July 17, 2008: Are new sensors appearing on your package car? UPS is expanding its use of new technology to monitor vehicles, and drivers, like never before.

The company’s new “telematics program” uses computer technology to combine data UPS gathers through GPS, the DIAD board and new sensors that are being mounted on package cars in pilot areas.

More than 200 new sensors are being mounted on select package cars to gather information on everything from vehicle speeds and oil pressure to the number of times a truck goes in reverse, what doors are open and when, the time the truck spends idling, and how and if you are wearing your seatbelt.

At the end of each driver’s shift, all the information is uploaded to a data center in Mahwah, N.J. There it is evaluated by UPS “data miners.” Automotive personnel are looking for ways to save the company on maintenance.

But operations personnel are looking for “safety trends” and “efficiency patterns.” The company’s new technology opens the door to more monitoring, more harassment and more speed-up. As always, following UPS’s rules—instead of rushing to boost your production—is the best way to protect ourselves.

UPS first tested piloted this program in Roswell and Athens, Georgia. This year, they are expanding the program by mounting sensors in 10 more areas in the United States and one in Canada. And press reports say, UPS managers can see eventually expanding the program to tractor trailers.

Has UPS introduced the new sensors in your area? Click here to tell us about your experiences with these sensors and how the company’s new spy technology is being used by UPS management.

Click here to read a press report on UPS’s telematics program.

Click here to read more on this issue at Make UPS Deliver.

July 9, 2008: Check the label on your UPS uniform. Odds are it's manufactured outside the USA. And you can bet it comes from a nonunion manufacturer.

The National Master Freight Agreement requires that all uniforms "shall be made in the United States by union vendors if possible." DHL meets this standard. Why doesn't the UPS contract?

Many UPS Teamsters used to wear uniforms produced in the U.S. by Riverside. Some still do. But increasingly, our uniforms are made in China, Cambodia, Egypt and elsewhere.

One common supplier is Cintas, a multi-national that has fought Teamster organizing drives. Cintas filed a RICO lawsuit against the Teamsters and other unions to try stop workers’ effort to form to organize.

The Hoffa administration talks a good game about fair trade and protecting U.S. manufacturing jobs.

UPS talks a good game about being an ethical company, while they save a few pennies by using vendors who pay workers sweatshop wages to make our uniforms.

The bargaining table is a place we can back up that talk with action—by requiring that our union's largest employer, UPS, provide uniforms that are made in the USA by union labor.

June 23, 2008: If you think that filling up your car is expensive, just be glad you don't have a 240-gallon tank and a vehicle that gets five miles to the gallon.

With diesel prices at record highs, Miami-based Ryder System is offering a new high-tech tool to help its customers save fuel.

The product, called RydeSmart, is one of several on the market that enables customers to instantly track the fuel consumption, idle time, speed and other vital statistics of every truck in their fleets.

Read the full story from the Miami Herald at TradingMarkets.com.

June 20, 2008: UPS recently sent a mailing to Teamster members to try to get us to donate to UPSPAC, the political arm of the corporation.

Before you give any of your hard-earned cash, you should know that UPSPAC will use that money to undermine your pension security, health and safety rights, and other worker protections.

Here are just a few lowlights from UPS’s recent political action priorities.

Attacking Our Pensions

UPS was one of the main forces behind the misnamed Pension Protection Act. UPS failed in its effort to win the right to cut the pensions of employees who have already retired!

But the company did succeed in passing the law as a whole. The result has been pension freezes and benefit cuts for Teamsters across the country. (See Pension Protection Act: Delivered by UPS on page 7.)

Undermining Worker Safety

Experts credit UPS and its PAC money with killing the most important new worker safety regulations in decades.

UPS led the charge against an initiative by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that would have required companies to reduce back, shoulder and knee injuries and other musculoskeletal disorders.

OSHA’s ergonomics standard would have required companies like UPS to reduce hazards that cause injuries.

UPS complained that reducing injuries would be too costly. In a filing with the SEC, UPS admitted that, “Our competitor would have incurred proportionately comparable costs.” But the company opposed the rule anyway, saying that to reduce injuries UPS would have to “hire additional full-time and part-time employees.”

President Bush subsequently repealed the ergonomics standard.

Buying the Right to Not Pay Teamsters

In the summer of 2006, UPS tried to change California wage and hour laws to avoid a lawsuit over the company’s practice of forcing employees to work off the clock.

The company successfully got the legislature to pass a bill—specifically designed for UPS— that gave unionized transportation companies an exemption from the state’s pro-worker laws governing breaks.

Fortunately, UPS’s bill was vetoed by the Governor. California drivers subsequently won an $87 million wage and hour settlement against UPS for violations committed under the law the company was trying to gut.

All Evil All the Time?

UPSPAC does support a few legislative changes that working Teamsters can get behind—and of course those are the ones the company highlights in its propaganda aimed at members.

