US Fleet Service Topic 4/30-

[P. REZ]

And the CBA has nothing to do with it, not to mention, the endless whining of "abuse" from the ramp and the grievences filed, along with the accompanying threats of illegal job actions? Based on what you are saying, it would appear that the Union is unable to check management from "unsafe" working conditions. So which is it? Union has influence (thus it isn't solely Management discretion and the Union is culpable) or the Union is powerless (so why bother paying union dues or filing complaints)? You cannot have it both ways.

So Unmasks Jester.

Jester,

Would you consider it a work slow down if I refused to ever open a bin door while engine 2 was still running when an aircraft arrives?

P. Rez

 

[crushed]

Ponder how many bags get left behind because unmotivated employees don't bother to "Go the extra Mile" anymore because they realize that no one cares about them and they are viewed as liabilities to be disposed of in favor of cheaper new hires.

True story.... Downline station manager sends a nasty gram because flight comes in with 1 bag in front of the webbing instead of behind it. (that's the audit of the month)
Turns out the bag was held up by TSA and came out to the gate after the flt had pushed....crew threw the bag on out on the release line.
Now they wonder if that 1 bag was worth getting scolded for.
Will they do it again.....maybe.....maybe not.

 

[Jester]

Why am I not surprised?

Other then those at the very top I'm beginning to think that US's biggest problem is their front line and second level management.

Piney,

Surprised to find you in these parts of the board, and I so happen to agree with you as middle management within Fleet would be truly abysmal with few exceptions. The absurdity of having the "Hat Patrol" issuing citations for being out of uniform which suggest a very strict workplace environment of discipline, then turn a blind-eye to people not showing-up for their flights, sleeping on the job, or refusing to write a report of an in-bound flight whereby through cargo is loading last, thus in front of local bags.

I am sure many passengers wonder what takes so long for their bags to arrive at baggage claim and often times it is because whoever did the up-load placed mail and cargo in front or mixed connecting bags with local forcing a lengthy separation plane side. If the Tempe boys priority has been stated to be an airline which is on-time, convenient, and passengers getting their bags in a timely fashion, then I would expect middle managers to give a higher priority to those matters than someone's hat which does not contribute to missed bags, delayed flights or passengers being inconvenience. Given the unforgiving Arizona sun, I should be allowed to wear a pointy Chinese rice paddy hat or a Mexican sombrero, if I so choose, instead of a marginally protecting, company issued baseball cap or boonie hat.

I'll repeat myself from what I said months ago on the Atttendance Point System... managers are looking for a simple, black and white measurement as to compliance. An employee is either late or not late. An employee is either wearing a company issued hat or does not. Start getting to those subjective measurements like bins being property loaded, then that requires thinking and judgment for which as most of them are barely able to find their ass with both hands and a map might be asking too much from them.

I have been approached to apply for management openings, and I immediately recited a Shermanseque statement by which I swore never to serve or accept any offered positions.

So Remembers Jester.

 

[Harry Callahan]

Jester:
For once I got to agree for the most part. Speaking of CLT, the managers harass the employees who come to work everyday & do the best job they can. The ones who are slack you know whats they are either scared of or turn their heads. You have people here do nothing(for the most part) the whole shift & not a word will be said to them. They wear their pants down to their .... like a bunch of thugs not a word. Now an employee who almost lost his son in a bad accident(by the way he is fine by God's grace & protection just damage) was wearing a hat from his college given by his son was told by shift mgr RC to remove the hat & the reason didn't matter. Something is bad wrong with this.

Edit to add said employee was NOT in a public place.

 

[LD3]

Harry..

You know why they dont say anything to the guys wearing their pants down to their ankles...because they are scared of them, thats why...I've seen these animals walking around with their Crips & Blood attitudes, and have heard many horror stories about the way they talk to some of the females on the ramp...sad situation..

 

[Black Magic]

Harry, I'm curious to what you said above it this something that has recently been going on since the merger with AWA or has it been like that pre-merger aswell?

 

[Harry Callahan]

Harry, I'm curious to what you said above it this something that has recently been going on since the merger with AWA or has it been like that pre-merger aswell?

This "crackdown" started after the new uniforms. However like I've said they pick & choose. On another note I was told by another agt whom I trust that RC told him if he caught him off the property in uniform wearing a certain illegal item( don't remember what it was but doesn't matter) that he would take action or something like that.

 

[ChockJockey]

Jester:
For once I got to agree for the most part. Speaking of CLT, the managers harass the employees who come to work everyday & do the best job they can.

Those most eager to steamroll an agent for any reason are also often among the most vulnerable and replaceable members of management. They are looking to impose the will and wield the power of the position not out of concern for the sanctity of the rules but because this is the easiest way they've found to lift themselves above others, to have that feeling of power and control, even if it minor and fleeting. I think of the worst managers in PHX and I can see right through them into their own insecurities; people generally don't end up being an unrespectable petty tyrant in a crap job like that because they are confident, capable, or intelligent.

The trick is to find those old wounds of the psyche (we all have them, no?) and menace them without coming across in a a manner that seems at all vindictive or revengeful. It's not difficult if you don't respect them, and why should you if respect is what they're unwilling to reciprocate?

Most of the managers in PHX understand common respect and I don't mind or like working with. The bad apples need to be thrown in the river.

 

[freedom]

Somebody(s) should get RC off to the side and remind him that he too can be found "off Site" and that he may find himself receiving an "Attitude Adjustment".

I know a guy where my late father worked that it happened to. Bunch of folks caught him coming out of a bar, came up from behind, threw an old Army blanket over his head so they couldn't be identified and let's just say the gentleman in question had a more "progressive" approach to Labor Relations.

I don't know if my dad was in on it or not as I was barely 10, but I do recall my Dad using the F bomb when referring to this guy, which was very not like him.

i think what your suggestion is attrocious ....


As far as saftey in PHX goes , we have some really great guys on our saftey commity and i've seen what they've been doing in our station and we are well on our way to having a safe working enviorment !

 

[700UW]

Violence in the pursuit of Justice is not criminal.

 

[700UW]

A blanket party is not violent? come on bob

 

[ChockJockey]

Violence in the pursuit of Justice is not criminal.

It is if you have not been deputized as a law enforcement agent or acting in self-defense. See also: vigilantism, simple assault. Better check your state and local laws for minimum sentences.

The problem with "violence in the pursuit of Justice" is that the violence always ends up being a little too convenient to those in power (the "just") and things quickly turn tyrannical. See also: the Crusades, English Civil War, French Revolution, Russian Revolution, Jim Crow laws, McCarthyism, the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, etc., etc., etc...

Happy reading.

 

[Dog Wonder]

Violence in the pursuit of Justice is not criminal.

Gandhi would disagree.

 

[LD3]

A blanket party is not violent? come on bob

Where did Bob condone a blanket party? He told us a story of one...An attitude adjustment could very well be done verbally...

 

[usfurloughed]

Couple questions on who should be doing Audits.

1) The company has been having people on OJI do Audits of Flts. My assumption is that if you are auditng equipt and such for safety, thats ok but if they are auditng any performance related work and calling it " Safety ", then it should be conducted be a MGR not a fellow Fleet person.

2) Along the same lines , should a Pax Serv supervisor who in another union shop be Auditing another Union shop? I say no.

I might be wrong on both accounts but the !st is a contract violation and the 2nd is a union to union Ethical one. What do you say?