Charlotte Fleet Service issue

[Harry Callahan]

Starting a new thread rather than mess up FS thread which is about contract issues.

Just spoke to a couple of my former co workers who advised me of a "couple " issues. The main one being how Charlotte is working short staffed. Case in point. One agent in the bagroom working a section by himself when on the last bank of flights he approx. 70 connecting bags of an island flight go to say BUF(don't remember exact city). Now he was expected to pull & run these bags by his self as his only part timer had got off. Some how or another he pulled it off & didn't miss any of bags.(Guess flt. was held) And of course it was hotter than hell. Well guess what after all of this pos shift manager J Y meets him in the tunnel on the way back & asked why he didn't have his seat belt fastened on his tug. Of course he was pissed. Well being the person J Y is he wrote this worker an ESON.

I'm also learning that PHX now has an "eye on CLT" do to all the bags they are missing due to managers making fleet work short.

Folks I'm retired but everyone has got to work safe. See results above for "not working safe" even though all bags made it.

Harry

 

[mike33]

Starting a new thread rather than mess up FS thread which is about contract issues.

Just spoke to a couple of my former co workers who advised me of a "couple " issues. The main one being how Charlotte is working short staffed. Case in point. One agent in the bagroom working a section by himself when on the last bank of flights he approx. 70 connecting bags of an island flight go to say BUF(don't remember exact city). Now he was expected to pull & run these bags by his self as his only part timer had got off. Some how or another he pulled it off & didn't miss any of bags.(Guess flt. was held) And of course it was hotter than hell. Well guess what after all of this pos shift manager J Y meets him in the tunnel on the way back & asked why he didn't have his seat belt fastened on his tug. Of course he was pissed. Well being the person J Y is he wrote this worker an ESON.

I'm also learning that PHX now has an "eye on CLT" do to all the bags they are missing due to managers making fleet work short.

Folks I'm retired but everyone has got to work safe. See results above for "not working safe" even though all bags made it.

Harry

Thanks Harry. Ill pass that story along. It will be a good learning tool to work SAFE !

 

[robbedagain]

The way i see it if the bags miss bec of being short staffed in the make up thats mgmt issue that fellow did all he could to get the bags out and to the correct plane on time but forgot to put the belt on. now had he put the belt on it would be interestin to know if the bags made the flight.. if not then would that pos mgr written him up for failure to get the bags to the plane? in my opin heck yes theres a serious mgmt issue down there

 

[Jester]

The way i see it if the bags miss bec of being short staffed in the make up thats mgmt issue that fellow did all he could to get the bags out and to the correct plane on time but forgot to put the belt on. now had he put the belt on it would be interestin to know if the bags made the flight.. if not then would that pos mgr written him up for failure to get the bags to the plane? in my opin heck yes theres a serious mgmt issue down there

Short staffing is nothing new around PHX. 1600-1800 there are no local runners provided, even on ground turns which leaves 2 people to load the flight which may include cargo. When I say "2 people", I mean one lead and one person in the bin. A gate may get an A321 to CLT or PHL, which of course, typically has large number of CONX and Local bags, and MAYBE a single hit team person would be assigned, but no guarantee as there might be no one available. Management talks out of both sides of their collective mouths here about safety, then not providing enough staff to safely load and unload a plane. I don't know how many times I have had to unload a bin with a scanner in one hand while tossing the bags out the door from behind the netting.

 

[ChockJockey]

Starting a new thread rather than mess up FS thread which is about contract issues.

Just spoke to a couple of my former co workers who advised me of a "couple " issues. The main one being how Charlotte is working short staffed. Case in point. One agent in the bagroom working a section by himself when on the last bank of flights he approx. 70 connecting bags of an island flight go to say BUF(don't remember exact city). Now he was expected to pull & run these bags by his self as his only part timer had got off. Some how or another he pulled it off & didn't miss any of bags.(Guess flt. was held) And of course it was hotter than hell. Well guess what after all of this pos shift manager J Y meets him in the tunnel on the way back & asked why he didn't have his seat belt fastened on his tug. Of course he was pissed. Well being the person J Y is he wrote this worker an ESON.

