When to file on harassment?

8000Shelf

Well-Known Member
As many of you know management has techniques to harass us with out directly doing so. I keep good documentation but is my word enough for my local to take up the would be grievance? Or is it better to wait until they slip up and blatantly do so with possibly even witnesses? You'll have to excuse me for posting this kind of thing on BC but my stewards are fairly unhelpful.
 

El Correcto

god is dead
UPS Helpline-document your case numbers this hotline does shake them up.
From what I understand anything more than 1 3 day ride along is harassment by over supervision. Pretty sure they can look at their telematics for you all day long but without collaberating evidence it's not worth much.
 

El Correcto

god is dead
If they harass you in front of a witness file and call hotline get the witness to fill out a statement with details giving time, what happened, where and who was involved. Attatch it to your winning grievance.
 

Gotout

Active Member
This is a tough one. Many operations have management where they feel like they can act with impunity. The culture breeds it. They're getting their tails kicked on a daily basis.

In order for the local to take it up, there has to be a grievance. This is your way of formally documenting the issue. The problem is that with Article 37 grievances like this, there's no financial penalty for the company. Your BA and the center manager or DM will sit down, pay on all the sup working grievances, pay on all the 9.5 grievances and settle you grievance as "company will comply with Article 37".

A call to the 800 number will cause an hr sup to have to interview you and the management and any named witnesses. Then they'll close your case and the issue still won't be solved.

There are NLRB charges, EEOC charges and actual lawsuits as well. The problem here is that in these cases harassment has a legal definition and the things that they did were more likely hostile, petty, agrivating or childish than actually harassing.

So what can you do?
Ignore them and rest easy in the fact that as long as you stay safe and don't "steal time" it's very hard for them to do anything to you.

Try to get off their radar. Keep your head down and play nice.

Go to war. This one sounds good, but takes a lot of energy. Read the contract. File on everything. Sup shuttles a misload? File. Sup touches a package? File. Get on the 9.5 list. File. Submit two 8 hour requests per month. File. Air driver brings you a ground misload? File. Bathroom out of toilet paper? File. Learn Article 18 and go nuts. Bog them down. A single motivated member can derail an entire center. Just remember that in a war there are casualties on both sides.

But why listen to me, I GotOut
 

Oh Shoot

Well-Known Member
This is a tough one. Many operations have management where they feel like they can act with impunity. The culture breeds it. They're getting their tails kicked on a daily basis.

In order for the local to take it up, there has to be a grievance. This is your way of formally documenting the issue. The problem is that with Article 37 grievances like this, there's no financial penalty for the company. Your BA and the center manager or DM will sit down, pay on all the sup working grievances, pay on all the 9.5 grievances and settle you grievance as "company will comply with Article 37".

A call to the 800 number will cause an hr sup to have to interview you and the management and any named witnesses. Then they'll close your case and the issue still won't be solved.

There are NLRB charges, EEOC charges and actual lawsuits as well. The problem here is that in these cases harassment has a legal definition and the things that they did were more likely hostile, petty, agrivating or childish than actually harassing.

So what can you do?
Ignore them and rest easy in the fact that as long as you stay safe and don't "steal time" it's very hard for them to do anything to you.

Try to get off their radar. Keep your head down and play nice.

Go to war. This one sounds good, but takes a lot of energy. Read the contract. File on everything. Sup shuttles a misload? File. Sup touches a package? File. Get on the 9.5 list. File. Submit two 8 hour requests per month. File. Air driver brings you a ground misload? File. Bathroom out of toilet paper? File. Learn Article 18 and go nuts. Bog them down. A single motivated member can derail an entire center. Just remember that in a war there are casualties on both sides.

But why listen to me, I GotOut
True...i tell drivers to pick their battles.
 

Overpaid Union Thug

Well-Known Member
The best way to solve any problem is at the source. The source here are the suits and bean counters in Atlanta that are in a disconnect from reality. The people that should be setting them straight are the regione and/or district level managers but instead they project fear and intimidation down into the lower management ranks in order to get their numbers.

