100 years of culture

[tieguy]

"It seems to me the "young-uns" don't really give a S#$% about good service."

I agree! But they get that attitude from the management team.

Think about it. Some young kid just starting, doesn't know how it used to be. All he sees is the management team running around with their noses buried in daily reports. It would seem that service means nothing. It's all about the numbers....

Some of you will say we've always had reports. Well, we've always had the daily OR. Now there is an amazing number of daily reports. Can we name them all?

1. The OR.

2. Late air.

3. SSI accounts not delivered on time.

4. P/Us not made in window.


There's more. But there's no report for "good service". No one cares anymore.

I agree we do have a lot of reports. Probably too many. But why would you ever want to stop generating a report that tells you how many late airs you had?

 

[local804]

Stop discriminating? UPS already promotes too many people based on race or gender. Haven't you seen the pamplets and articles in "Inside UPS" bragging about winning awards for "Being Most Diversified"?? EOE is nothing but another way of saying Affirmative Action. Affirmative Action is discrimination. I don't care how much people try to sugar coat it. That is what it is. Jobs should be filled based on what an employee puts in the "previous experience" section on an application. Not the "race or gender" section. When Martin Luther King was fighting so hard to promote equality he didn't mean that one group should be given special treatment over the other simply because they are in the minority. Hiring people to meet a "racial quota" doesn't sound like equality to me.

HAvent you seen the pamplets in "Inside UPS"?
Actually, No.... I dont bother reading what the company thinks they do, I rely on the facts. Watching numerous women getting layed off when they clearly CAN do the job just they would rather have the "stronger male"
I can go on about the african americans but I will not, I didnt say boo about hiring to meet a quota now did I? Ever hear about age discrimination?
Please dont put words in my mouth
Where is that girl anyway

 

[brown bomber]

re: the young drivers (runners)...they just don't get it...I had to take a day off last wk., for a personal matter...I spend more time on the phone and messaging the mgt. team than I ever had in the past...I probably wasted at least an hr. putting out the fires caused by this "driver".....Our Company used to be known as United Parcel SERVICE...now it's just UPS..I think it should be shortened to just UP

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

HAvent you seen the pamplets in "Inside UPS"?
Actually, No.... I dont bother reading what the company thinks they do, I rely on the facts. Watching numerous women getting layed off when they clearly CAN do the job just they would rather have the "stronger male"
I can go on about the african americans but I will not, I didnt say boo about hiring to meet a quota now did I? Ever hear about age discrimination?
Please dont put words in my mouth
Where is that girl anyway

If a female can't perform the job and get's laif off (which should only be within their first 30 days at UPS) and a male takes her place it is not because of discrimination. It is because the job has requirements and those requirements must be met in order to meet the requirements of someone that doen't care what color or gender the person was that handled their package....THE CUSTOMER. I know for a fact that females can do the jobs. Some of the best loaders I've seen were small women. The problem is that in todays culture most women don't want to do those type of jobs. So, it's pretty safe to say it's not discrimination. We had a girl complain about being passed over on preferred,but non-bid, jobs. She not only claimed it was sexual discrimination but racial as well becuase she was black. Both back fired on her quickly when she was given the opportunity (again) to prove she could handle the job in question. Well, to keep a long story short....she couldn't keep up and everyone pointed out the fact that there were other blacks on the shift that had moved on to better jobs. That ended that rediculous ordeal. People today need to get away from playing the race card, or gender card, to get what they want and need to realize that things should be earned. That's what makes, or used to make, this country great. A competitive drive. Now people expect hand outs.

 

[local804]

Things are different in all parts of the country as we clearly see from many topics on this board. We differ in retirement, pensions, days off and holiday pay to name a few and we all work for the same company. If you dont see any sort of discrimination in your neck of the woods, thats fine and dandy because I do. Everyone is quick to respond to a women I place in the post but I just used her as an example. Age, race ,religion, weight , disabilities all come into play with this topic. Just because you dont see it where you are, does NOT mean it cant happen here.