I'm also learning that PHX now has an "eye on CLT" do to all the bags they are missing due to managers making fleet work short.

Folks I'm retired but everyone has got to work safe. See results above for "not working safe" even though all bags made it.

Harry

Sounds familiar. There's a lot of pressure on shift managers to slim staffing as much as possible. I've heard but don't know for sure that there are incentives/reprimands for managers that do/don't get enough people to VTO for a certain day or period or whatever. It wouldn't surprise me.

Someone out there needs to take the initiative and document incidences like these when they happen and also take note the conditions of the work area overall. It will take some work. A case needs to be made of how the bagroom is 1.) unsafe and 2.) not conducive to the station's goal of maximizing on-time departures and minimizing missed bags. This should include any number of potential solutions and suggestions for improving the work area.

Consider utilizing:

• Requests for Action (multiple if necessary)
• Irregularity Reports (multiple if necessary)
• Grievances (multiple if necessary)
• That safety reporting thingy on Wings (reports straight to corporate) (multiple if necessary)
• CLT safety committee (is there one)

The goal is to create a paper trail so that management can never say "nobody ever told us", which they will say unless it's documented. Naturally they will either dismiss it, ignore it, or tell people what they want to hear and then do nothing because all of those options are cheaper and easier than actually fixing the problem. Get as many people involved as possible; other depts, the union, etc to bring more pressure to bear and make it harder for CLT management to sweep it under the rug or play damage control. Pretty inconvenient time to make waves for those poor managers now that they're going to be under such tight scrutiny with the merger and all...tsk tsk...

Unless someone is persistent and willing to see it through until changes are made station management will maintain the status quo and enjoy the cost savings while your pals continue to handle those bags short-staffed. I hope there are folks out there that can make this happen.

One thing I've noticed about US when it comes to rampers: human life is precious, but the budget is absolutely sacred. Good luck.

 

[robbedagain]

Short staffing is nothing new around PHX. 1600-1800 there are no local runners provided, even on ground turns which leaves 2 people to load the flight which may include cargo. When I say "2 people", I mean one lead and one person in the bin. A gate may get an A321 to CLT or PHL, which of course, typically has large number of CONX and Local bags, and MAYBE a single hit team person would be assigned, but no guarantee as there might be no one available. Management talks out of both sides of their collective mouths here about safety, then not providing enough staff to safely load and unload a plane. I don't know how many times I have had to unload a bin with a scanner in one hand while tossing the bags out the door from behind the netting.

jester bro if i were there in phx and they did that to me... i would not scan a single bag and i would not toss a bag on the belt loader til i had 1 more person in the bin.. ive done that in my station and yes its led to delays but not intentional but due to the negligences of mgmt failure to get enough help..

if mgmt is getting to the point of not properly staffin planes... work by the exact rules by the books if the planes go out late so be it.. til they learn that safe means including having enough staff to help...

 

[Jester]

jester bro if i were there in phx and they did that to me... i would not scan a single bag and i would not toss a bag on the belt loader til i had 1 more person in the bin.. ive done that in my station and yes its led to delays but not intentional but due to the negligences of mgmt failure to get enough help..

if mgmt is getting to the point of not properly staffin planes... work by the exact rules by the books if the planes go out late so be it.. til they learn that safe means including having enough staff to help...

With all due respect to P.Rez, I just don't think we have the PHX union back-up on the matter. Someone will get an ass-chewing or a write-up if they refuse to use the scanners because there aren't enough people or if they refuse to download the plane, especially if it causes misconnects. Now what gets me is that one of recent i-learning training sections instructs us that it is unsafe to scan and throw bags at the same time... doesn't seem to lead to more staffing by PHX Management either. It doesn't help that some of the leads who are also our shop stewards sound as if they a mouth pieces for management supporting nearly all of Management decisions on staffing. Promote some team leads into unit lead for even a single shift, and it might as well be a management person we are dealing with, even though they are part of the same union.

