New jobs displease workers at UPS
Office personnel had to join union, do manual labor
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By BILL WOLFE
bwolfe@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
When United Parcel Service cut a deal last summer to bring 10,000 nonunion workers into the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, it seemed a good arrangement for all.
UPS could sign a six-year National Master Agreement two weeks ahead of the strike deadline. The Teamsters would receive a boost in membership from its largest constituency. And the newly represented union members were supposed to receive better wages and benefits.
But a number of UPS workers in Louisville say they came out the losers in a union induction that was involuntary and unwelcome, and they have asked the National Labor Relations Board to take action against UPS.
Along with the reclassification from nonunion to union, about 20 part-time employees were transferred out of their desk jobs into physically demanding work, sorting and bagging envelopes and small packages.
Wage increases, when granted, have been modest. Employees with years of seniority are being treated as new hires in terms of their job placements. And those who had earned a fourth week of vacation after 10 years on the job have lost that extra week until their 14th year, to match the union benefits calendar.
Update
Last we knew:
United Parcel Service and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters agreed last July on a six-year contract. In addition to higher wages and benefit increases, the contract called for 10,000 new full-time jobs and the conversion of 10,000 nonunion jobs into Teamsters positions.
The latest:
A number of UPS workers in Louisville say they were transferred from nonunion clerical positions to manual-labor union jobs against their will. They object to the work and to what they see as a loss of benefits.
Why it's news:
UPS is Louisville's largest employer, with about 23,000 workers.
For more info:
www.teamsters.org
www.ups.com
www.nlrb.gov
Several workers say they have been injured in their new jobs. A half-dozen of the affected employees have quit. Others say they are "hanging in there" unhappily.
"I hate it. I hate going to work every day," said Mary Staehle, one of the Louisville workers affected. "It's really been hard on everybody."
The NLRB is considering whether that transfer was legal, said Richard Ahearn, regional director for the board's Cincinnati office, where the charge was filed. His office referred the issue to Washington, D.C., where a ruling could be made in the next few weeks, Ahearn said.
Teamsters representatives from Washington, D.C., plan a visit in the next few days to look into the problems here, said Ken Hall, director of the Teamsters' parcel and small-package division.
One issue the Teamsters will investigate is whether the workers got raises that should have taken effect when they entered the union.
Employees like 50-year-old Ruth Riley argue that the new jobs are too strenuous for aging workers and ha ve resulted in injuries on the job ranging from pulled muscles to pinched nerves. "I didn't ask to be a union employee, and I think that's very unfair," said Riley, who suffered a shoulder injury soon after taking on her new duties.
"It's very frustrating. It's not right," said Kim Fox, a 5-foot, 98-pound Okolona woman whose job now requires her to lift 70-pound bags. "They've already hurt me," said Fox, who spent weeks with her left arm in a sling after an injury on the job. "I didn't ask for this job. Pretty much, my boss told me you either handle it or you hit the door. And I can't handle it."
"We've had a lot of people going into physical therapy," Staehle said. "Your hand and your arms hurt" after hours on the job. "I just deal with it. I take Aleve (pain medication) every day."
Workers wonder why UPS didn't try to protect their nonunion status, as the company did in January when it sued the National Mediation Board, challenging a decision to incorporate 20 Louisville workers into Teamsters Local 2727 without a vote of the employees.
Employees complain, too, about the loss of seniority under Teamsters rules that counts them as new employees. Since job assignments are based in part on seniority, that relegates veteran employees to some of the union's least-attractive positions, workers say.
"They are treating us like new hires, like we've just come in," said 48-year-old Mary Fallon, a UPS employee for nine years.
"I think people should know. UPS comes off like they really take care of their employees. We've gotten the shaft," Fallon said. In fact, workers say they feel abandoned by both UPS and the Teamsters.
The company and the union, however, say that's not the case and that there have been few complaints about the changes nationwide.
"Quite frankly, Louisville is the only area where we have gotten any type of comments, any level of dissatisfaction, around the country," said Malcolm Berkley, national media relations manager for UPS.
"We really haven't seen much of a problem anywhere else" other than Louisville, said Hall. In fact, many of the new Teamsters got "substantial raises" after becoming part of the union, he said.
