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TForce | Vacation Selection Process

For some reason this didn't post earlier today.

The details are coming out now about the vacation selection process. Here is what I know so far.
  • On December 1st they're posting the schedule and the most senior driver in each job class bids all of his weeks.
  • The next most senior driver on "his day" selects his weeks.
  • If you have at least two weeks vacation you can elect to split one week, but you must declare that on your day.
  • If you fail to submit your vacation selections, management will assign you the weeks that they select.
  • Certain weeks will be blocked, primarily the weeks at the end of the quarter which includes the week ending July 4th.
  • You can switch weeks, but only if both management and the employee agree.
  • Only 10% of the board is allowed off in any given week (or day I would imagine.)
  • Those who elect to break up a week will not be allowed to select their days during this process. Only full weeks.
  • You can elect to take the cash, but this also has to be declared up front and I believe you get the money right away.
Here are the pitfalls of this process. For starters, who the hell knows in December when they're taking their family vacation in July or August or what about that warm weather trip in the winter. Most like the flexibility and use it to secure the best deal and lock it in just weeks prior to leaving.

I also don't like the part where management has the right to refuse switches. I feel that if the dates are available, you should just be able to switch without their permission. It would be more advantageous to be able to leave those weeks open and when you decide, submit the vacation request. (And provided that fewer than 10% are off, they will have no reason to deny you.) Under this system they can come up with any type of reason to deny, for example, they might say that other senior drivers would have taken the week that you're surrendering, but they were not allowed to so it wouldn't be fair to them. I don't like it being left to their discretion.

I'm not against a defined system, but why so early and why do they make you lock down a week when you might not have any clue as to when you really want to be off. If I'm the senior driver and I elect to hold my weeks, I do so at the risk that others might select the weeks that I am interested in. That is the only downside to not selecting your weeks when your turn comes up.

There is going to be a lot of jockeying around with people switching weeks or they will not allow you to switch.
 
Fish Pie said:
And if none of those weeks are available I guess youjust don't get ANY vacation, right??
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what if you are near the bottom of the list, for example, like me. if there are no weeks left do we not get vacation? or we just get the pick of the litter like all the weeks that no one wants.......
 
CityRigger said:
what if you are near the bottom of the list, for example, like me. if there are no weeks left do we not get vacation? or we just get the pick of the litter like all the weeks that no one wants.......
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You're probably right in assuming the bottom guys will get the pick of the litter.
 
CityRigger said:
what if you are near the bottom of the list, for example, like me. if there are no weeks left do we not get vacation? or we just get the pick of the litter like all the weeks that no one wants.......
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It is like I tell the customers, not everyone came be the first, but someone will always be the last. :tribe:
 
Guaranteed 8 said:
You have to have some system. lets see how it goes and then make adjustments next contract.
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Yeah, I agree. Let's just lay down and take it and deal with it for five years. And if at that point we find problems with it, then we'll address it.

Seriously, why December? Why do we HAVE to select a week when we don't even know when we'd like to take off?

I see what management is doing and it makes sense. We have 10% non-guaranteed and a 10% fill-in board and we do not want more than 10% off on any given day (planned anyways). I get that.

Is it that they have no confidence in their local management supervising a process that isn't well defined? If so, why should we pay the price. At this point, I have no fricken idea when I'd like to take off. But I have to make up my mind in the next couple of weeks or I will be stuck with a week off in April and a week off in November.

I'm pro-union, 100%, but the grievance process isn't going to get this resolved if you have a problem. Let's just say that you want to give back that week in April for a week in March because something came up and your TM doesn't like you or is just plain lazy. He says no and then you file a grievance. It's March 2nd and your trip is in three weeks. Is this going to get resolved in time? Not likely, if the manager stalls on it. Certainly not soon enough to secure the best tickets.

If that week wasn't filled, you should AUTOMATICALLY get it. And the vacation schedule should be posted so that you would know that prior to submitting the switch.

I'm fine with them filling the calendar in December if they allow you unobstructed changes, provided the weeks are available. Can't we grieve that? It seems reasonable, doesn't it? But it clearly states in the memo that management must agree to it, which means right to refuse. If it's available there should be no reason to refuse.
 
The contract states if you have two or more weeks vacation, one week of vacation can be used one day at a time.
Now thats 5 days vacation one day at a time.
1 floting holiday.
3 discressionary days one at a time.
TOTAL = 9 days you can take one day at a time.
 
I heard if you take a vacation week during a holiday week, you cannot carry over the vacation day(s) before or after that week. You will just get paid for it.

Can anyone verify this?
 
Vacation weeks with holidays in them

Yes,

This is the way that the package side of UPS works.

If you take a vacation week and a holiday falls in that week you will get the 5 days vacation pay plus 1 day holiday pay for the week in that check.

If you take a vacation week say Thanksgiving week.
You will get 5 days vacation pay plus 2 days of holiday pay for the week in that check.
 
clutchcargo said:
Yes,

This is the way that the package side of UPS works.

If you take a vacation week and a holiday falls in that week you will get the 5 days vacation pay plus 1 day holiday pay for the week in that check.

If you take a vacation week say Thanksgiving week.
You will get 5 days vacation pay plus 2 days of holiday pay for the week in that check.
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Now that is worth a grievence. If the union does not agree with it during the work rules negotiations. With a friend of labor in the white house we will get these guys to finally negotiate the existing practices.:1036316054:
 
Well here you go, Everyone wanted RULES that applied to everyone, NO EXCEPTIONS! You got it. If you look at alot of the new work rules they are beginning to mirror small package. Vacations are just the beginning, small package has to have theirs done by Dec 1st. No swapping because say if you swapped with your buddy and there was another driver above him that wanted that week also someone is going to get shorted, Gotta make it fair. But don't fret our new "Labor Friendly " Prez will be cutting everone a check shortly after the first of the year. So it may not even be an issue we can just take a couple months off, He'll take care of it. Peace Out:1036316054:
 
Johnny Big Rig said:
But don't fret our new "Labor Friendly " Prez will be cutting everone a check shortly after the first of the year. So it may not even be an issue we can just take a couple months off, He'll take care of it. Peace Out:1036316054:
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I heard in order to get the economy going he was going to send everyone one million dollars. Wouldn't that spur growth? We'd all be buying new corvettes and houses. But then again no one would be around to build them as everyone would be on vacation in Mexico.
 
upgf-driver said:
I heard in order to get the economy going he was going to send everyone one million dollars. Wouldn't that spur growth? We'd all be buying new corvettes and houses. But then again no one would be around to build them as everyone would be on vacation in Mexico.
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I am going to have a stewards office built into the terminal.:1036316054:
 
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