What can Brown (people) do for you.
- Thread starter Bonhamga
- Start date
UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)
Well-Known Member
Just curious, what is the demographic breakdown of the employees, both mgt and hourly, in your center?
Anonymous 10
Guest
As a steward who has to have off the record conversations sometimes I can say it truly exists. 99% of us has a little racist in us. The older we are the more we have been brought up with it or have seen it. In my opinion it's a character flaw that needs to be fixed everyday of your life. I don't condem people who have this
flaw I just hope they can see it in there heart to evolve.
hellfire
no one considers UPS people."real" Teamsters.-BUG
the current hot commodity is females in operations, after that is blacks, disproportionate to the number of blacks and female hourly, i guess i have on rose colored glasses , everyone is treated like garbage at ups
UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)
Well-Known Member
We have 100-125 employees, both hourly and management, in my center. There are 20-25 women and only two blacks. Racism and sexism are non-issues. Not everyone is treated like garbage at UPS.
Maybe I do work in the Bubble of Goodness.
There are 3 African American's who work on our boxline. 2 on the south side (myself included) and one on the north side. Whenever full-time management (mostly white, with the exception of one new sup) comes around to yell "work faster" it's always to one of the three of us. Whenever we have PCM's in the morning it's targeted directly towards the two of us on the backside about how we need to get off the clock and wrap up quicker, even though between the two of us we see close to 2,500 a day, and yet they only schedule us 8 hours between the two.
I have been there a year, my fellow African American co-worker has been there for twelve. The co-worker I was referring to as white (which some saw as horrible blatant reverse racism) has his tenth anniversary coming up soon. And another situation occurred today. While I was helping my fellow co-worker (Caucasian ) wrap up one of his bulk trucks. The co-worker who get's preferential treatment was riding around on the fork-lift stacking pallets 3 - 5 at a time. (Very unnecessary especially considering he's a pre-loader and not a fork-lift driver.) My full-time supervisor (white) came around to me and was yelling at me to "speed up" and "get off her clock." Apparently an area with 1,400 pieces doesn't require 5 hours to load, yet it wasn't until I voiced my concern in a not so polite tone that she finally said something about his one pallet fork-lift driving stacking method. Even still, he remained on the clock another fifteen minutes while she reiterated the point of "adjusting our time" as we clocked out so that one employee wouldn't get overtime.
I can understand that. I know I have racist tendencies, I don't trust most caucasian people when it comes to doing the right thing by African American's just because of the way I grew up and perceived the actions of Caucasians to not only myself, but fellow African Americans. It is a character flaw I admit that I have, but I disregard when it comes to work. I don't mind helping anyone who is that heavy out, because their are days when I am scheduled less than 4 hours to load 1,200 pieces (and not to mention pull upwards of 40 add/cuts).
I personally have no animosity towards racists people, because as you said we all have it in us. However, in a work setting as volatile as this, there is no room for color. I see it comparatively to being in the army or any branch of service. You can be racists on your on time, but when it comes down to work and getting the job done, the only color you should see is brown (the color of most of your packages).
The general rule of racism is, if you start out a conversation with "I'm not racist, but..." It normally means you're about to say the most racist thing. See above quote for point in case.
Were any of you three born in Africa and then subsequently moved to the United States? Because if not, you are not African American, you are black.
All white people are generalized as White, and blacks are African American? Please.
whites should be Italian americans, Irish Americans, Polish Americans if you want the (in my mind RIDICULOUS) term African American to mean anything other than some Politically Correct BS
Catatonic
Nine Lives
Is that because Mormons are well endowed?
You must work in the Disney center. I'm white, my best friend at UPS, hell my best friend on earth, is black and I've seen and heard rascism for thirty years. Gutless comments made when the black guy walks out of the lunchroom, stupid rascist jokes that you'd never tell your mother. And it goes both ways, the black guys talk s&#t behind backs too. It really is just ignorance and a huge waste of opportunities for friendships. But to your point Bonhamga, UPS pretty much treats everyone lousy. Management isn't at work to be your friend, they have a job and it is to get the most out of everyone for the lowest cost, regardless of race.
DS
Fenderbender
All I get out of the OP's post is that he(she) feels that he(she) is being pressured because they are black.
That's just a cop out.UPS hates everyone all the same,The Sups are hated when they can't handle the work,
The crap rolls downhill.I may be wrong,but I sense an overall distrust by the OP,stemming from what seems to be
preferential treatment to white folk.If I am wrong,and there are racist sups,then they should be discharged.
That's just a cop out.UPS hates everyone all the same,The Sups are hated when they can't handle the work,
The crap rolls downhill.I may be wrong,but I sense an overall distrust by the OP,stemming from what seems to be
preferential treatment to white folk.If I am wrong,and there are racist sups,then they should be discharged.
