11/23/08

I am leaving UPS. It’s official. There is no need for me to stay there. I do have opportunities elsewhere. My experience in a managing role far out weighs the fact I got to be a package handler for six months.

This has been my first union job. I hate having union dues to be paid out every month. sure it’s only 17 a month, but I really don’t need the union. My life doesn’t depend on this job. But I do know that those who have to depend on this job for income, the union can help prevent this job from becoming so base and primal in its treatment of the employees. It can pretty much be the neo-plantation.

My problem really is myself and own personal frustration in my ability to do the job. I can keep up my three trailers fine when it is an even pace. But when the area gets busy and I see loads of boxes filling one trailer, my body naturally slows down. It just can’t function at the same steady speed. That happens when I either get overwhelmed or frustrated.

And once I get behind in one trailer, while I am trying to bail that one out, the other two, lower volume trailers get backed up. And this first trailer gets backed up so fast that it jams all the way up the rollers, out the traier and all the way up thhe chutes and belts back to where it was sorted from. On top of which the packages fall off the rollers inside of the trailer and end up piling 3 feet or more high so I can’t even get out of the trailer to check on the other trailers.

Apparently the full time supervisor was yelling say I need to pick up the pace and break the jams. I only heard someone yell into my trailer to break the jams. I replied, "I can’t even get out of the trailer!"

So finally the sort gets done. My tailer wasn’t the busiest one. In fact they had 6 guys working on the Lenexa trailer. In fact, our area filled the equivallent of 5 Lenexa trailers. I guess they had a double long trailer for Lenexa at one point. Just a week before we had filled three. At the end of the sort, two guys from Lenexa came over and help me clean up the trailer I was stuck in. When the first guy came in, I heard the Kurt (the full time supe) say, "All right this is the pace I need to see you at! Keep it up!" And I thought, Well that’s because there are two of us here now! But I did pick up the pace quite a bit. in some situations, especially in this job, I am not able to set my own pace at a fast clip. I can for a while, but to sustain it over the course of a few hours, that’s a no go. And so when Terry came in to help, I was able to keep steady at his pace. And then we had another guy come in so I scanned and they loaded.

My brother had a heated discussion with Kurt about how things were being run in the area. Let me kinda bring you up to speed with Kurt here. He want’s to work with a smaller crew in each area. Figures he can keep cost of production down. Well because of being short staffed, when we get backed up he’ll go help pick off. Being a pick off is where you stand at the belt where the incoming boxes for our area come in and they get sorted to their respective trailers. Kurt’s a supe. He isn’t allowed to. He cannot work a union worker’s job. it’s because that means you don’t have enough workers and are taking jobs away from potential workers. In my mind, it means taking union dues away from the union. So the other day he was helping pick-off and my brother filed a grievence against him. Then Kurt does it a again on Tuesday (the day I was off). The Union Rep caught him. Kurt got in trouble and we have a new worker in our area.

Also on Friday, The trailer manager for the whole building was yelling at Kurt to get more people down to our area. "Kurt, hurry up and get more people here! YOU KNEW THIS WAS COMING!" And so that’s why my brother was talking to Kurt about that night. I was busy so I didn’t here what went on. I know Caleb get’s loud and he is doing his job by letting the trailers he sorts into that they’re needing to pick up the pace or to break a jam. At the end of his discussion, we have yet another worker coming into our area. Funny thing about the new worker we got on Thursday, he was sent back to his old area Friday so we were short to begin the shift.

Anyway, once Caleb (my brother) was done talking with Kurt, he realized someone knocked his coleman waterbottle off the catwalk and it had cracked. He was pissed! He was trying to find out who did it and no one answered. I asked him if it was broken. He was sarcastic and said no it itsn’t there is water on the floor because someone wet himself. I told him to chill out and drop the attitutde, go home and take some midol on his way home.

He came to me and yelled at me how I need to just do my job. I don’t need to be talking back when I am told to pick up the pace. He has been told since I am his brother he has to get me under control.

I got so frustrated that my immediate supe sent me home.

I was taken aback by this. One thing it’s not Caleb’s job. he’s not my supervisor. I mutter when I am frustrated, it’s not a direct statement to my supervisor. I guess if he hears it and it comes after a statement he says to me even if I didn’t hear him, it could be considered talking back. But the guy didn’t come by until the end of the night. So I guess he ehard my statement about slavery. Most of the time when I say anything to anyone yelling into my trailer, I say something in return so they know I heard them. Otherwise they’ll keep on yelling.

It really shows a sign of lack of professionalism, discernment, leadership and is very cowardly to go to someone because he’s the brother to do the supe’s job. Caleb later called and appologized for what he did. I forgave him and let him know I wasn’t ever upset at him but at Kurt for doing that. Caleb and I do work well thogether. Even my immediate supe is impressed with it.

I talked to Ryan (the immediate supe) about Caleb’s approaching me. I told him how low that was and really the wrong way to go about things. We talked about how he is impressed with the "brotherly love" way Caleb and I work well together and I can "orders" from  him and what not. And he also said it was not right for someone to send Caleb to "get me under control" like Kurt had told my brother to do so.

Needless to say, I am going to leave UPS. I don’t need that stress and frustrations. It’s not worth the less than 100 buck a week. Most of the guys in my area are also students and also get tuition assistance so they even make more than I do. Its an ok job. but I just don’t like the environment. I would better off working at McDonald’s again.

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