 

[Black Magic]

Phx lower level management won't speak about the issue to the higher in command because it makes them look incapable. When you work for a tyrant such as DP, many supervisors are scared for their jobs and nobody wants to be in the spotlight for rocking the boat as they may become expendable. The esons, vto, write-ups, read/sign, ect. is all designed to say "see boss im doing good right, you need me." One must realize about this company that DP is first and foremost an accountant. He is numbers person and knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing. When you keep that in mind you realize why this company is run the way it is...this company will always try and do MORE with LESS.

 

[robbedagain]

jester union backing or none... if it were me in there id probably become the most written up person bec i for one wont scan if there is only one person in the bin and one on the ground and secondly if it causes misconnects then so be it and i would put the blame squarely on mgmt and dp for their failures and i would notify other union reps in the system as well as the local thats just me. even those tests tell ya but apparently mgmt in phx is not much different than say mgmt in any other city... just wait til we become 1 big happy family after the merger hey black magic they are incapable as they are also inept... just remember that it takes brains but that is something us mgmt has long lacked in

 

[ChockJockey]

With all due respect to P.Rez, I just don't think we have the PHX union back-up on the matter. Someone will get an ass-chewing or a write-up if they refuse to use the scanners because there aren't enough people or if they refuse to download the plane, especially if it causes misconnects. Now what gets me is that one of recent i-learning training sections instructs us that it is unsafe to scan and throw bags at the same time... doesn't seem to lead to more staffing by PHX Management either. It doesn't help that some of the leads who are also our shop stewards sound as if they a mouth pieces for management supporting nearly all of Management decisions on staffing. Promote some team leads into unit lead for even a single shift, and it might as well be a management person we are dealing with, even though they are part of the same union.

The unit lead system basically makes team leads complicit in management's short-staffing agenda, and they end up doing the dirty work of trying to coordinate crews/people/equipment over the ramp, often with frustrating and hilarious results especially when the UL and supervisor don't communicate. I thought P.REZ did take this issue to upper ramp management and their answer was, I believe, basically to call your manager if you need more help or failing that the MOD. The UL position is a fiction dreamed up by PHX management, as far as I know there is no job description or summary of the roles and responsibilities of a UL, so I don't see why people even agree to do it.

Phx lower level management won't speak about the issue to the higher in command because it makes them look incapable. When you work for a tyrant such as DP, many supervisors are scared for their jobs and nobody wants to be in the spotlight for rocking the boat as they may become expendable. The esons, vto, write-ups, read/sign, ect. is all designed to say "see boss im doing good right, you need me." One must realize about this company that DP is first and foremost an accountant. He is numbers person and knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing. When you keep that in mind you realize why this company is run the way it is...this company will always try and do MORE with LESS.

Yes, management by intimidation is even more apparent when it's manager on manager than when it's manager on ramper. Often these front line managers are terrified of flights taking a a delay, you can see the stress and fear and their faces sometimes. It's no wonder most of them smoke. You couldn't pay me enough to do that job. PHX management eats their own.

As for DP, his primary concern is turning a profit, plain and simple. The tyranny part comes from creating a management structure so obsessed with cost containment it makes no consideration for the human aspect of the operation. It creates a workplace where the employee must distrust his own managers for fear of being scapegoated or made an example of. This is why, when someone gets an OJI and report it, there's a good chance they'll also get a write-up or an ESON as well. It's why, when something goes wrong on a flight, the team lead or agent is presumed guilty until they can prove otherwise. It's why most of ramp management is filled with low-paid whip-cracking yes-men who can suppress their own personal integrity whenever company business demands it.