The center managers then project that fear and intimation onto the drivers. When that fails they turn to good ole fashioned numbers fudging. Either by center management staff or drivers.
 

undies

Well-Known Member
Like I've said before, harassment is subjective and based on how you feel. They can treat 100 people the same way and if you, the 1% feel harassed you are entitled to complain and/or file a grievance. They may think you're crazy or being dramatic, but doesn't matter, they HAVE to take it seriously. Stand your ground and up for yourself.
 

Gotout

Active Member
they HAVE to take it seriously.
This is naive man. I assure that the don't. Not your center manager, not his boss and not HR. Not the panel, not the labor board. Your feeling and interpretations are not valued.

You can file any grievance you want, sure. And it will mean nothing and go nowhere. Even in a strong local.

If you are being treated a certain way because of your standing as a protected status, or with the expectation of sexual favor, THAT is harassment. If they are being mean to you out of spite or because they don't like you, you have nothing. Your grievance means nothing.

Life hurts, buy a helmet.
...or go to war.

But don't listen to me. I GotOut.
 

8000Shelf

Well-Known Member
This is naive man. I assure that the don't. Not your center manager, not his boss and not HR. Not the panel, not the labor board. Your feeling and interpretations are not valued.

You can file any grievance you want, sure. And it will mean nothing and go nowhere. Even in a strong local.


So you need defined proof or evidence that the harassment occurred in order for the grievance to mean anything..? And that would make sense, the childish game playing / abusive nature I'm referring to. Management knows better than to come out and harass me/ us, so they do it with subtlety. Which brings me to my next question... how do I prove it? I document everything word for word on daily basis as is.
 

8000Shelf

Well-Known Member
It's like mgmt. presents you with the situation that you have a choice. "Go to war" with them or be their whipping pole. Either way it's a rough ride, which is what they want I suppose. But why for an employee that all he/she is doing is their best? Why pick on that one? To provide stress in the workplace? (which is of course part of the philosophy aka mgmt. by stress) To lower pension costs and increase the amount of drivers that are in progression? Which leads me full circle... how do you protect yourself if the game they play can't directly be proven, there by which, grieved?
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
It's like mgmt. presents you with the situation that you have a choice. "Go to war" with them or be their whipping pole. Either way it's a rough ride, which is what they want I suppose. But why for an employee that all he/she is doing is their best? Why pick on that one? To provide stress in the workplace? (which is of course part of the philosophy aka mgmt. by stress) To lower pension costs and increase the amount of drivers that are in progression? Which leads me full circle... how do you protect yourself if the game they play can't directly be proven, there by which, grieved?

You protect yourself by standing up to them in a respectful manner.
 

Tired Driver

Sisyphus had it easy.
This is a tough one. Many operations have management where they feel like they can act with impunity. The culture breeds it. They're getting their tails kicked on a daily basis.

In order for the local to take it up, there has to be a grievance. This is your way of formally documenting the issue. The problem is that with Article 37 grievances like this, there's no financial penalty for the company. Your BA and the center manager or DM will sit down, pay on all the sup working grievances, pay on all the 9.5 grievances and settle you grievance as "company will comply with Article 37".

A call to the 800 number will cause an hr sup to have to interview you and the management and any named witnesses. Then they'll close your case and the issue still won't be solved.

There are NLRB charges, EEOC charges and actual lawsuits as well. The problem here is that in these cases harassment has a legal definition and the things that they did were more likely hostile, petty, agrivating or childish than actually harassing.

So what can you do?
Ignore them and rest easy in the fact that as long as you stay safe and don't "steal time" it's very hard for them to do anything to you.

Try to get off their radar. Keep your head down and play nice.

Go to war. This one sounds good, but takes a lot of energy. Read the contract. File on everything. Sup shuttles a misload? File. Sup touches a package? File. Get on the 9.5 list. File. Submit two 8 hour requests per month. File. Air driver brings you a ground misload? File. Bathroom out of toilet paper? File. Learn Article 18 and go nuts. Bog them down. A single motivated member can derail an entire center. Just remember that in a war there are casualties on both sides.

But why listen to me, I GotOut

I am currently at war in my center. I am filing on everything I see and being vocal to all drivers about my harassment.
 

BostonBo

Well-Known Member
Have you tried to have a sit down, to put this matter to rest? I've had to do this twice in 25 years to get a harassing sup to back off. They lightened up a little, and I was less if an ass towards them. Win/win.
 
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