What Does your Future look like?

[PiedmontSteward]

Quite frankly, my future is looking a little bleak these days. I can pay my bills but getting ahead on things and saving is getting harder and harder; getting a second job -- at this point -- is really my only option. The hours at UPS simply aren't there and the backlog to go FT in my building is so lengthy (12-15 years, depending on classification.. we had 15+ year guys not have enough seniority to bid into package cars) that I've probably got almost another decade to go. This has gotten worse as our district has continually gotten away with not filling vacant 22.3 jobs and this further adds to the waiting list -- another glaring problem not addressed during negotiations.

The four year progression for top rate is just another slap in the face for someone having to wait the better part of two decades to go FT.

This contract isn't as bad as TDU and many other people are claiming -- I don't feel like we're being "sold out", but the fact of the matter is that the IBT negotiators with UPS backgrounds worked for UPS during a much different era and "came up through the ranks" in the 1970's and 1980's. They were hired off the street as package car or feeder drivers or spent 5 or 6 years as a PT'er before being able to bid into a FT job. These problems are generational and not necessarily systemic; our leadership really hasn't had to experience "part-time poverty" as a PT UPS Teamster going into their 30's without having a chance to whiff at a full time job. They haven't had to fight tooth and nail for every damn minute they can get on the clock while their sort has been pushed up to historically late start times to keep even the most senior hub workers from getting the five or ten minutes of OT a week they need.

We can do better than this.

 

[UPS_Broken_Dreams]

Quite frankly, my future is looking a little bleak these days. I can pay my bills but getting ahead on things and saving is getting harder and harder; getting a second job -- at this point -- is really my only option. The hours at UPS simply aren't there and the backlog to go FT in my building is so lengthy (12-15 years, depending on classification.. we had 15+ year guys not have enough seniority to bid into package cars) that I've probably got almost another decade to go. This has gotten worse as our district has continually gotten away with not filling vacant 22.3 jobs and this further adds to the waiting list -- another glaring problem not addressed during negotiations.

The four year progression for top rate is just another slap in the face for someone having to wait the better part of two decades to go FT.

This contract isn't as bad as TDU and many other people are claiming -- I don't feel like we're being "sold out", but the fact of the matter is that the IBT negotiators with UPS backgrounds worked for UPS during a much different era and "came up through the ranks" in the 1970's and 1980's. They were hired off the street as package car or feeder drivers or spent 5 or 6 years as a PT'er before being able to bid into a FT job. These problems are generational and not necessarily systemic; our leadership really hasn't had to experience "part-time poverty" as a PT UPS Teamster going into their 30's without having a chance to whiff at a full time job. They haven't had to fight tooth and nail for every damn minute they can get on the clock while their sort has been pushed up to historically late start times to keep even the most senior hub workers from getting the five or ten minutes of OT a week they need.

We can do better than this.

Well said

 

[Catatonic]

Some of the worst contracts in history were passed by UPS bribing part timers with a signing bonus. Quick money now but screw over future part timers. Many full timers were against it and tried to explain it to the part timers but those contracts passed largely due to the part timers who did vote. So a large part of the blame goes to part timers in the past, NOT full timers who didn't care.

I would say this is a case of selective memory (certainly not accurate).
​
friend/T got $1000 signing bonus while P/Ts got $500.
P/T's did not vote at a higher percentage then.

This was really the beginning of the friend/T throwing the P/T under the bus.

 

[The Milkman]

It was under totally different circumstances, but I had a similar experience with the Michigan District Manager when I was part time. I felt as though I had been unfairly passed over for a friend/T driving job. I gave him a call, and even though I had only briefly met him several months previous, he remembered who I was. I explained/plead my case to him, and the next week I was in Orientation. It was a different company back then...

Good to hear that you knew him. Back then before going public I believe alot of managers were at times willing to listen to you and if they could ,actually would at times show that deep down inside they really cared for you. Ups owned by it's managers and managed by it's owners. Oh how going public changed all that

 

[Mostly Brown]

Milkman, Thank you for sharing your story. You speak about the UPS I used to know but we all know that's changing everyday.
I'm 48 and three years away from my magic number. That doesn't mean I will retire but it's nice to know I have an option.

