursday of the preceding week a list goes up with vacations available to cover. You sign in seniority order what you want to cover. If no vacations, or if you don't sign list, you come in and are assigned to whatever route is available. So if you work a bid vacation you are actually taking the work a cover driver is entitled to.

 

[tardus]

Full time employees who started out as part-timers would do well to advocate that the next contract ensure that they receive $55/year retirement pension for every part-time year they worked -- even if they retire before age 65. Currently, the company reduces ther part-time portion of your pension by 6% for every year you are under age 65, even if you are retiring with 25, 30 or 35 years of service.

 

[Dynomite]

UPS is making Billions of dollars a Quarter why would anyone agree to give anything back to the company. Once you give something up you will never get it back.

I agree the the starting pay for PT is low however it can't be to bad people still apply for those jobs and they are currently guaranteed $3.37 in raise over the first 4 years.

You're kidding right? We had 3 new hires quit on my PD alone. Its almost not worth it. I'm going on a hunch and guessing you're a driver. When you got hired you got paid more. (relative to the time) Get paid barely minimum wage for a year before you get anything, working a job that's a lot harder then most part time jobs. The way PT get paid is joke and slap in our face. Knowing this company and the way the union caves I'm sure they will somehow lower it to minimum wage and scrap benefits all together. Not to mention the 10+ year waiting period to become a driver. My hub in FL has literally no FT jobs but driver and management. Its probably harder to become a FT manager then driver. I can't load for 10+ years waiting.. Their logic: Its a ****ty economy we will always have people applying.

 

[Brownslave688]

I want it in writing that no driver start time will be after 9am without their approval. This delivering til 10 or later is getting stupid. I even had a gun pulled on me at peak. If they can't get the air in earlier tough hire more air drivers.

 

[Scuderia]

More FT jobs. Hire more drivers and buy more trucks, and give all of them 40 hour weeks. Seriously, why don't they do this instead of paying so much overtime?

 

[Brownslave688]

Because they don't pay benefits on overtime so it's actually cheaper. That's why we need anything over 9.5 to be triple time.

 

[brownmonster]

I want it in writing that no driver start time will be after 9am without their approval. This delivering til 10 or later is getting stupid. I even had a gun pulled on me at peak. If they can't get the air in earlier tough hire more air drivers.

I have never delivered a pkg past 8:30 in 23 years of driving. I keep hearing about all these drivers working until 10 or later. Does everyone make 100K a year?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I have never delivered a pkg past 8:30 in 23 years of driving. I keep hearing about all these drivers working until 10 or later. Does everyone make 100K a year?

Nope--haven't cleared $70K in the past 3 years.

The latest I have ever worked was my first Peak when I punched out at 1:00 am Christmas morning. More recently if I work past 6:30 pm it is a late night.

 

[menotyou]

We have a route that makes whomever driving it, at least, $90,000.

 

[kingOFchester]

Well, if you select a weeks vacation it's not available for another driver to choose. Then you work said vacation. Cover driver is unable to take vacation and is unable to work also. As far as paying you twice, it's a wash. If you take it you get a weeks vacation pay plus cover driver gets his pay. 2 checks. If you work you get a vacation check plus your regular check, cover gets nothing. 2 checks.

Here vacation coverage jobs are bid jobs(regular full time drivers). On thursday of the preceding week a list goes up with vacations available to cover. You sign in seniority order what you want to cover. If no vacations, or if you don't sign list, you come in and are assigned to whatever route is available. So if you work a bid vacation you are actually taking the work a cover driver is entitled to.

Here, "they" don't even know who gave whom off. Every AM, they post a list of which cover driver is running which trip and who is extra. Then several things happen.

