UPS Strike

[11boo]

I’m a UPS driver. The big hang up with the negotiations right now is regarding the part time employees (basically the folks that work pre-load / sort at the bigger hubs). As of yesterday, UPS came back to the table to resume negotiations. Hopefully they reach an agreement—nothing good would come from a strike.

My personal opinion: our Teamsters president is pretty f’n militant (he’s been fired previously for being too aggressive). Don’t want to ruffle any feathers, but if an individual wants to work for UPS and doesn’t ultimately want to become a driver, then wtf are they even doing there. I have a hard time resonating with the sob stories about how part time employees have been stuck in their positions for years, without opportunity for promotion—especially when we experienced a national shortage of delivery drivers throughout Covid & we were hiring drivers off the street. Anyone working internally could have had their chance to promote.

Are those part time jobs shitty and exploitive? Yes. Are most entry-level jobs / apprenticeships shitty and stepping stones towards something better? Yes. Could we reach a better agreement? Probably. Is the Teamsters union feeding on the protest-ready / entitled-to-everything attitude of our current generation? I’d say yes, but I’m also ignorant.

Not ignorant, it’s realistic.

 

[bpa556]

Folks need to stop harping on the wages of part time employees. You should not be able to live comfortably on a part time job. You need 2 or 3 of ‘em. They are entry level gigs and are not intended to be careers for capable people.

There is a very good reason UPS delivery trucks don’t have air conditioning. It’s expensive to buy, retrofit and maintain. Drivers will turn their trucks in for repair the second it doesn’t blow cold enough suit their personal tastes. Get a few at each facility down at once and now the rest are getting hot-seated by drivers on mandated overtime covering un-served routes ‘till midnight.

This whole thing is childish and not beneficial to the business or the consumer.


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[HuntHarder]

With the logic above, no company truck should have A/C.... PT wages are location dependent. Does UPS offer COLA's or is it set wage across the nation? Gotta assume they have some sort of COLA being as large as they are.

 

[MightyWhitey]

Folks need to stop harping on the wages of part time employees. You should not be able to live comfortably on a part time job. You need 2 or 3 of ‘em. They are entry level gigs and are not intended to be careers for capable people.

There is a very good reason UPS delivery trucks don’t have air conditioning. It’s expensive to buy, retrofit and maintain. Drivers will turn their trucks in for repair the second it doesn’t blow cold enough suit their personal tastes. Get a few at each facility down at once and now the rest are getting hot-seated by drivers on mandated overtime covering un-served routes ‘till midnight.

This whole thing is childish and not beneficial to the business or the consumer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Then there’s no good reason any of the UPS offices should have air conditioning. No reason for anybody that’s only pecking a keyboard to have air conditioning. Imagine the savings on the electric bill with no AC. No maintenance bill either. Great point you make there.

 

[Crghss]

I always use FedEx, they seem to be the best at their craft.

 

[Coopsdaddy]

No ac in trucks,come on.My buddy has been there about ten years and makes 6 figures.Maybe others dont make that but many do so don’t feel to sorry for them.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Then there’s no good reason any of the UPS offices should have air conditioning. No reason for anybody that’s only pecking a keyboard to have air conditioning. Imagine the savings on the electric bill with no AC. No maintenance bill either. Great point you make there.

Congratulations, you just shut down 2% of the global economy and 6% of the US economy because the computers and servers that actually run the business, overheated and shutdown.

Just think of all the employees and contractors not getting paid, no health insurance payments being made, no retirement contributions being made, no retirement distributions being made, no suppliers being paid, no new office supplies being purchased, no new equipment being made, etc.

Brilliant retort, MW, as it clearly demonstrates your level of knowledge of how things actually operate.

---
I personally do not know how much UPS does in-house versus outsources as that would have a direct impact one way or the other on MW's suggestion.

It is humorous that a person will complain about keyboard peckers on a forum that would not exist without the existence of the very people he loathes: keyboard peckers.

 

[MattB]

You may be right but I was just referencing this-
UPS annual net income for 2021 was $12.89B, a 859.79% increase from 2020.
* UPS annual net income for 2020 was $1.343B, a 69.75% decline from 2019.



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That says net income (bottom line), not revenue (top line). Massive difference as net income for mature companies generally represents a single digit % of revenue.

 

[MightyWhitey]

Oh you’re right, I know very little about how computer systems run. But the few desktop computers I’ve seen (the ones the peckers use) all have their own fan built in to them. To keep them from overheating I assume? Do they still have their own fan or are the new computers totally reliant on central heat and air? But just out of curiosity what is the operating temperature of 6% of the US economy’s computer system? Now I really want to know.

And just to be clear, I don’t have anything against anybody that sits inside and soaks up the computer systems air conditioning while they peck on it. It takes everybody to make this thing work. I’m aware of that.

And I don’t “loathe” anybody. I was just thinking of ways to save UPS some money because surely the money they would save would be passed on to the customer in cheaper shipping cost.
If the only way UPS can afford to offer better working conditions is to raise shipping costs, then surely any money saved would be passed on in cheaper shipping costs, right?

 

[Azone]

 

[Billy Goat]

Those brown boxes don't need a/c.


They need reefer units.

I can't imagine a/c would even work, they always have to shut the engine off if getting out of the seat, so would kill the system, then startup and try to cool again.


I have been working for a guy who grew up without equipment, did everything with horses. He quit school when they got a tractor cause his dad didn't know how to use it. One farm they had was 3 miles away, across a mountain. He walked everywhere, would carry 25# of salt every Sunday to that farm, started when he was 10. Of course no electricity, no running water.


I can't imagine how soft he thinks I am. He is upper 80's and out helping me put up barbwire, on the side of a mountain that I have trouble walking on.