For example, UPS is working in Congress to stop FedEx’s abuses of independent contractors and to strip FedEx of its special status under the Railway Act—which, among other things, makes FedEx more difficult for the Teamsters to organize.

But UPS Teamsters who want to help take on FedEx don’t have to give money to UPSPAC. The Teamster political action committee, DRIVE, is active on these same issues.

A recent study reported in the New York Times found that UPS donates PAC money to more Congressional candidates than any other corporation. The same study found that corporations that spread their money around to many Congressional candidates get the most benefit.

That’s good news for UPS’s corporate agenda and bad news for our pensions and workplace rights.

June 26, 2008: When it comes to safety audits, some UPS managers are not following proper methods.

By now, most drivers are familiar with UPS’s pop quizzes on the 10-Point Commentary and other company safety-speak.

The company has decided it’s not enough for drivers to work safely and follow proper methods.

They want us to recite their methods word-for-word like Big Brown parrots.

The company can make us play the game, but there are limits. And some managers are stepping over the line.

Heavy-Handed Tactics

A supervisor at a north Georgia center recently told package car drivers at a PCM that it is a “condition of employment” to know the company’s safety tips by heart. The supervisor said it was a member’s responsibility to study the rules on their own time.

Atlanta Local 728 shop steward Matt Higdon correctly pointed out that while the rules may be good to know, they are not a condition of employment. UPS can’t make us study them on our own time and UPS is not permitted to discipline drivers for their performance on a safety quiz.

Later, when Higdon couldn’t answer a question during a safety audit, management threatened to discipline him on false charges of refusing to answer the question. No disciplinary action was taken, but Higdon was scheduled for daily “tutoring” sessions on the clock.

Instead of filing a grievance for being singled out, Higdon got other members involved.

A group of drivers started talking up the issue and prepared to tell management they wanted the same opportunity to get paid safety training.

Management abruptly cut off Higdon’s classes. But the drivers in his center are prepared to request equal access to safety training at overtime pay if other members are singled out in the future.

“Management should know that these kinds of heavy-handed tactics turn people off,” Higdon said. “Sticking together as a group is the best way to send them that message.”

Know Your Rights

Promoting safety is one thing. Using safety quizzes as a cover to harass drivers is another.

In a few cases, UPS has even tried to take drivers out of service without pay based on their performance on a safety quiz. This is completely against the contract. To make sure our managers don’t cross the line, we need to know our rights—and spread the word to other UPS Teamsters.

The company can require you to participate in safety audits, complete quizzes, and even study their safety tips. Do not refuse to answer questions. Do not tell management that you refuse to learn the rules.

UPS cannot force you to study safety materials or answer safety quizzes on your own time. You have the right to be paid for any time you are directed to review materials or answer tests. Insist on your right to be paid and back it up with a grievance if necessary.

Under the contract, UPS does not have the right to discipline you for answering questions incorrectly. In the unlikely event that this happens, file a grievance immediately for discipline without just cause.

Our contract is on our side on this issue. It’s up to us to use it.

Contact Teamsters for a Democratic Union for more information or assistance in enforcing your rights.

June 20, 2008: All UPS Teamsters will be missing something this summer: a cost of living raise of 15¢ per hour.

Gasoline and food prices are skyrocketing. Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W), went up 4.5 percent from May 2007 to May 2008. This is the period used in Article 33 of our contract.

When that index goes over three percent, we are supposed to get a cost of living adjustment (COLA).

Calculations by Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) show that the Article 33 formula should give us a 15¢ additional raise, due to the high cost of living.

Instead, our negotiators left this year’s COLA out of the early contract deal. It will be in effect for 2009, if inflation continues to run high.

Curiously, DHL Teamsters did get a COLA raise this year.

While 15¢ is not a lot, look at this way. For a full-timer who averages 46.6 hours per week, that would be $390 this year, and $1,950 over the life of the contract. That would fill your tank a few times.

Look at it another way: a full-time UPSer who gets a 70¢ raise (with half of it delayed until February 2009) will be getting a 2.5 percent raise, but prices have gone up 4.5 percent. Thus we lost two percent, or 57¢ per hour, in buying power. A 15¢ COLA raise would have at least softened that loss to our standard of living.

Most of us don’t think about how important a cost of living clause is until inflation bites us in the wallet. We need to plan ahead and get a much better cost of living clause in our next contract.

Who has such a clause? Our International Union officials do! They get a full 4.5 percent COLA raise this July. James Hoffa’s salary of $277,777 will go up $12,500 due to that COLA adjustment. And he gets a “housing allowance” and other bonuses and perks which add $135,457 to that amount, putting him well over $400,000 a year.

Maybe that’s why he forgot to take care of that 15¢ COLA for us.

June 20, 2008: Chicago Local 705 has entered bargaining with UPS on a new contract covering more than 10,000 Teamsters in the Chicago area. The Local 705 UPS contract is independent of the national agreement. Local 705 Teamsters are currently operating under the 2002 contract, which expires on Aug 1.

