FIRED FOR ROLLING PACKAGE

[UPSjedi41]

I

I will tell you how. On my route, I have several business pick ups in trace. So, deliver packages and pick up packages get mixed up, despite my efforts to keep them separate. When you go out with 300 pieces, and are making pick ups at 11am, stuff gets mixed up. I have had on several occasions, delivery boxes fall into a tote box that has small pick ups in it. After that happened to me the first time. I would go through my car, including totes with pick ups, looking for any missing package.

Some of our routes are far worse than that. Deliver until 3:00, break off to do pickups for 2 hours, pick up 300-500 pieces. Then go deliver the last 25-50 stops after that. When you are missing a package then, you don't know if its buried in the truck or was never there to begin with.

 

[Nothing by 1030 anymore]

If you don't want to get fired when there is a suprise audit, you must know what's in ur truck. Any excuse won't matter to ups.

 

[Northbaypkg]

Some of our routes are far worse than that. Deliver until 3:00, break off to do pickups for 2 hours, pick up 300-500 pieces. Then go deliver the last 25-50 stops after that. When you are missing a package then, you don't know if its buried in the truck or was never there to begin with.

You just perfectly described my route.

 

[Mugarolla]

Some of our routes are far worse than that. Deliver until 3:00, break off to do pickups for 2 hours, pick up 300-500 pieces. Then go deliver the last 25-50 stops after that. When you are missing a package then, you don't know if its buried in the truck or was never there to begin with.

And this is possibly a valid reason to have an unscanned package on your package car.

Now go and read the OP's post and tell me if it sounds like you described.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

And this is possibly a valid reason to have an unscanned package on your package car.

There is never a valid reason to have an unscanned package on your package car.

 

[Mugarolla]

There is never a valid reason to have an unscanned package on your package car.

True.

But my point was that if a driver could convince his center manager that this was the reason, that he could not find it, that it got mixed in with P/U pieces, he may not be discharged.

 

[40 and out]

You are not going to be discharged for missing 1 scan. Either you have to have a history of missing scans or they want to get you for something else that they can't and they use the missed scan to get you.

 

[Nothing by 1030 anymore]

You are not going to be discharged for missing 1 scan. Either you have to have a history of missing scans or they want to get you for something else that they can't and they use the missed scan to get you.

Not in my bldg.

 

[Nothing by 1030 anymore]

You guys that think not scanning a package won't get u fired are so wrong...we lose 2 or 3 drivers every audit.. There is no excuse for an unscanned pkg upon arrival to bldg.

 

[Poop Head]

You guys that think not scanning a package won't get u fired are so wrong...we lose 2 or 3 drivers every audit.. There is no excuse for an unscanned pkg upon arrival to bldg.

I thought you were retired??

 

[Nothing by 1030 anymore]

I thought you were retired??

Yep. A whole 5 months... Worried I wouldn't get out of there after 30 years for getting caught making a human mistake of not scanning something. They would pull suprise audits as we came in checking for no scans.

 

[UPSjedi41]

No

And this is possibly a valid reason to have an unscanned package on your package car.

Now go and read the OP's post and tell me if it sounds like you described.

The OP messed up. I have been told the day after I called in a missing package that I had an unscanned package. I'm never sure if it was truly on the car or not. I tend to believe it wasn't.

 

[Mugarolla]

1. Get with your Steward and file a grievance.
2. Let the Steward do his job by processing the grievance and getting in contact with the BA.

You only bypass the Steward and contact the BA directly if you have a Steward who doesn't know how, or doesn't want to, do his job.

I know, I am replying to myself.

@35years disagreed with this post. I wonder if he was ever a Steward. Straight from the Teamsters website...

How do I file a grievance?
Almost every Teamster contract has a provision for filing grievances. Generally, if you feel that management has violated the terms of your collective bargaining agreement, you should talk to your steward who will determine if there is indeed a contract violation.

The steward will first try to help you resolve the issue informally. This may include speaking with your supervisor. If the steward has determined that there is a violation of the contract but is unable to resolve the issue, then he or she will assist you in writing up a grievance form. The form asks for information such as:

• Who is involved in the grievance (supervisor and members)?
• When did the grievance occur?
• Where did the grievance occur?
• What part of the contract was violated?
• What resolution is desired?