I guess my point is, am I going to be that old guy someday who talks about growing up and not having A/C? Well before the internet, we looked to the newspaper for the comic strip, shoot once the internet hit, we had these things called memes. It kinda put newspapers out of business.

 

[MattB]

Oh you’re right, I know very little about how computer systems run. But the few desktop computers I’ve seen (the ones the peckers use) all have their own fan built in to them. To keep them from overheating I assume? Do they still have their own fan or are the new computers totally reliant on central heat and air? But just out of curiosity what is the operating temperature of 6% of the US economy’s computer system? Now I really want to know.

Do a little research on data center power utilization, it will be eye opening.

They don’t use those little computer fans to cool nuclear reactors either.

 

[realunlucky]

Do a little research on data center power utilization, it will be eye opening.

They don’t use those little computer fans to cool nuclear reactors either.

They don't use a/c to cool a reactor either, what an obtrusive argument

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[MightyWhitey]

Do a little research on data center power utilization, it will be eye opening.

They don’t use those little computer fans to cool nuclear reactors either.

Damn, I didn’t know UPS was in the nuclear reactor business? They keep those in the office too? Right next to that data center probably. Nice and cool in there.

 

[Broomd]

Union Pride!

Screw the violent, shake-down artists! Unions were a valued, important part of our industrial age, but they have since run their course. A pox on the political creeps!

 

[2531usmc]

Reading some of the statements made by the Teamsters President. It’s reminiscent of the hard core union leadership of the late 70s and early 80s In the auto and steelworkers unions. They gained very significant wage and benefit gains for their members. It was great for their members until their industries collapsed five years later.

I would guess UPS will follow the same path. Yellow Freight is the preferred success model I guess

 

[Boarmaster]

I hope they get it worked out. 30 years ago I got tired of being treated like crap by azzhat managers and the companies I had worked for. I had done a great job based on my numbers and all standards of measure those companies used themselves. I also was tired of listening to the complaints of employees who were my peirs and of who I managed.

I realized then that no matter what I did I would just be an employee to them And a slave drivervto the guys working for me. I decided then to do my own thing. I dang near starved for three years and came close to going broke a few times but never had to complain about how I was treated again. Fortunately I am in a career where I don't have employees other than a long term administrator. I stuck with it and now its smooth sailing.

All I can say is if your a hard working person make your move when you are young or get yourself trained into a better job that someone cant be trained in two weeks to do the same job as you. If you dont you will aways be cannon fodder the the next merger or cut back. No guarantees as companies sell and change these days.

 

[KenLee]

I’m a UPS driver. The big hang up with the negotiations right now is regarding the part time employees (basically the folks that work pre-load / sort at the bigger hubs). As of yesterday, UPS came back to the table to resume negotiations. Hopefully they reach an agreement—nothing good would come from a strike.

My personal opinion: our Teamsters president is pretty f’n militant (he’s been fired previously for being too aggressive). Don’t want to ruffle any feathers, but if an individual wants to work for UPS and doesn’t ultimately want to become a driver, then wtf are they even doing there. I have a hard time resonating with the sob stories about how part time employees have been stuck in their positions for years, without opportunity for promotion—especially when we experienced a national shortage of delivery drivers throughout Covid & we were hiring drivers off the street. Anyone working internally could have had their chance to promote.

Are those part time jobs shitty and exploitive? Yes. Are most entry-level jobs / apprenticeships shitty and stepping stones towards something better? Yes. Could we reach a better agreement? Probably. Is the Teamsters union feeding on the protest-ready / entitled-to-everything attitude of our current generation? I’d say yes, but I’m also ignorant.

Your reasoning sounds intelligent to me.

 

[ODB]

I hope they get it worked out. 30 years ago I got tired of being treated like crap by azzhat managers and the companies I had worked for. I had done a great job based on my numbers and all standards of measure those companies used themselves. I also was tired of listening to the complaints of employees who were my peirs and of who I managed.

I realized then that no matter what I did I would just be an employee to them And a slave drivervto the guys working for me. I decided then to do my own thing. I dang near starved for three years and came close to going broke a few times but never had to complain about how I was treated again. Fortunately I am in a career where I don't have employees other than a long term administrator. I stuck with it and now its smooth sailing.

All I can say is if your a hard working person make your move when you are young or get yourself trained into a better job that someone cant be trained in two weeks to do the same job as you. If you dont you will aways be cannon fodder the the next merger or cut back. No guarantees as companies sell and change these days.

Yup. In the same boat but slowly getting out.

It astounds me that during tough times the C-suite exec team can look right over those bum-sucking mid-level managers to the grunts and imply they just aren’t working hard enough and they need to “pull together” to get sales up… the lack of self-awareness in some companies is unbelievable.

 

[Boarmaster]

I’m a UPS driver. The big hang up with the negotiations right now is regarding the part time employees (basically the folks that work pre-load / sort at the bigger hubs). As of yesterday, UPS came back to the table to resume negotiations. Hopefully they reach an agreement—nothing good would come from a strike.

My personal opinion: our Teamsters president is pretty f’n militant (he’s been fired previously for being too aggressive). Don’t want to ruffle any feathers, but if an individual wants to work for UPS and doesn’t ultimately want to become a driver, then wtf are they even doing there. I have a hard time resonating with the sob stories about how part time employees have been stuck in their positions for years, without opportunity for promotion—especially when we experienced a national shortage of delivery drivers throughout Covid & we were hiring drivers off the street. Anyone working internally could have had their chance to promote.

Are those part time jobs shitty and exploitive? Yes. Are most entry-level jobs / apprenticeships shitty and stepping stones towards something better? Yes. Could we reach a better agreement? Probably. Is the Teamsters union feeding on the protest-ready / entitled-to-everything attitude of our current generation? I’d say yes, but I’m also ignorant.

Good thoughts.