The local’s bargaining committee includes nearly 20 rank-and-file UPS Teamsters, with members from every classification.

The company is seeking the same concessions they won in the national contract last year on full-time job creation, excessive overtime, supervisors working, and part-time benefits—as well as some giveback demands especially tailored for Local 705.

UPS also wants to eliminate Local 705’s right to strike when the company does not comply with grievance decisions.

The union successfully used a strike threat last year to force UPS to create more than 200 package car and part-time jobs and to curb supervisors working violations.

Management has also proposed a series of language changes designed to weaken local language where the union has prevailed on issues in arbitration.

Full Time Job Creation

Creating new jobs and strengthening contract language are priority issues for the union.

Local 705 is demanding that UPS preserve the full-time combo jobs created by the 1997 and 2002 contracts and create 500 more combo jobs over the life of the new agreement.

The union also wants to put an end to subcontracting in the cross-town operation by requiring all those runs to be performed by Local 705 members—a move that would create hundreds of new Teamster jobs.

UPS has not turned over its economic proposals. Local 705’s proposals do not include the split wage increase that was in the national contract. The union has proposals on the table for UPS to raise starting pay for part-timers and increase in the minimum guarantee to four hours a day.

“High gas prices are affecting everybody—especially part-timers. Their wages are getting eaten up by the cost of the commute.” said Craig Karnia, a package car steward and member of the negotiating committee. “UPS has been making fat profits off our backs for years. Members say it’s time for them to share the wealth.”

Local 705 is making both the union and company proposals available to the members in their entirety on the Local 705 website. For more information, go to www.teamsterslocal705.org

June 30, 2008: UPS is violating the rights of part-timers in Southern California to get breaks in their fourth and fifth hours—or to get paid for unused break time.

Now, concerned Local 396 UPSers are taking action to enforce members’ rights.

The Southwest Sort Rider gives part-time employees the right to a ten-minute rest break during their 3.5 hour shift—and an additional five minute break after their fourth hour and fifth hour on the job (Section 11 – Rest Breaks).

UPS either has to give Teamsters these breaks, combine them with their 10-minute break or pay them for their time. Since UPS never wants to interrupt the operation, the language has historically meant an extra 10-minute’s pay for part-timers who work a five-hour shift.

Teamsters at the Cerritos hub in Los Angeles say the company has systematically not paid members for their unused breaks.

This affects hundreds of Teamsters in that hub alone—and they suspect the problem is happening at other facilities.

Local 396 shop steward Lawrence Cruz has started distributing a leaflet to inform part-timers about their right to be paid for additional breaks—and other contractual rights.

Cruz also filed a class action grievance on behalf of all affected members who are not being properly paid.

“We need to make UPS pay for all the violations, not just individual claims. Our union has got to stand up for everyone and give UPS a financial incentive to stop violating members’ rights,” Cruz said.

Last year, UPS settled a wage and hour lawsuit by drivers in California for $87 million.

June 13, 2008: All UPS Teamsters will be missing something this summer: a cost of living raise of 15¢ per hour.

Gasoline and food prices are skyrocketing. Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W), went up 4.5 percent from May 2007 to May 2008. This is the period used in Article 33 of our contract.

When that index goes over three percent, we are supposed to get a cost of living adjustment (COLA).

Calculations by Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) show that the Article 33 formula should give us a 15¢ additional raise, due to the high cost of living.

Instead, our negotiators left this year’s COLA out of the early contract deal. It will be in effect for 2009, if inflation continues to run high.

Curiously, DHL Teamsters did get a COLA raise this year.

While 15¢ is not a lot, look at this way. For a full-timer who averages 46.6 hours per week, that would be $390 this year, and $1,950 over the life of the contract. That would fill your tank a few times.

Look at it another way: a full-time UPSer who gets a 70¢ raise (with half of it delayed until February 2009) will be getting a 2.5 percent raise, but prices have gone up 4.5 percent. Thus we lost two percent, or 57¢ per hour, in buying power. A 15¢ COLA raise would have at least softened that loss to our standard of living.

Most of us don’t think about how important a cost of living clause is until inflation bites us in the wallet. We need to plan ahead and get a much better cost of living clause in our next contract.

Who has such a clause? Our International Union officials do! They get a full 4.5 percent COLA raise this July. James Hoffa’s salary of $277,777 will go up $12,500 due to that COLA adjustment. And he gets a “housing allowance” and other bonuses and perks which add $135,457 to that amount, putting him well over $400,000 a year.

Maybe that’s why he forgot to take care of that 15¢ COLA for us.

June 3, 2008: A New York feeder driver who reported a safety problem was rewarded by management with a 72-hour notice. Fortunately, Local 804 Teamster Joe Miller stuck to his guns.

The result? The company fixed the safety problem and dropped the 72-hour notice.

Click here to read the full story of how Miller beat management retaliation at 804membersunited.org, the independent website of Local 804 Teamsters.