Inside workers are taking action to make UPS show them the money.

Image: Flickr Creative Commons

All UPS part-timers are guaranteed 3.5 hours of work for every shift. But management is always looking for opportunities to push members out the door early.

In New York Local 804, members started an information campaign to make sure everyone knew about their right to a 3.5 hour daily guarantee.

“We made a conscious effort to make sure part timers knew how to demand their daily guarantee, talking with members one on one, in small groups and parking lot meetings,” said shop steward Dwight Virgo. “Once we started talking about it, more people were empowered to demand their guaranteed hours.”

Members are guaranteed 3.5 hours as long as they report to work on time.

What about members who leave early? The contract requires UPS to pay a minimum of three hours pay to members even if they leave early. This right is laid out in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on page 201.

In Local 804, after their information campaign on daily guarantees, members took action.

“We went through daily recaps to make sure everyone was getting paid what they were owed,” said shop steward Dwight Virgo. The daily recaps proved members were being sent home without their guaranteed pay.

“We filed all-affected grievances using the MOU for members who were being sent home and paid less than three hours.”

Stewards in other buildings did the same. Together they built a strong case and won an arbitration ruling that members cannot be coerced by management into waiving their three hour guarantee. The ruling does not change members’ right to a 3.5 hour guarantee.

“Now members can enforce their rights to daily guarantees, and management doesn’t even try sending us home early,” Virgo said.

Get the toolkit for enforcing daily guarantees at your building here. Contact TDU for support.