The word discrimination comes from the Latin "discriminare", which means to "distinguish between". However, discrimination, as used in this article, is more than distinction or differentiation; it is action based on prejudice resulting in unfair treatment of people. To discriminate socially is to make a distinction between people on the basis of class or category without regard to individual merit. Examples of social discrimination include racial, religious, sexual, weight, disability, ethnic, height-related, employment discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination and age-related discrimination.

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

Things are different in all parts of the country as we clearly see from many topics on this board. We differ in retirement, pensions, days off and holiday pay to name a few and we all work for the same company. If you dont see any sort of discrimination in your neck of the woods, thats fine and dandy because I do. Everyone is quick to respond to a women I place in the post but I just used her as an example. Age, race ,religion, weight , disabilities all come into play with this topic. Just because you dont see it where you are, does NOT mean it cant happen here.

The word discrimination comes from the Latin "discriminare", which means to "distinguish between". However, discrimination, as used in this article, is more than distinction or differentiation; it is action based on prejudice resulting in unfair treatment of people. To discriminate socially is to make a distinction between people on the basis of class or category without regard to individual merit. Examples of social discrimination include racial, religious, sexual, weight, disability, ethnic, height-related, employment discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination and age-related discrimination.

Give examples of what you are seeing. I'm just not seeing it here. I've seen numerous accusations of race or/and gender discriminationm, as well as any others, but they are always false. Usually someone is just trying to play the card to get what they want. I see this outside of work. In the news mostly. Take the Duke Lacross case. Now that was just a shamefull attempt to turn it into a race issue. Same thing with Katrina. And any time a black person is involved in a crime the NAACP gets involved. Especially if it involves white people. Jesse Jackson and the rest of the fruads come out and try to take advantage of the situation. It puts money in their pockets. That is my point. Too many times when someone claims racial discrimination, or gender, it is, more often than not, just a pure case of opportunism. Granted there are cases of true discrimination but people are too quick to cry foul when it really isn't. And they aren't all just trying to play the card to get what they want. Some are clinging to the theory that if they are a minority and they don't get something they want then it has to be discrimination. They are brought up to believe it. That is so rediculous. They don't stop to think that maybe they didn't deserve it and that there was someone else that did.

 

[Channahon]

There is a diffence between diversity in the workplace and discrimination.

Diversity is based on the demographics of the area you live in. So any large city that is very diverse, the guidelines for the district is to ensure all diverse employees are represented.
So if an area is 60% hispanic - 60% of your employees should be hispanic. And so on based on different race classifications.

Now can a company comply with those stats - maybe, however, if the applicant pool does not refect those numbers, then it is understandable other races will be hired based on need.

UPS is very aware of employment guidelines.

Unfortunately discrimination is more complex.
That issue goes back to when the immigrants first came to the US. Every ethnic group at one time or another knew what jobs they could get and which ones they could'nt - some being politically driven. And some employer driven. Some jobs were only available if US citizenship was attained (USPS) others based on permanent residency staus, and other based on illegal immigrant status. History and current events being issues to our attention every day.

As an example, the recent rallies by illegal immigrants, stating they are not criminals, just looking for a better life, but for whatever reason, they cannot get here legally. So do they have rights in the USA - No

I know this is a long post, being a female, and ensuring I developed my employees to get them ready for the next level, (hourly - if they chose a feeder or management )this is an area I took pride in when working for UPS.

 

[DS]

Here in Canada we are totally diversified,we have every possible culture living here except maybe mexicans,which
there are very few.I guess they all got tired of walking and settled in Texas...I only remember one case of so called discrimination here and all the guy said was why dont you back where you came from...they both got paid for the time off.We have guys with turbans ,guys that pray, nobody has
admitted being gay yet but it wouldn`t surprise me.
Of course, not that theres anything wrong with that.

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

There is a diffence between diversity in the workplace and discrimination.

Diversity is based on the demographics of the area you live in. So any large city that is very diverse, the guidelines for the district is to ensure all diverse employees are represented.
So if an area is 60% hispanic - 60% of your employees should be hispanic. And so on based on different race classifications.

