My bad experience as an Unloader (Be forewarned..)

I will preface this (hopefully short) rant by saying one thing that hopefully most of you know:

UPS Management lies more than Army Recruiters, at least most of them

Moving on to the meat of the issue here:

I was hired as a Loader around November. Not terrible, not my ideal, but it was what it was, working the 11p-4a shift. It wasn't terrible, per se. At least, not at first.

When I was hired, the managers, the recruiter, the trainer, they all said we would be part of the Union, and how we're going to have such a great time working for Brown. (Which I now associate with something else, that I told my Manager to eat. It starts with S and ends in something you do to a ball with a bat).

Going into it, I was gung ho. Free workout, right? Right! - is what I thought.

However, a week after I started, I received my background check report, which I always request, just because I'm curious about what information was obtained about me, and something interesting caught my eye: The Job Code. That identified me as a SEASONAL helper.

I emailed my Recruiter to inquire about it - No response. I called the HR number, where it was confirmed that this code matched a Seasonal position, but was told to call my manager in order to get more information. I did. No answer. I texted him. No response. I looked up his email address and emailed him. No response.

A few nights later when I was at work, I, very respectfully asked him if the job were Seasonal or Part Time, AND I also asked him as to why, if my suspicions were correct, we were intentionally mislead to believe that we were Seasonal Workers. He swore we were Part Time. I then showed my printed out Background Check that said I was a SEASONAL worker. He had no response. But I did.

I told him that, on the surface, I admired his pragmatism. Hell, if I were in need of employers, I wouldn't say, 'this is a seasonal role with an established end-date. But we're going to have you work for us until then'. Because how many people would I be able to retain after Day 1? Not very many.

But what I did not admire was how intentionally manipulative the Managers at this facility were. If we were Seasonal, why talk about, 'you're going to have a long career with Brown!' or 'You're all a member of the Union now', or 'I made so much money! They replaced my hip when I had an accident! I have $100,000 of metal in my legs, and UPS paid for it!' Why was this intentionally manipulative? Because you knowingly mislead your new hires into thinking they'll be retained, that they'll have access to benefits. They were promised seniority over new-hires as long as they remained with the company, such as in regards to overtime, and all those candied words.

Because I made an effort to bond with my orientation mates, I retained their contact information, and I sent them a group text stating that this role was strictly Seasonal. Not one of them knew this. I ended up telling my manager to 'Eat Brown' and walked away, quitting that night.

My facility indeed fired all Seasonal workers about a month and a half later. But by then, I found something even better. Did I intentionally send my classmates a text hoping they'd walk away? Absolutely. I maintain friendships with them, and I would never allow my friends to be mislead simply because this facility was desperate for workers.

So, long story short - Even if the role doesn't say a damn thing about 'Seasonal', if it's at the tail end of the year, it's seasonal, despite what you're told. At least if you live in Richmond. (This isn't PII, since I didn't indicate which Richmond I speak of, names of managers, or the facility address)