UPS Cannot Take Away MRA?

[Wally]

Sign the petition No Pay Cuts for UPSers

That would be the contract?

Anything over what the union negotiated is nothing more than free bagels. The company can stop the free bagels any time they want.

 

[Wally]

Sign the petition No Pay Cuts for UPSers

On January 15, 2022, UPS cut the pay of part timers in the US by more than 3 dollars an hour.
(No, you still get union negotiated wage, what ever that is)


The Company said that the raise was "temporary" yet most part timers were told that raise was permanent while others were kept in the dark.
(Union's responsibility to inform membership)
Initially when raise was given, workers were told that the raise was to stay competitive and access a bigger labor pool.
(Yes, temporary, which means it can go away at any time)


Unfortunately not all part timers received a wage increase.
(Again, Union issue)

UPS has been making record profits during the pandemic as most Americans have switched to online ordering.
(That is a leveraging tool for union negotiations)


UPS hubs have experienced COVID outbreaks while not offering hazard pay to it's employees or adjusting pay to reflect the realities of the economy and inflation.
(At the very start of the pandemic, did the union demand hazard pay like other companies offered?)

 

[burrheadd]

Never happens. Just ask any runner-gunner bonus driver. They are screwing over the company not taking overtime.

Why aren’t they “taking overtime” ?

 

[Wally]

Why aren’t they “taking overtime” ?

They mistakenly believe they are gaining the system.

It's the equivalent of someone bragging about how they got a great deal on a new car but fail to factor in the low trade-in allowance.

 

[burrheadd]

They mistakenly believe they are gaining the system.

It's the equivalent of someone bragging about how they got a great deal on a new car but fail to factor in the low trade-in allowance.

“Bonus” is paid at the overtime rate not sure how they are “gaining” or gaming the system

 

[Wally]

“Bonus” is paid at the overtime rate not sure how they are “gaining” or gaming the system

It's all in how they work to get the bonus. Any running-gunning activity lowers the trade in price.

 

[What'dyabringmetoday???]

Don't really have any idea for certain, and I'm guessing I'm interpreting the language wrong if no one has mentioned it yet, but the NMA has this language under Article 22, Section 5(e): "Seniority part-time employees who are receiving an hourly rate higher than set forth above in Section (b), as a result of a Market Rate Adjustment, shall not have their hourly rate reduced due to the implementation of this Article." That's essentially what's happening effective (whenever UPS is choosing to take the MRA away, which I'm guessing is after January 15th, 2022 nationwide).

It doesn't really make sense for the company to be permanently unable to reduce the pay rate to pre-MRA levels, but that said the language SEEMS to say that once an MRA has been implemented to raise the pay rate above the contractual minimum ("Seniority part-time employees who are receiving an hourly rate higher than set forth above...") the pay rate cannot go back down to the contractual rate ("...shall not have their hourly rate reduced due to the implementation of this Article".)

I know how UPS would get around it for seasonal re-hires, since their offer for permanent employment also includes the pay rate that they will be dropped to ($15.00/hr, the contractual minimum, at least for the hub I work out of, which I'm guessing is going to be applicable to most, if not all, hubs nationwide). That said, those who had already attained seniority are not accepting a new, permanent job offer that stipulates their pay rate as being less than the MRA rate that they were raised to, so those employees are losing upwards of $5.00/hr without exactly "agreeing" to it as seasonal re-hires are.

The only other thing I can think of as far as the intent of that language is that if the company chooses to pay people a greater pay rate (as it has at various hubs nationwide, at differing rates for different regions, through the implementation of the MRA), the contract language essentially can't dictate that the company HAS to pay the contractual rate, even if it's less. But that seems to be something that's assumed by default, since why WOULDN'T the union want employees to make a higher pay rate (at the very least because union dues are calculated based on one's pay rate)?

In addition, Article 22, Section 5(c) states as follows: "The wage rates and increases provided in (a) and (b) shall be a minimum." So that language is already stating that the company CAN pay a higher rate if they choose to do so. It's basically the loophole that's been exploited for a while now to allow the company to pay new hires bonuses that make their effective pay rate greater than that of seniority employees. If Article 22, Section 5(e) is actually saying that the company can implement an MRA to raise pay rates and that contractual language cannot force the company to pay a lesser rate, then it's redundant to have Section 5(e) in addition to Section 5(c).

Does anyone knows what this language might mean other than what I'm interpreting it as? Might it just be redundancy? I know contract language is oftentimes intentionally left vague so that it can be interpreted as it suits the company/union depending on who brings up the argument of the language being vague, but this is a pretty high level of redundancy, and it's not separated by multiple pages to explain it as being due to forgetting that some language had already been mentioned, as both sections are part of Article 22. So what's going on in this case?

Seems that it means if an employee is making more than the MRA wage, they can not be reduced to the MRA...

 

[nWo]

That would be the contract?

Anything over what the union negotiated is nothing more than free bagels. The company can stop the free bagels any time they want.

We actually have free bagels in our local rider

 

[Wally]

We actually have free bagels in our local rider

Wow. That is great.

Be sure to tell the union, thanks a-lox!

 

[PT Car Washer]

It's all in how they work to get the bonus. Any running-gunning activity lowers the trade in price.

You also need to factor in quality of life., Being home with family having dinner instead of at work until 8 o clock every night.

 

[Wally]

You also need to factor in quality of life., Being home with family having dinner instead of at work until 8 o clock every night.

Instead of getting home at 8, what time would you be home?

 

[PT Car Washer]

Instead of getting home at 8, what time would you be home?

I see a lot of drivers off at 4:30 to 5 everyday.

 

[PT Car Washer]

Some get outright irate if they work past 5 PM.

 

[542thruNthru]

Some get outright irate if they work past 5 PM.

Those are the ones that the company will own if they ever think about not towing the company line.

 

[Wally]

I see a lot of drivers off at 4:30 to 5 everyday.

So they take lunch and still are in by 4:30?

 

[Wally]

Those are the ones that the company will own if they ever think about not towing the company line.

Different company from the one work for.

My company would cut routes and add work on the runners.

 

[542thruNthru]

Different company from the one work for.

My company would cut routes and add work on the runners.

They do that to the lower seniority runners here.

 

[UnionStrong]

So they take lunch and still are in by 4:30?

How?

 

[EmpireUPS909]

That would be the contract?

Anything over what the union negotiated is nothing more than free bagels. The company can stop the free bagels any time they want.

Not if they create a past practice

 

[Wally]

How?

My guess is running-gunning, no lunch, and code 5 pay.