This might be hard to explain but I'll do the best I can. I work for UPS and have been for 8 years now, 2 years ago I got a job shifting, which is basically moving trailers in and out of doors, taking them out putting them up etc. Well I was working 5pm to 10pm, still part time but I make more then most people with full time jobs.

Anyways the company has hit hard times and the truck drivers aren't getting as much work so they are moving them around doing other jobs and such. We had one guy come in and bump me and 2 other guys. From what I was told it was only temporary. He came in in Feb and left in April.

Here is where it get's all screwed up, the way UPS works is seniority rules. They had a bid for full timers in April, which means you sign up for a job and high man gets to pick then down the line. Well all of the full timers picked what they wanted moved around during this time while me and the other part timers were still stuck on midnight shift. Well they took all the full timers and put them on days and twilight and there were only a few left on midnight with us. Now they are trying to say we can't move back because there aren't enough people to work midnight.

Now I find that messed up. First of all full time positions shouldn't affect part time positions at all, basically they took our jobs and gave them to full timers as a part of there time slot. Here is my argument, I was suppose to only temporarily be on midnight, so those jobs they took shouldn't have been considered available at all. They should have looked at those positions as filled and worked around what we were suppose to go back to. So when the driver ended up going back to his old job and all the full timers got moved, my supervisor just basically said oh well your stuck on this shift now. So now it's 3 part timers on midnight, 1 on day sort, and none on twilight.

I talked to the union rep at work and basically he's saying there isn't anything they can do which is bullshit they are just lazy and don't feel like doing work or either don't want to help someone who is white. My supervisor told me in March to give him a month, so I gave him 2. Nothing has happened they just wanted us to forget about it I suppose but it's really been bugging me. I use to love my job and my time slot, now I'm pissed off every day, I'm stressed out because I hate the time, the people and the supervisor. I know most of you wouldn't understand the type of structure they have seeing as how we have the union and so forth. I just don't think that full timers should have anything to do with part timers. We can't bid on there jobs and they can't bid on ours. They shouldn't be able to work our time slots if we can't work theirs.

What they are trying to do is keep a set amount of shifters, because they don't want to train anymore to come on and work, which would make sense seeing as how they said "Oh well we don't have enough shifters for midnight" Well I just think they should train some damn people so they will have enough and I can go back to were I was at. It's sort of like let's say, you got a cook and a waiter, you are the waiter your boss tells you to come in the next shift just for a couple of months, so you wait when that time limit is up you realize he has taken the cook gave him your original position, and he also gets to come in a cook the next half of his shift. Why should he even be considered for your job it wasn't even up for grabs. Anyways I was just wondering if you think I got screwed or what.

I really don't know how to handle the situation. I went to the union about it they basically didn't even try, so now the only other thing I can think of is going down to the union hall give them a piece of my mind, maybe even try to get some sort of petition going with the part timers and see if we can get something changed. I even thought about threating to be moved to another position but they probably would sign the paper for me just so they don't have to sign another check. Management doesn't help at UPS it's totally opposite of any other work place. Management is basically a bunch of snakes, they will screw you the first chance they get. They lie they cheat they tell you what you want to hear and smile in your face then turn around and try to get you fired as soon as they can. I'm just wondering if you think they are screwing me or not.

From the experiences I've had with both unions and part time work you are pretty much screwed. As you said, they see you as part time and thus lower on the pole than full timers. The union should be able to help ( if you're paying dues ) but I can see they would be reluctant since moving you would just piss off the full timers. It's pretty much a case of you being out numbered. Unless you could get some of the full time workers on your side you pretty much don't have anything you can do.

Phew!

Well GG, to me it sounds like you're getting hosed, but this kind of thing happens all the time where I work too. Full timers get first dibs on shifts, but then most of the full timers have the seniority where I work. If they're giving preferential shifts to folks with less seniority than you, then that is way messed up.

However, if they restructured the shifts so that all the day/twilight shifts are all eight hour shifts, leaving only part time shifts for midnights, there isn't much you can do. At least that's how it works at my job. There are plenty of ways to manipulate the schedule like that. It sucks having all that time in with a company, and then get dicked around like that, but you have to think of the guys who have even more time in. They would feel the same way.

I feel for you man. Though I think making a stink out of it will just get you labeled as a problem child unless you have a leg to stand on. The fact that the union isn't helping tells me you probably don't.

I was just transferred to another store and had no say in it whatsoever. I liked my old store, and this one is quite a bit busier. Work sucks.

Hang in there man. Decent paying jobs are tough to find right now.

Holy wall of text Batman!

But yah, I agree with Pogre. Getting jerked around is never fun, especially when it's in regards to your job bro. I don't really have a lot of advice to offer on this since I'm salary paid and have a steady 8:30-5 job.

All I can do is cross my fingers for ya man.

yes.

Wow - I've never really worked shift work before and though having said that, I've never worked in a workplace where management wasn't 100% supportive of me.

Anything advice I can give you would be irrelevant or just piss you off lol. Thst seriously sucks man. Hopefully if you're loud enough the right people will hear...

My employers booted me from my position and changed me to a completely different shift and didn't even have the courtesy to call me and let me know. I lost a day of pay and had no recourse. Life sucks, then you die.