building heat @ 45 degrees

[menotyou]

It got down in the low 20's here last week and I was still wearing shorts and leaving my BH door open. I will admit to having the heater cranked though.

During the preload operation the doors to our building are kept closed and there are electric heaters located above the conveyer belts. The outdoor MDUs dont have electric heat, but when it gets cold they set up one of those portable propane "salamander" heaters at the end of each one. In the evening when the doors are necessarily kept open, the building just gets cold. There wouldnt be any feasable way to keep it warm. The clerks do have portable heaters because they dont move much, but the hub workers stay warm by working harder.

The only source of heat in our building for b.u. employees is the one that is locked. When you are loading you stay warm, but in any of the clerking jobs, you freeze. I should be happy that there is a store that sells hats, coats and mittens near by so the people who get up at 3 am for 4 hours a day and $200 a week can go spend a week's wages to just stay warm.

 

[Integrity]

Has anyone else had their thermostat locked by plant engineering and set at 45 degrees?

menotyou,

I agree with your objection to this practice.

What do you suppose you should do about it?

Sincerely,
I

 

[soberups]

The only source of heat in our building for b.u. employees is the one that is locked. When you are loading you stay warm, but in any of the clerking jobs, you freeze. I should be happy that there is a store that sells hats, coats and mittens near by so the people who get up at 3 am for 4 hours a day and $200 a week can go spend a week's wages to just stay warm.

Where are you located? Its odd that in your location the clerks are left to freeze, whereas at my building they set up portable electric heaters at each clerk station.

Im a big fan of common sense. Common sense tells me that a 200-car building cant really be kept warm in the evening when the doors have to be left open. Common sense tells me that the loaders and unloaders will usually be able to stay warm thru physical exertion, but that clerks and office personell cant and should therefore be provided with some sort of heat. In my building at least, it would seem that common sense has prevailed thru the availability of portable heaters where needed.

 

[menotyou]

Where are you located? Its odd that in your location the clerks are left to freeze, whereas at my building they set up portable electric heaters at each clerk station.

Im a big fan of common sense. Common sense tells me that a 200-car building cant really be kept warm in the evening when the doors have to be left open. Common sense tells me that the loaders and unloaders will usually be able to stay warm thru physical exertion, but that clerks and office personell cant and should therefore be provided with some sort of heat. In my building at least, it would seem that common sense has prevailed thru the availability of portable heaters where needed.

Lake Ontario's dumping ground.

 

[menotyou]

menotyou,

I agree with your objection to this practice.

What do you suppose you should do about it?

Sincerely,
I

As I am not the one affected, I wish for the clerks to have heated gel pads, and the heat to be preprogrammed into the thermostat.
i do not except a building to be heated if no one is working. And, no one wants it too warm. Just reasonable;

 

[JonFrum]

Here's what the Contract says . . .

ARTICLE 18. SAFETY AND HEALTH EQUIPMENT, ACCIDENTS AND REPORTS
Section 6. Building Heat
Centers will be heated, where practical.

On a facility-by-facility basis, the Employer will evaluate whether additional ventilation or heat is needed for purposes of safety and health. This will include clerical work areas outside of office structures in the UPS facilities. Should clerical employees have concerns with respect to these two (2) issues, they shall be addressed by the appropriate local CHSP Committee. Should the local CHSP Committee not satisfactorily address the issue, a grievance may be filed and would be sent directly to the National Safety and Health Grievance Committee.

 

[menotyou]

Here's what the Contract says . . .

ARTICLE 18. SAFETY AND HEALTH EQUIPMENT, ACCIDENTS AND REPORTS
Section 6. Building Heat
Centers will be heated, where practical.

On a facility-by-facility basis, the Employer will evaluate whether additional ventilation or heat is needed for purposes of safety and health. This will include clerical work areas outside of office structures in the UPS facilities. Should clerical employees have concerns with respect to these two (2) issues, they shall be addressed by the appropriate local CHSP Committee. Should the local CHSP Committee not satisfactorily address the issue, a grievance may be filed and would be sent directly to the National Safety and Health Grievance Committee.