Are you outside of your left mind? All AFRICAN AMERICANS were put on ships and brought to the "New World" against our will. We didn't get to write journals like Columbus or drink beer and socialize with maidens on our cruise. We were chained, shackled and forced to work for nothing for over 400 years. Whites, or as you like to classify them as "Italian, Irish, and Polish Americans" chose to come to the America's and subsequently killed every person that didn't have their complexion. Don't believe me go ask your NATIVE AMERICAN friend... Oh wait, they're dead.
The term African American isn't politically correct in my mind. The term African American simply implies what we are. African's forced into American society. We were never extended the same rights as Whites. As I'm sure someone of your credibility will recall, we were property for the longest time. Maybe then a more politically correct term for African American's would be stolen property, because that's exactly what we are. Which would explain why UPS wouldn't want us working for them. In every state it's against the law to be in possession of stolen property.
Fact of the matter is, whites came to the America's, then claimed they found the land (which just so happened to already be "found" by an entire race of peoples (Native American's ((If you remember who they were))) and killed everyone in sight because they had been instructed to do so through some b.s. they called manifest destiny. Whites decided to implement these politically correct terms. Perhaps for guilt?
The depth of racism never ceases to amaze me.
When document exist that only the three african american's on our boxline have had load quality audits and write ups in the past 4 months, it's hard to say it's just a cop out to naturally suggest racist behavior. I would love to be wrong, honestly. I would love to just be treated equally like crap by my employer. Instead, myself and my fellow African American co-workers are singled out.
Another documentation... Headphones aren't supposed to be worn by pre-loaders. Yet, one of my African American co-workers was written up for having his head-phones in while two fellow white co-workers wear headphones everyday (still) without a single mention of it by any friend/t sup. They even wear them during the PCM's.
menotyou
bella amicizia
Use your union benefit and speak with an attorney.
soberups
Pees in the brown Koolaid
The various issues you are taking exception to (production harassment, alteration of time to avoid paying OT, being pressured to work off of the clock etc.) are all contract violations regardless of whether or not there are any racist motivations behind them.
You mention that you work "in the South" so I am going to guess that you are in a Right To Work state with little or no union involvement among the part-time workforce. That is where the problem stems from. Perhaps you should consider getting a copy of your contract and filing a grievance. The crap you describe would not be tolerated here.
As to the topic of correct racial terminology....I dont like the term "African American" for the simple reason that it takes up 7 syllables and rolls off of the toungue about as smoothly as a brick coated with duct tape. I'm a big fan of simple. When it is necessary to make general comments about race, its just simpler and easier to say black, white, Asian, Hispanic etc. intstead of getting drawn into complicated and irrelevant distinctions about specific national origins for the sake of political correctness.
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Who's this "we"? None of that ever happened to you.
soberups
Pees in the brown Koolaid
The history of humanity....not just in North America but all over the world....is one in which stronger or more numerous groups of people conquer weaker or less numerous groups of people. Sometimes those groups are distinguished by race, sometimes by religion, or sometimes by tribal affiliation....but in the end the outcome is always decided by which group has superiority in terms of weapons or numbers.
Slavery existed on the North American and African continents long before the first Caucasians ever set foot there. It was common practice during tribal warfare for the victors to enslave the losers. I say this not to minimize the horrific injustices that have been inflicted upon blacks by whites in the United States over the last 300 years, but simply to point out that they are not unique. Brutality, slavery and genocide have been occuring ever since men first figured out how to make weapons and hate one another.
AssistantSanta
Well-Known Member
[/QUOTE]
I know that many members here are pro-union, yet I see these guys disparaging other people for no reason other than their youthful age rather than ability. This to me is age discrimination.
Also, some members of the Seventh Day Adventist hold a religious belief against union membership and resigns from the union. If they're given any flak, that is considered a religious ground workplace hostility covered under our Federal law.
menotyou
bella amicizia
I see you disparaging those here that are pro union. That in and of itself is discriminatory. It is very hypocritical on your part to throw around discrimination when you have been the biggest offender of this that I have seen here in a while.
We have one guy at our center who does not belong to the union. No one has any thing but the utmost respect for this gentleman. What he chooses to do is his choice, and he never says one word about the union. He works hard and has my respect. He doesn't spend his day knocking the union and people who choose to join it. Of course, he actually works for UPS as a FT driver, not a seasonal helper.
I am not at all surprised you know about the seventh day adventist's stance on unions. Funny thing is, I am willing to bet a dollar you will never work for UPS as a permanent employee. That isn't your goal.
We have one guy at our center who does not belong to the union. No one has any thing but the utmost respect for this gentleman. What he chooses to do is his choice, and he never says one word about the union. He works hard and has my respect. He doesn't spend his day knocking the union and people who choose to join it. Of course, he actually works for UPS as a FT driver, not a seasonal helper.
I am not at all surprised you know about the seventh day adventist's stance on unions. Funny thing is, I am willing to bet a dollar you will never work for UPS as a permanent employee. That isn't your goal.
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