And this is the approach to running an airline that's led US to record profits.

jester union backing or none... if it were me in there id probably become the most written up person bec i for one wont scan if there is only one person in the bin and one on the ground and secondly if it causes misconnects then so be it and i would put the blame squarely on mgmt and dp for their failures and i would notify other union reps in the system as well as the local thats just me. even those tests tell ya but apparently mgmt in phx is not much different than say mgmt in any other city... just wait til we become 1 big happy family after the merger hey black magic they are incapable as they are also inept... just remember that it takes brains but that is something us mgmt has long lacked in

Good heavens, refuse to scan? I'd never ever suggest that anyone refuse to scan bags...people have been fired for that. Buuut sometimes the scanners freeze for a bit, or the battery comes loose, or the trigger gets jammed, or it restarts itself, or doesn't transmit the scan data, and so forth... yes, sometimes these things happen and it makes scanning difficult or impossible. Oh well, at least you tried....

 

[Harry Callahan]

jester union backing or none... if it were me in there id probably become the most written up person bec i for one wont scan if there is only one person in the bin and one on the ground and secondly if it causes misconnects then so be it and i would put the blame squarely on mgmt and dp for their failures and i would notify other union reps in the system as well as the local thats just me. even those tests tell ya but apparently mgmt in phx is not much different than say mgmt in any other city... just wait til we become 1 big happy family after the merger hey black magic they are incapable as they are also inept... just remember that it takes brains but that is something us mgmt has long lacked in

Robbed likewise I wouldn't do it either. They preach wok safe so work safe & go home at the end of your shift.

Harry

 

[xUT]

I know this is none of my business, but in my working experience with the Lazy'U I found that if you continuously meet expectations with a reduced workforce, then that will be the new goal.
If you did it with three people yesterday, but can do it with 2 now means we were overstaffed by one.
Norm becomes 2.
Work Safe Guys N'Gals!
JMHO,
B) xUT

 

[robbedagain]

xut you are absolutely correct about that. without doubt if mgmt wanted to they do only 1 person its my understanding that based on a lot of the folks who used to work for piedmont in the days they used to work 2 per plane at least in my station

 

[Jimmy Neutron]

I know this is none of my business, but in my working experience with the Lazy'U I found that if you continuously meet expectations with a reduced workforce, then that will be the new goal.
If you did it with three people yesterday, but can do it with 2 now means we were overstaffed by one.
Norm becomes 2.
Work Safe Guys N'Gals!
JMHO,
B) xUT

xUT---- U are absolutely RIGHT ----- This is NOT a CLT issue ---it is and always has been a system-wide issue, US management has always treated Fleet Service as the LOWLY Stepchildren of the airline, and for good reason!!!!!!! We all (I say this as a group in a whole) act like scared little dogs that have been mis treated and abused for so long that when a manager just looks at us, we cower in the corner and run and I mean RUN around to get that flight out on time, bags off the belt ETC ETC............not until we as a group wake up, stand arm and arm as one against this constant bullying and stop this madness, then and only then will we not only get the proper staffing, but also the wages and benefits we deserve for allowing Parker's precious MERGER to even be possible, for without US ---- there would be NO AIRLINE---- let alone a merger!!!!

For those of us around the system that know what needs to be done, and know how to do it ----- each and every one of us need to TEACH (take by the hand if you must ) ALL of these fellow agents that just DON'T GET IT !!!! and show then the way ------ ONE by ONE if you have too----You know who you are, so start the teaching NOW !!!!

Then and only then will we be recognized and treated as EQUALS in this AIRLINE and have our DIGNITY restored !!!!!

 

[psa8979]

Remember Brothers and Sisters DP and the rest of the TEMPE BRAT PACK have AH doing their dirty work for them. He has done such a HELL OF A JOB they are going to keep him around . Our TWU B/S at AA Group are in for a rude reality check ! Work Safe ! SOLIDARITY ! SCOPE is # 1.