For example, a contract may specify that overtime has to be distributed by seniority. If overtime is given to an employee with less seniority than others, the members with greater seniority may have a grievance.

 

[35years]

If you were terminated, not just disciplined, would you not contact your BA?

Some stewards are very competent, some less so. I would not gamble my job on his competency.

I would go to a steward for lesser matters, and probably ask his advice on filing, but would not hesitate going to the BA for something as serious as termination.

If your BA is so distant from the rank and file that he should not be bothered with a termination situation what is important enough to warrant his attention?

 

[Mugarolla]

If you were terminated, not just disciplined, would you not contact your BA?

I would go to a steward for lesser matters, and probably ask his advice on filing, but would not hesitate going to the BA for something as serious as termination.

If your BA is so distant from the rank and file that he should not be bothered with a termination situation what is important enough to warrant his attention?

Do you know what your BA will tell you?

Find your Steward and file a grievance.

I would follow proper procedure. I would file a grievance with the Steward, and yes, to give you credit, I would also contact my BA for something as serious as a termination. But this would be after filing a grievance with the Steward.

There is a proper grievance procedure, that, if not followed, can get a grievance thrown out.

 

[35years]

I have known my BAs personally for the last three decades.

One call from the BA often straightens out a situation quickly. Sometimes he will say file with the steward, sometimes he will make a call.
They have never made me feel I was inconveniencing them by contacting them.

Our BA hands out business cards and tells us to contact him on important matters.
We pay his salary. We vote at union meetings.
Perhaps your local works differently.
I can't imagine a grievance being thrown out because I contacted my BA before filing.

Honestly I have never encountered the "do not call the hall" line except by management.

I respect your advice on most matters, but I disagree on this one.
For me, first call on a termination will be to the BA.

 

[rod]

Our Union leaders in Minneapolis never came to our little center just to check in and see how things were going. A couple of times in 30 years they showed up to get the troops to sign up for the DRIVE program and any other time was just before an election (imagine that). During the summer they were always staying at one of the fancy golfing resorts in the area (a fact relayed to us by people we knew who worked at the resorts) but apparently they were too busy to stop in. Its not like we had major problems going on all the time but it wouldn't have killed them to stick their head in the door or buy the troops a beer after work.

 

[Mugarolla]

I have known my BAs personally for the last three decades.

One call from the BA often straightens out a situation quickly. Sometimes he will say file with the steward, sometimes he will make a call.
They have never made me feel I was inconveniencing them by contacting them.

Our BA hands out business cards and tells us to contact him on important matters.
We pay his salary. We vote at union meetings.
Perhaps your local works differently.
I can't imagine a grievance being thrown out because I contacted my BA before filing.

Honestly I have never encountered the "do not call the hall" line except by management.

I respect your advice on most matters, but I disagree on this one.
For me, first call on a termination will be to the BA.

I agree with most of what you said here. Our BA is the same way.

I was just responding to Brownslave who said the first thing you do when you are fired is call your BA.

There are exceptions to everything. Where you are may be an exception.

But the first thing you do if you are terminated is get with your Steward and file a grievance. It can always be withdrawn if your BA settles it before it is heard.

And no, a grievance will not be thrown out for contacting your BA first, but it can be untimely if not filed in 5 days and can be thrown out if proper procedure wasn't followed. ie, the Steward not contacting management to try and resolve it first or not filing a grievance.

We can agree to disagree on this issue, but the first thing you do is file a grievance as soon as you are terminated. The Steward should be right there in the termination meeting. File the grievance before you leave the building.

You can then call your BA.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I have known my BAs personally for the last three decades.

One call from the BA often straightens out a situation quickly. Sometimes he will say file with the steward, sometimes he will make a call.
They have never made me feel I was inconveniencing them by contacting them.

Our BA hands out business cards and tells us to contact him on important matters.
We pay his salary. We vote at union meetings.
Perhaps your local works differently.
I can't imagine a grievance being thrown out because I contacted my BA before filing.

Honestly I have never encountered the "do not call the hall" line except by management.

I respect your advice on most matters, but I disagree on this one.
For me, first call on a termination will be to the BA.

By doing so you are ignoring the chain of command and undermining your steward.

 

[DumbTruckDriver]

By doing so you are ignoring the chain of command and undermining your steward.

Some stewards have their noses so far up the backside of the center manager that there's no other choice but to go directly to the BA.