We have never had a situation with heat like this before. Have we been without heat? Yes, because they wouldn't pay the company who had to fix the furnace. This is the first winter that the heat has been set at 45 degrees. For the 7 years I was on preload, it was warm. We had a different district manager then, also.
The problem with grievance as of late, is that they have a target. If you grieve, they will make you pay.
You have to have some broad shoulders. Its very easy to sit back and say "Grieve". I know. I still have the bullseye on my back.
Maybe its different in other divisions, not here.

 

[menotyou]

70 miles north of Syracuse.

 

[mannrthhmeoftwlkups]

if your in ny call 311 see how fast the heat issue gets corrected

 

[Billy Boxtosser]

The problem with grievance as of late, is that they have a target. If you grieve, they will make you pay.
You have to have some broad shoulders. Its very easy to sit back and say "Grieve". I know. I still have the bullseye on my back.
Maybe its different in other divisions, not here.

Sounds alot like when I used to work in Cleveland. I've had that bullseye on me for quite a few years.

 

[disgruntled]

Well OSHA is a joke when it comes to sanitary and heating issues, if you call about heating issues they send a letter to management and the managements says they will look into the complaint then they wait a few days and reply to OSHA with " We have looked into the complaint and do not find that we are doing anything wrong" and OSHA drops it. If and when you actually get OSHA to come and take temperatures in the hub they come at noon time after the doors have been closed for 4 hours and the sun have warmed the building and on top of that they use a long pole to get a temp reading 12 feet above ground level where it is nice and warm.
Most states have a min temp LAW here is Massachusetts call the state next time you have heating issues as OSHA is useless when it comes to non safety issues.
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=elwdter...inalcontent&friend=dos_mwshp_hib382&csid=Elwd

 

[1timepu]

It is against the Law to be below 45 inside the hub

 

[disgruntled]

It is against the Law to be below 45 inside the hub

It is against the law to be below 60 degrees in the hub

 

[Billy Boxtosser]

It is against the law to be below 60 degrees in the hub

I always thought UPS was above the law!! HAHAHA

 

[menotyou]

It is against the law to be below 60 degrees in the hub

Tell that to Preload and Metro in my building. They grieved and no one cared.

 

[steward71]

Got that right we have grieved for over 6 years now. My BA told us at the last meeting someone "needs to greive this" about 15 of us walked out of the hall rolling. He called later wanting to know why we were making fun of him. I said look in my file. He goes and comes back and says he did not know about this. I told him yes you did from 06, 07 ,08 ,09,10 and this year. All of them stated with the BA's hand "LOOK INTO THIS". He stated now it does not matter it is almost summer and he still thinks it is going to the national panel, I told yep to set there deadlocked. That is why some of my other post are telling people to put gloves and hats on. It is never going to change.

 

[menotyou]

It will if someone complains to the building codes dep't. That is where I will be going this fall if they try that crap again.

 

[steward71]

the codes dept? Who would this be I have tried almost ever dept. besides the Sh**BA Dept. LOL not makeing fun of my BA could not help it.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

the codes dept? Who would this be I have tried almost ever dept. besides the Sh**BA Dept. LOL not makeing fun of my BA could not help it.

In NY they have Building Code enforcement officers but I don't think heat falls under their juridstiction.

 

[UPSSOCKS]

You people work in a warehouse, there is no law governing temperature. You may want to re-read whatever law you are talking about. There are loopholes and UPS is one of them. Some locals have a contract with UPS that has language about the temperatures of the buildings, but it is often ignored. I knew a steward once that came to me about the temperature in the building. It was a bitter winter. I asked him to come into my office and sit down. I Gave him a hot cup of coffee and a Jimmy Dean sausage sandwich. Our conversation ended with me being extremely busy but I told the steward to stop by the next day and we would talk some more. The greedy steward stopped by everyday that winter for his hot cup of joe, and Jimmy Dean sandwich some days we didn't even talk.