Now can a company comply with those stats - maybe, however, if the applicant pool does not refect those numbers, then it is understandable other races will be hired based on need.

I look at it this way....not getting hired for a job because of being a minority AND not getting hired because of NOT being a minority are both the same thing. DISCRIMINATION. Using race to fill a job is discrimination. Even if it's not based on hate and only because the company is searching for a token employee to meet a percentage based on population statistics. Finding the employee most qualified for the job should be the goal and race or gender should not be a factor.

 

[raceanoncr]

I look at it this way....not getting hired for a job because of being a minority AND not getting hired because of NOT being a minority are both the same thing. DISCRIMINATION. Using race to fill a job is discrimination. Even if it's not based on hate and only because the company is searching for a token employee to meet a percentage based on population statistics. Finding the employee most qualified for the job should be the goal and race or gender should not be a factor.

I have to agree with this one. I, personally, am against affirmative action in any area. I think one should be hired or promoted on merit, not on quota.

Here,locally, I think the hiring process has been very fair, unfortunately, it LOOKS unbalanced. Why? Exam:
We had one long-time female that broke ground here. Was one of first to be hired, male or female. Was feeder driver til retired. Worked her arse off! Never asked for nor received a quarter. Helped YOU hook up your doubles, you helped HER do same. Would shift, work as directed, not a bit of slack in her stride. Nobody had a problem with her. We didn't care if she was female.
On the other hand, a couple were hired that just couldn't make it. One had to be given an extra SEVEN weeks of training! Could I have been afforded that? Went bezerk at the first hint of snow or ice. Had meltdown one storm when everyone else had no trouble. Called it "Panic Attack". Finally got fired for refusing to work as directed. Had to go home to take adult child to DR!

Another has been complete pain in the rear from day one. Threatening to file harass suits everwhere! On ties and hrlys. Calls in sick regularly, goes home sick regularly, etc.

Others have tried but just can't make it. Is it prejudice? Here, I don't think so, I've seen most of em and I wouldn't hire em, male OR female!

 

[Sammie]

Stop discriminating? UPS already promotes too many people based on race or gender. Haven't you seen the pamplets and articles in "Inside UPS" bragging about winning awards for "Being Most Diversified"?? EOE is nothing but another way of saying Affirmative Action. Affirmative Action is discrimination. I don't care how much people try to sugar coat it. That is what it is. Jobs should be filled based on what an employee puts in the "previous experience" section on an application. Not the "race or gender" section. When Martin Luther King was fighting so hard to promote equality he didn't mean that one group should be given special treatment over the other simply because they are in the minority. Hiring people to meet a "racial quota" doesn't sound like equality to me.

Couldn't agree with you more on this Affirmative Action issue.

But it's not just at UPS by a far cry:

While attending the same college that I did, my roommate, a young man of color, would waltz into the financial aids office about once a month and collect "emergency funds", which made his life at the time considerably easier. This was not an option for the rest of us, who survived on Top Ramon for 2 years.

My father, now retired, was employed with the State of California. During his career there, one of his responsibilities was to hire the forest rangers. He of course chose the applicants who had the best college grades and the most time spent out in the field. Until it was handed down that he had to start hiring a significant % based on race, regardless of their grades and experience.

Kind of blows your mind.... 1

 

[local804]

It looks like a post about discrimination turned into a topic about ethnic quotas to be filled by companies. I will be the first in line to fight for the most qualified person to fill any spot in any company point blank. I was talking about a company ( which I will not name in this post) that was taken to a court and when the defendant learned about the witnesses, settled the case out of court immediatly. The Plaintiff was awarded a ton of money not to persue any longer and have the lawsuit settled. If I could tell more about it I would but.....

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

Couldn't agree with you more on this Affirmative Action issue.

But it's not just at UPS by a far cry:

While attending the same college that I did, my roommate, a young man of color, would waltz into the financial aids office about once a month and collect "emergency funds", which made his life at the time considerably easier. This was not an option for the rest of us, who survived on Top Ramon for 2 years.