After we went on strike a few contracts back I decided I will never put all my eggs in one basket again. I've started a few small businesses and have had some success in doing so. How did I start these businesses???? It was with the help of my many customers on my pkg route. UPS pkg drivers see every different kind of business you can imagine and can usually tell if they are successful, going to be successful or if they don't have a chance. If our eys and minds are open we can learn a lot from our customers.

I spoke with my locAL B.A. last week on the phone as I was on road in feeder. He is selling this contract on the promise that our health care will work out. I told him he's out of a job if it gets ugly which many feel it already has....with the lack of communication.

You nailed one thing perfectly Milkman that everyone should take notice of. Our health care plan is to take care of us now and in the future. We are damaging our bodies now and many won't show acute signs of damage until they are older. I took care of UPS and they need to be there for me when I need healthcare. I view it as an agreement we came to when I started at UPS. If this contract goes through I will speak to an attorney (again) and maybe we reopen an injury case that I didn't want to make a Workman's Comp issue because of the hassle involved. The injury and surgeries may be something I deal with the rest of my life.

 

[The Milkman]

Milkman, Thank you for sharing your story. You speak about the UPS I used to know but we all know that's changing everyday.
I'm 48 and three years away from my magic number. That doesn't mean I will retire but it's nice to know I have an option.

After we went on strike a few contracts back I decided I will never put all my eggs in one basket again. I've started a few small businesses and have had some success in doing so. How did I start these businesses???? It was with the help of my many customers on my pkg route. UPS pkg drivers see every different kind of business you can imagine and can usually tell if they are successful, going to be successful or if they don't have a chance. If our eys and minds are open we can learn a lot from our customers.

I spoke with my locAL B.A. last week on the phone as I was on road in feeder. He is selling this contract on the promise that our health care will work out. I told him he's out of a job if it gets ugly which many feel it already has....with the lack of communication.

You nailed one thing perfectly Milkman that everyone should take notice of. Our health care plan is to take care of us now and in the future. We are damaging our bodies now and many won't show acute signs of damage until they are older. I took care of UPS and they need to be there for me when I need healthcare. I view it as an agreement we came to when I started at UPS. If this contract goes through I will speak to an attorney (again) and maybe we reopen an injury case that I didn't want to make a Workman's Comp issue because of the hassle involved. The injury and surgeries may be something I deal with the rest of my life.

 

[Brownslave688]

My futures so bright I gotta wear shades!!!

 

[oldngray]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8qrriKcwvlY

 

[pretender]

Quite frankly, my future is looking a little bleak these days. I can pay my bills but getting ahead on things and saving is getting harder and harder; getting a second job -- at this point -- is really my only option. The hours at UPS simply aren't there and the backlog to go FT in my building is so lengthy (12-15 years, depending on classification.. we had 15+ year guys not have enough seniority to bid into package cars) that I've probably got almost another decade to go. This has gotten worse as our district has continually gotten away with not filling vacant 22.3 jobs and this further adds to the waiting list -- another glaring problem not addressed during negotiations.

The four year progression for top rate is just another slap in the face for someone having to wait the better part of two decades to go FT.

This contract isn't as bad as TDU and many other people are claiming -- I don't feel like we're being "sold out", but the fact of the matter is that the IBT negotiators with UPS backgrounds worked for UPS during a much different era and "came up through the ranks" in the 1970's and 1980's. They were hired off the street as package car or feeder drivers or spent 5 or 6 years as a PT'er before being able to bid into a FT job. These problems are generational and not necessarily systemic; our leadership really hasn't had to experience "part-time poverty" as a PT UPS Teamster going into their 30's without having a chance to whiff at a full time job. They haven't had to fight tooth and nail for every damn minute they can get on the clock while their sort has been pushed up to historically late start times to keep even the most senior hub workers from getting the five or ten minutes of OT a week they need.

We can do better than this.

A well thought out post such as this makes it much easier to empathize with the PTers' plight.