Teamster tips for fighting harassment and enforcing our contract.

With volume and profits down, layoffs, harassment and discipline are up at UPS.

Protect yourself from discipline and inform others by following the methods and enforcing our contract rights.

• Don’t take shortcuts. Management may look the other way for a while, but when something goes wrong, they will discipline you.
• Be where you are supposed to be and avoid unnecessary downtime. Work like you are being observed because you may be.
• Correctly record your time for all lunches and breaks. Don’t sort packages or adjust your load during your break. Make UPS pay you for every second that you work.
• Record your packages accurately. Record the stop at the stop.

Work at a Sustainable Pace

The goal of management harassment is to speed us up and make us work in fear.

But we can use the methods to our advantage too. By following the methods, you can work at a safe and sustainable pace that can last you through a 30-year career at UPS. 

Practice doing your job the same way every day, not just when a supervisor is riding with you.

Parking Lot Meetings

UPS constantly changes their “flavor of the month,” or most frequent method used for discipline.

Passing out informational leaflets and holding parking lot meetings is a good way to stay ahead of management by reminding members about key methods, preparing members for OJS rides, or organizing grievance campaigns.

Contract Enforcement Campaigns

For every action from UPS there should be an equal and opposite reaction from the union.

If management starts harassing members over violations to the uniform policy, members can organize to file grievances against every manager who is not wearing a name tag.

Respond to layoffs by enforcing our 9.5 rights, using 8-hour requests, and organizing a supervisors working grievance campaign.

Contact TDU to get UPS Teamsters United leaflets and contract enforcement materials.

Prepare for Your OJS

“Use the new language requiring 24 hours notice before an OJS ride to hold the company accountable. The time to prepare allows us to share information on best practices and how to get ahead of company tactics.”

Dave Heller, Local 908
Defiance, Ohio

Online Workshops

“TDU webinars are full of information I can use to defend members and enforce the contract. I use a group chat to invite members in my building to attend them.”

Winston Cox, Local 71
Charlotte

Package Driver Log Books

“We pass out UPS Teamsters United log books to drivers to help them track their day and defend themselves from management harassment and discipline.”

Derek Redding, Local 413
Columbus

Take on Sups Working as a Team

“Taking on supervisors working works best as a team effort. In my building, we trained a group of members to use a sups working checklist to document grievances and win.”

Recoll Rucker, Local 135 
Indianapolis

Parking Lot Meetings

“I organized my first parking lot meeting and I have already seen the impact with other members getting engaged and filing grievances. Ahead of time, I asked co-workers who wanted to be more active to help hand out flyers, set up the table, and talk to members.”

Jonathan Thomas Jr., Local 315
San Ramon, Calif.

Hold a TDU Workshop

“In my local we’re holding a TDU workshop on enforcing our new UPS contract. We want more members to have the education and tools to make this union stronger. In my local we’re holding a TDU workshop on enforcing our new UPScontract. We want more members to have the education and tools to make this union stronger.”

Josh Page, Local 891
Jackson, Miss.