August 11, 2010: A package car driver has filed a class action lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court accusing the company of violating labor law by requiring drivers who wear shorts to buy socks with the UPS logo from the company.

Unfortunately, when it comes to socks, our contract rights stink.

The problem goes back to the 1993 contract negotiations. The company was absolutely dug in to not agree to shorts. Our union won the argument and got the shorts, but did not get the socks. Instead, we got language in Article 42 that says, “Such shorts may only be worn in compliance with uniform and appearance standards established by the Employer.”

Of course one of the standards established by the employer was the wearing of specific socks.

In many places drivers have successfully gotten around the restriction by buying their own brown socks and not making a big deal out of it. The socks must be identical to the company catalog socks (minus the logo).