Pros
Once you reach top scale you bump to $45 an hour. starting pay for driver is around $25 an hour. You get bumped up per the pay scale each year and top out after 4 years. The benefits are awesome and the vacation time is great and you also get an additional 10 paid days off each year on top of vacation. After so many years( not sure how many) you get 8 weeks of vacation a year . Overtime starts after 8 hrs daily. You get paid holidays and you can often get the opportunity to come in on your day off and get time and a half for the day. You get to work alone and being outside and being active is a plus. Union protection is also great and without it the job would be undesired by most. Management is dishonest, manipulative and at any time has no problem ending your career or taking every opportunity to do so just because they need to trim the fat. Doesn’t matter if you have been there 20 years or 2 years if they need to cut labor they will do any and everything to catch you up on anything and everything to make a case for termination. Even if they know it won’t stick and you will get your job back after the union takes it to panel. This can take months even longer at times and all the while your life is turned upside down you have no income, no benefits, and the toll it takes on your mental health is devastating. I have seen this happen to drivers for things that were so petty to things that were completely and totally false. management has an awful reputation they have built for themselves over the years. I have seen some awful things but have read so many unbelievable experiences of other employees that are hard to fathom unless you have worked for ups. Every hub is different and some worst than others but at the end of the day if you want to work for ups and you do remember this. You can not just go to work and out your head down and do your job and be safe. Know your stewards, know your business agent, read your contract and educate yourself on your rights. learn the grievance process and never allow management to get away with violating your rights or your seniority. They will throw you under the bus at any time regardless of how valuable you may have been to them the day prior or for years prior. They will stomp all over you one day even This is coming from a drivers point of view and it happens to part timers just as much and often they don’t know anything about the contract so it important even if your part time or an inside worker that you educate yourself from the start. At the end of the day the pay is great, benefits are wonderful, vacation time available is amazing. The pay at top scale is great for not having a degree and delivering packages. It’s rough and it’s not for everyone.
Cons
Management is dishonest, manipulative and cannot be trusted at any time. They have no problem ending your career or taking every opportunity to do so just because they need to cut labor. Whether it’s due to low volume, overstaffing , or any other reason. Doesn’t matter if you have been there 20 years or 2 years if they need to cut labor they will do anything and everything to find a way to do so to anyone. The reasoning is many times not valid or circumstances manipulated and twisted to justify the termination or discipline. Discipline is usually just a process that always has a purpose of eventually taking your job and especially before you reach top scale. They would rather bring in a newer driver and cut cost of labor. Does not matter if you have worked for 25 years with the company i have seen it happen and it’s exactly why the union is a must when it comes to working for this company. Even if they know it won’t stick and you will get your job back after the union takes it to panel. This can take months or even longer. Meanwhile you have no income, no benefits, and the toll it takes on your mental health is devastating. I have seen this happen to drivers for things that were so petty to things that were completely and totally false. Ups management has an awful reputation they have built for themselves over the years. I have seen some awful things but have read some truly unbelievable experiences from ups employees from other buildings and areas at some of the online forums and websites. Just do a google search and you will find the some of them. Its hard to fathom unless you have worked for ups long enough to see for your self. Every hub is different and some worst than others, but at the end of the day if you want to work for ups and you do remember this. You can not just go to work and put your head down and do your job and be safe. Know your stewards, know your business agent, read your contract and educate yourself on your rights. learn the grievance process and never allow management to get away with violating your rights or your seniority. If this was not a union job it would be undesirable and would have so much turnover and I doubt would have been as much of a success over the years. The day to day operations would be greatly affected by the high turnover and the constant need to replace and train new employees. Customer relations would be affected as well as the reputation and desirability to even work for the company at all. The quality of people that they would be able to attract and keep would absolutely be in the lower end of the scale. If you have the ability to find something that can pay your bills and offers a stable work life balance I would say to most definitely choose this. To many opportunities and things people can do to have to deal with the dumpster fire that is ups when it comes to the culture and environment. Always have to watch your back and never be off guard or unaware of a target that you may have on your back or will one day at some time or another. This is the environment you will be in every day at ups even if it’s not you at the moment it’s unsettling to always see the potential situations that you may find yourself in one day. Management or a member of management simply not liking you could be enough to put a target on your back with who knows how long of abuse and harassment. Hoping that you will just quit rather than fight for your job. Many can not and will not realizing returning to the environment isn’t worth it. some have no choice it’s been what they have been doing and may even be close to retirement after a 35 year career with the company. Not to say that all terminations and discipline is unjustified. Clearly this is not the case but I would be willing to bet that there are just as many cases that are unjustifiable as the ones that are. Don’t expect that you will have a real sense of job security throughout your career at ups. It’s not possible.