Mark Giuffre, UPS spokesman in Louisville, said about 375 employees were brought into the union locally, but the complaints are centered on clerks who worked days in an area called export document control. Their job was to monitor shipments and make sure the items didn't violate export rules.
The former clerks' jobs changed not because they were being moved into the union, but because greater efficiencies in the highly automated WorldPort cargo-sorting hub reduced the demand for their work, Giuffre said.
With the opening of WorldPort last summer, UPS was able to "basically eliminate those positions and move it to the nighttime sort," Giuffre said.
The move to WorldPort meant job changes for many employees, not just the former clerical workers. "For most people, any job change is difficult," he said. "People in general are creatures of habit."
Giuffre also said that the physical requirements for the new jobs are the same as those listed in the job descriptions for the clerical posts although in practice, the new jobs may be more demanding.
"What we've tried to do is put them in positions where they can do the work," such as the small-sort operation, which consists primarily of sliding packages into trays, Giuffre said. With the opening of WorldPort last summer, UPS was able to "basically eliminate those positions and move it to the nighttime sort," Giuffre said.
The move to WorldPort meant job changes for many employees, not just the former clerical workers. "For most people, any job change is difficult," he said. "People in general are creatures of habit."
Giuffre also said that the physical requirements for the new jobs are the same as those listed in the job descriptions for the clerical posts although in practice, the new jobs may be more demanding.
"What we've tried to do is put them in positions where they can do the work," such as the small-sort operation, which consists primarily of sliding packages into trays, Giuffre said.
He said that workers with injuries or other problems should talk with their union representatives, health and safety committees and management teams to make sure they've received the proper training and conditioning.
He urged employees upset about their new assignment to "give it a chance and try to work through it, and in the end, they won't have those feelings of not being supported."
Malvin Moore, a former supervisor in the international operations division, supervised the clerical workers before the transfer. "Without question, it was a setback for quite a few of them," he said.
"These are good women. These are hard-working women," Moore said. But he thinks most should be able to cope with the new jobs, given additional training and time to adjust.
At least one of the clerks, Tina Gary, was able to avoid the switch to the union sorting job. She agreed to switch to night work, rather than accept a day job with the union, and then was allowed to transfer to a non-Teamster daytime job. But she continues to worry about her former colleagues.
"They are taking people out of offices and throwing them out in the hub, doing manual work," she said.
Rules, Election Process to Follow
Court Approves Teamster Election Officer
It's official. The 2006 election for International officers will be
supervised by a court-approved Election Officer thanks to a
recently-issued court order.
On March 18, Judge Loretta Preska signed a Stipulation and Order on
the 2006 IBT Election. The agreement was negotiated between the
Justice Department (U.S. Attorney) and the IBT leadership, and then
submitted to the court for approval.
Teamster members first won the right to vote for IBT officers in 1991
after a long rank-and-file campaign led by TDU. We have continued to
work to maintain and protect that right.
Richard Mark has been approved by the court as the Election Officer
(to be called the Election Supervisor) for the 2005-2006 delegate and
officer elections. Mark was an Assistant U.S. Attorney and involved in
the consent order process, and later worked as counsel to the Election
Officer for the 1998 rerun election. Kenneth Conboy will again be the
Election Appeals Master.
The Election Supervisor will have control over hiring of his staff.
(In 2001 the IBT leadership tried to override hiring decisions.) A
budget will be agreed to within 60 days, and will not be less than the
2001 budget, adjusted for inflation.
Proposed Rules will be issued soon and there will be a 30-day comment
period. If there is disagreement between the parties, the Judge will
decide it. settle the matter of the Rules. This is an improvement
over 2001, when a dispute over Rules went to a Department of Labor
arbitrator.
During the last election, the IBT leadership tried, and failed, to
reduce the number of "battle pages" of uncensored campaign material in
the Teamster magazine, and tried to limit the participation of TDU in
the election.
TDU is prepared to make proposals for improvements in the the Election
Rules, which are expected to be similar to the 2001 Rules.
TDU will provide updated information on all aspects of the election
process to help maximize informed participation by members.