8:15, Cover driver A comes in and see's that he wants to run a trip that a less seniority driver is on. Several moves are made to accommodate driver A. This, could easily move 3-4 drivers.
8:20, Senior bid driver comes in and see's there are extras and he wants to go home. Several moves are made to accommodate senior driver.
8:25, Someone had called out but someone dropped the ball, so several moves are made to accommodate the call out.
8:30, Someone notices a trip is sitting and so several moves are made to accommodate the sitting trip
8:35, On a rare occasion, get message on DIAD "to meet another driver to swap trips as he doesn't know the trip he is on.

I have been moved 5 times in the AM.

 

[brownmonster]

We have a route that makes whomever driving it, at least, $90,000.

I'm on that pace so far this year.

 

[RedThunder]

Yea that's about where I'm at too. I'd guess about 88k-92K. Made 91.4K last year. We have some feeder drivers who make 110K, I don't like to work that much.

 

[willis]

Better benefits/retirement---we currently enjoy an industry leading benefit and retirement package while most employers have either scaled back or begun passing the costs on to their employees. Be thankful for what you have as it is not going to improve.

Better sick days--see above.

Small raises--we make enough money. It is time to take care of the part timers.

Stock options--thanks, but no thanks.


The reality is that the use of Telematics for discipline will become contract language in 2013.

We currently do not pay for healthcare and, while I would prefer to have that continue and receive a raise, if forced to choose I would prefer free healthcare.

Although this is not an issue in my center, it is obvious that 9.5 is an issue in others and strengthening the 9.5 language is essential.

I would not be surprised to see a two-tiered wage system for new FT hires proposed by the company and a signing bonus offered to get it implemented. New FT hires would have a lower starting wage, lower top out and longer progression.

I would like to see the company allow their male employees to have neatly trimmed facial hair beyond that currently allowed. This will never happen but it doesn't mean I wouldn't like to see it.

Free healthcare
Raises for PTers
Telematics used for discipline
Two-tiered wages
9.5 language
Beards

are you serious?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

are you serious?

Yes.

 

['Lord Brown's bidding']

All of the drivers asking for more fulltime jobs: why would the company do something that does not help increase those "record profits"? It has been shown that growth and profits come from air/international. How do we ground drivers help that?

To those who complain about PT pay: is there a job out there doing comparable work that pays better? Or gives bennies after 6? How many PT you know make $20 an HR? I know PTs who make that. My loader-who has been here 6 yrs,I believe-makes $15. How many PT warehouse workers make that with bennies?

I find the talk about triple time OT intriguing. I think it woukd be foolish to strike over such a thing, but something needs to be done about the excessive OT. I don't get all the OT you guys get. I work a couple days over 10 hrs and my center manager is complaining how I gotta get in sooner and my load is lightened accordingly. I read about drivers "training" their customers; I've done similar with my dispatch, and although my cover can finish my route by 5, they know I will burn for tjem OT, and in my district (metro philly) that matters . Does that not matter in your districts/centers?

 

['Lord Brown's bidding']

Another thought: do all of you use the cell phone discounts (for me its $17/month, or an hour of dbl time for a rookie PT)? Do you tell parttimers about it? What about the discounts for buying new cars? When I hired on as a loader i didn't expect much, but I see value in the job; you have to go get it. And drivers, use the 9.5 grievances to start training your dispatchers if excessice OT is no big deal to your mgr.

 

[bottomups]

I have never delivered a pkg past 8:30 in 23 years of driving. I keep hearing about all these drivers working until 10 or later. Does everyone make 100K a year?

One of the "PERKS" of being a satellite driver is that you don't have to be back at the building on a daily basis to make the last trailer pulls for either ground or air. Some days I feel like a castaway on some deserted island. They drop a TP60 in some god forsaken 2 horse town and you start from there and travel farther into the unknown. Their is no help available for miles so we just peddle parcels until we are done. Many nights past 8:30, especially around peak. Have been over 100K the last three years, but a good share of that is bonus.

 

[yeldarb]

High mileage routes are usually nice bonus routes. People underestimate the value of a legitimate mile on a time allowance. Key word: "legitimate".

 

[willis]

Yes.

cost of living must be pretty low where you live. there's never enough money for this job.