Dangerous heat waves are sweeping through our area and most of the country.

Conditions like this prove once again that UPS management does not give a damn about you. But your Teamster brothers and sisters do.

With temperatures hitting 99 degrees, Local 804 stewards and volunteers organized parking lot meetings and passed out Teamster heat safety materials to educate members about how to work safely in the heat.

I want to thank each and every one of these members. You are what solidarity and our union is all about.

Facing the heat, UPS management showed their true colors as well.

We had our first heat-related injuries of the year. Two drivers were hospitalized. One was in the Emergency Room for over two hours and not one management person answered his calls.

This company can talk all they want but actions speak louder than words.

Use Your Union Rights

In the contract, we won the right to hold UPS to their heat stress training materials which say, “On extremely hot days or during heat waves, maintain a slower pace and take frequent breaks.”

It’s up to us to make UPS’s lip service a reality.

• Stay hydrated.
• Use cooling solutions.
• Maintain a slower pace.
• Take your full lunch.
• Take additional cool-down breaks if you need too.
• If you are eligible for the 9.5 list, sign up and file grievances.

Cool-Down Breaks

Whether you work inside or as a driver, our union contract gives you the right to rest in a cool zone. This is on top of your regular breaks.

• Recognize early signs of heat-related illness like fatigue, nausea, dizziness, headaches, and take action.
• If you need to take a cool-down break, tell management. You are not asking. If you’re a driver, get to a cool zone and send a DIAD message. If you work inside, tell a supervisor and your shop steward.
• Rest and rehydrate. If you are not recovering, get medical help.

Your health is more important than this company’s packages or profits.

If management tells you to clock out, follow that instruction. Then talk to your shop steward and file a grievance.

If you have a question, talk to your shop steward or a member who knows the ropes. Get informed. Enforce your rights and have your co-workers’ back.

Harassment

A harassing preload supervisor at Maspeth has been shown the door. You may have heard about them.

They called one of our stewards a “bald-headed bitch.” She told another of our stewards to “Suck my d*ck.”

She threatened members that, “I will have my people kick the shit out of them” off the clock.

Management has the right to supervise and direct the workforce. They do not have the right to harass you and treat you with disrespect. Local 804 will have your back.

Change of Operations

The Mt. Vernon and Queens North building closures are complete. Working together, we held the company accountable to its obligations under the contract throughout this disruptive change of ops. We have kept everyone working and we will enforce the contract going forward.

One union. One goal.