My father, now retired, was employed with the State of California. During his career there, one of his responsibilities was to hire the forest rangers. He of course chose the applicants who had the best college grades and the most time spent out in the field. Until it was handed down that he had to start hiring a significant % based on race, regardless of their grades and experience.

Kind of blows your mind.... 1

Yeah crap like that makes my blood boil. When is this crap ever going to end?

 

[Sammie]

What do you all think about the UPS culture? Do you think there need to be changes made? This company is a throwback to the old way of doing business. Does it still work?

Personally, in many ways I feel we are going backwards, not
forward. Many of you are drivers who are in the center for a few minutes am and pm or the p/t ers who are in the hub for
a few hours a day and don't get inside scoops.

After having spent many moons at UPS on the "inside" behind Door Number One, and based on personal observations, there some issues I wish would improve-

Better cooperation between the hub, package centers, I.E.
feeders, the airport, etc. It seems a huge case of sibling rivalry between these divisions and a lot of finger pointing when something goes wrong rather than basic cooperation.

I think this company has switched gears to focus on saving money to the extreme. Your sups and center manager's don't share with you how much $ they have to save this month or this year while running their center and this frustration naturally rolls downhill. I often wondered how they should accomplish this;
maybe sit in their office all day with the lights off and stop
buying TP for the restroom??

Can't tell you the countless inside cost cutting measures I've witnessed across the board because I don't feel they need to be public knowledge, but many of the unnecessary ones seriously affected the morale in their departments, which is a big, fat shame.

And, most importantly, I think Jim Casey would be spinning in his grave over this one - the drivers and the hourlies are NOT the enemy. They are the worker bees and without them, what do you think you'd have?

 

[local804]

And, most importantly, I think Jim Casey would be spinning in his grave over this one - the drivers and the hourlies are NOT the enemy. They are the worker bees and without them, what do you think you'd have?

couldnt agree more!

 

[satellitedriver]

Things are different in all parts of the country as we clearly see from many topics on this board. We differ in retirement, pensions, days off and holiday pay to name a few and we all work for the same company. If you dont see any sort of discrimination in your neck of the woods, thats fine and dandy because I do. Everyone is quick to respond to a women I place in the post but I just used her as an example. Age, race ,religion, weight , disabilities all come into play with this topic. Just because you dont see it where you are, does NOT mean it cant happen here.

The word discrimination comes from the Latin "discriminare", which means to "distinguish between". However, discrimination, as used in this article, is more than distinction or differentiation; it is action based on prejudice resulting in unfair treatment of people. To discriminate socially is to make a distinction between people on the basis of class or category without regard to individual merit. Examples of social discrimination include racial, religious, sexual, weight, disability, ethnic, height-related, employment discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination and age-related discrimination.

Federal mandated quota's are of form of prejudice.
Age, race and religion should never apply to one's ability to do or acquire a job. Weight and disability could possibly prevent one from doing a specific job.

This will probably tic some people off. So be it.
It was a "joke" that was told in the late 70's and still applies today.

An ACLU lawyer comes into the office of a company and explains to owner of the company that by law he must employ 75% white, 20% Black and 5% other ethnic races. If he did not comply, he would be sued for discrimination.After a short pause, the owner picked up the phone and called in his HR director. When the HR director arrived ,the boss told him to go into the factory and fired the first 10 black people he sees and the next 8 Hispanics, Then go out and hire the first 18 white people he can find.
The ACLU laywer screamed "You can't do that!".
The boss calmly replied,"You demanded I meet the federal qouta and I just did".
It is not discrimination, if one can not do the job.

 

[upsgrunt]

I agree about UPS Going overboard When trying to save money. It seems like management has the attitude that drivers are out to cheat the company and refuse to implement our ideas. I mean a waste of money is Corporate telling region telling IE telling districts telling centers how many routes to run. Just today we had a supe telling us he gets nasty phone calls when a part timer has 2 minutes of overtime, but when drivers get 3 hours it is no big deal. Saving money is fine; how about using the drivers and part timers ideas to do so. Not all genuis' are in IE.

 

[brownmonster]

When you are incabable of getting new volume you have to keep squeezing more profit out of the volume you have.