Some tech workers questioned whether UPS drivers deserved high pay — others jumped in to note the importance of the jobs and harsh working conditions.

Firstly hilarious that BI is basically just posting message board comments as news.

But also those comments are expectedly hideous.

  • Kaplya
    ·
    3 months ago

    Important to note: this article is old.

    UPS is now laying off 12000 workers just after 5 months of the so-called “historic” deal (CBS)

    From Yahoo Finance (Jan 31, 2024):

    UPS (UPS) employees are in the news once again — but this time, it’s not gone their way.

    The shipping giant, which forecast weak demand for parcel delivery in 2024, has said it plans to lay off 12,000 employees to save $1 billion in costs. It’s also mulling a sale of its Coyote brokerage unit.

    This shocking announcement made on Tuesday comes just six months after unionized UPS workers landed a “lucrative” new labor deal, which will see delivery drivers earning an average of $170,000 in annual pay and benefits by the end of the five years.

    “2023 was a unique, and quite candidly, difficult and disappointing year,” said UPS CEO Carol Tomé during the company’s earnings call. “We experienced declines in volume, revenue and operating profits and all three of our business segments.”

    Yeah, most of them aren’t gonna see that promised 170k by the end of that five year contract.

      • Kaplya
        ·
        3 months ago

        UPS has also just been awarded to be the primary air carrier for USPS, displacing a 20-year partnership with FedEx. Clearly a very difficult year for them.

    • makotech222 [he/him]
      ·
      3 months ago

      last i heard, it was 12000 manager level positions, not the unionized workers

      • Kaplya
        ·
        3 months ago

        This is from an interview on WSWS from March:

        WSWS: How many workers were affected by the layoffs in your building?

        Evan: My understanding is the whole building laid off about 78 people. It was the whole midnight shift—40 [part-time] workers—but also Twilight and Pre-load got hit with layoffs as well, so 78 total. A lot of people are mad about it.

        The first wave started right after the new year. That was a big surprise. A supervisor told us, ‘Listen, they're gonna start laying off people.’ The reason given was that volume is getting short. A second wave of layoffs occurred shortly after and I heard there’s another one coming up.

        Some workers without seniority were laid off completely. Anyone who had less years, they [UPS] didn't really take them.

        They’re also bringing 40 full-timers from different [UPS] buildings to over here this week and dividing them up between the shifts. I’m very worried.

        WSWS: You mentioned earlier that many part-time Midnight workers who were laid off also had jobs during the day. What happened to them?

        Evan: Yes, most people had two jobs so they couldn't continue with the different shifts. So I could say out of the 78, there was like 13 people that actually were able to make it and be called in for a floor spot.

        They can’t fire us, but they told us that if you don’t like it, quit. If you quit, they love that because that’s basically what they want you to do. They want to force you to quit. And you can’t collect unemployment because technically you’re not fired.

        One co-worker, who worked at UPS for one and a half years, got laid off for three months. They moved him to Pre-load and told him to come back in three months and that he’s on call for one or two or three days a week. They just want him to quit.

        WSWS: What has been the response of the union, including Teamsters local 804, to these layoffs?

        Evan: So far, no one has spoken to me about it. They [the Teamsters] just say at least you got a job. The problem is they just stay quiet.

        One union guy called me to ask if I got switched to Pre-load and I asked him, “Do you know what the hell is going on with the layoffs?” And he’s like, “What UPS is doing right now is wrong,” but that’s all that the union guy told me.

        WSWS: So the Teamsters are just accepting it and not putting up a fight.

        Evan: Yeah, of course. And that’s what a lot of people are saying and I believe it. The union guys never came up to us telling us that we were going to get laid off.

        They’re not even helping us. They’re not fighting, they’re doing nothing.

        I don’t know if this is psyop or anything but it does seem like it’s affecting a lot of the part-timers. And as I recall, the new contract explicitly restricted the number of conversion to full timers (which I don’t know if they’re being laid off or not).

        • Alaskaball [comrade/them]
          ·
          3 months ago

          Just for clarification for anyone that don't know, ups corporate use "layed off" not in the sense of firing people permanently but as a "There's not enough work for the current number of people today, so employees at whatever level of seniority chosen to the bottom of the seniority list are to not come to work today."

          Ups fired a bunch of management and contractors but can not fire union employees without cause, leading to the management tactic of 'lay offs'. A short-sighted tactic that they make leaving them constantly one step behind the changing levels of workflow where they cut too hard during low periods then struggle to replenish during the inevitable high periods.

    • FanonFan [comrade/them, any]
      ·
      3 months ago

      There's an informative revleft episode that people might be interested in, interviewing teamsters members campaigning against the recent UPS contract