Union Heavyweight Wants to Ban UPS from Using Drones or Driverless Vehicles

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Megalith

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Negotiations are ongoing between Teamsters and UPS for a new national contract, and one of the labor union’s demands is for the shipping company to drop the use of drones or driverless vehicles for deliveries. While these solutions would ease the impact of online sales, UPS also has to consider the wants of 260,000 union-affiliated employees.

Other demands outlined in an 83-page document submitted to UPS this week include hiring another 10,000 workers and halting deliveries after 9 p.m., including during the peak-delivery holiday months of November and December. UPS said it's hired 40,000 more Teamster workers in the U.S. in the last five years.
 
They should embrace the drones or driverless vehicles... especially if they want to stop delivering after 9 P.M.

if the "teamsters" don't want to do it, let the drones do it. I'd rather a package be delivered after 9 by a robot than a person. I hate it when UPS knocks on my door at 9:20pm.

Also let the automated vehicles deliver to the dangerous neighborhoods where the UPS drivers get mugged/robbed.

This union isn't thinking clearly.
 
no, the union is thinking clearly. Anything that gets in because of safety reasons will be thrown out the window in 5 years when the cost analysis is done and it's found out that driverless vehicles and drone delivery is much cheaper thus all the employees get a boot and the union will cease to exist.

When manual labor can be replaced with automation, it always comes with a cost savings because hiring people to do work is very expensive.
 
scojer said:
They should embrace the drones or driverless vehicles... especially if they want to stop delivering after 9 P.M.

if the "teamsters" don't want to do it, let the drones do it. I'd rather a package be delivered after 9 by a robot than a person. I hate it when UPS knocks on my door at 9:20pm.

Also let the automated vehicles deliver to the dangerous neighborhoods where the UPS drivers get mugged/robbed.

This union isn't thinking clearly.
Click to expand...

The union is thinking clearly. It’s looking out for its own interests and self preservation.
 
Unions remind me of this.

517S9Z8YKCL._SX341_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
 
It's perfectly understandable, but, they need to tread carefully. The teamsters are not a part of FedEx, and I don't think they are associated with the USPS. Drone delivery isn't going to be able to handle the bulk of deliveries and autonomous trucks for shipping will still likely require humans being present. The overall impact will likely be fairly small, but give their competitors a bigger advantage.
 
The Teamster's back was shattered decades ago. They're dreaming.

Automation is an unstoppable force, the future is coming, time stops for nobody.

Progress has been getting faster and faster and faster over the last 25 years. Trade unions, governments, and citizens need to prepare, prepare, prepare. Garotting your economies, companies, and households in the mindless pursuit of protecting the jobs of yesteryear is a fool's errand. Prepare people for tomorrow, don't sit around as dumb as a stump and try to find a way to get back to yesterday.
 
scojer said:
They should embrace the drones or driverless vehicles... especially if they want to stop delivering after 9 P.M.

if the "teamsters" don't want to do it, let the drones do it. I'd rather a package be delivered after 9 by a robot than a person. I hate it when UPS knocks on my door at 9:20pm.

Also let the automated vehicles deliver to the dangerous neighborhoods where the UPS drivers get mugged/robbed.

This union isn't thinking clearly.
Click to expand...
I am very anti union and on their side here. Also who the fuck wants a package to be delivered in the middle of the night? That makes package theft job easier. Not many people are out even at 10pm.
 
I think the union should check out how well Detroit is doing. The situation over there is result of same union logic we see right here now.
 
Unions need to think forward, not backward. While it may be good for workers right now, in the long term it won't work out for them. They'll be replaced. Like the railroad, they'll be left behind with their old way of thinking.

Can't stay stuck in the past forever. Especially when the competition is quickly moving forward.
 
vegeta535 said:
I am very anti union and on their side here. Also who the fuck wants a package to be delivered in the middle of the night? That makes package theft job easier. Not many people are out even at 10pm.
Click to expand...

I'd want a package delivered in the middle of the night. Most robberies happen in the daylight. Plus, a drone flies and drops off package on back porch or some other designated area, and won't just toss the box over a fence or leave it by the curb. (sure they might, but then it'd be a glitch and not human laziness)

I've heard of cars following UPS trucks, park, wait, get out after a delivery, and take package.

drones would eliminate that. They'd be harder to track as they can fly over blocks and not follow streets.
 
It’s a move they’re making but I doubt it’s a hard stance. They’re going to give up various things in negotiations.

faugusztin said:
I think the union should check out how well Detroit is doing. The situation over there is result of same union logic we see right here now.
Click to expand...
Detroit is currently having something of a small renaissance. A lot of construction revitalizing the downtown area and the majority of it is union work. The last couple of years the amount of work there has been increasing.
 
This is the best news possible for all drone delivery start-ups possible!! What a huge opportunity UPS has just created for them! Unfortunately drones and AI bots will affect all union and non-union workers across many job sectors. I cant wait till they replace idiot state, local and federal politicians.
 
BOOO Down with competition because it's making me learn new/additional skills and adapting to the world instead of telling the world to slow down and adapt to me.

Go fuck yourself union workers. You take a steaming dump on top of the backs of workers that made unions for the sake of protecting workers lives - now all you want is for your employer to be your psychiatrist and tell you "It's okay, the world isn't changing. Keep living in la-la-land"
 
scojer said:
I'd want a package delivered in the middle of the night. Most robberies happen in the daylight. Plus, a drone flies and drops off package on back porch or some other designated area, and won't just toss the box over a fence or leave it by the curb. (sure they might, but then it'd be a glitch and not human laziness)

I've heard of cars following UPS trucks, park, wait, get out after a delivery, and take package.

drones would eliminate that. They'd be harder to track as they can fly over blocks and not follow streets.
Click to expand...
Doubt it. People would be looking for the drones also.
 
vegeta535 said:
I am very anti union and on their side here. Also who the fuck wants a package to be delivered in the middle of the night? That makes package theft job easier. Not many people are out even at 10pm.
Click to expand...

Who wouldn't? You prefer it delivered at one in the afternoon, while you are at work til 5-6PM? That's when the theft happens. What robber knows to go looking around for packages at 10pm? How would they see them?
All they need for drone drops after 9, is an alert message on your phone.
 
vegeta535 said:
Doubt it. People would be looking for the drones also.
Click to expand...

True, but the drones would be harder to keep up with. It could fly from one end of the neighborhood to the next before the robber can keep up with it. They'd have to deal with traffic, turning, stoplights, etc.

The drone doesn't.
 
vegeta535 said:
I am very anti union and on their side here. Also who the fuck wants a package to be delivered in the middle of the night? That makes package theft job easier. Not many people are out even at 10pm.
Click to expand...

I'll point out that late night delivery will mean higher chance for resident to be home and thus deter porch pirates, and more efficient since there is less traffic and wasted gas. Obvious there are safety issues in certain neighborhoods and brazen thieves could target the UPS trucks directly.

I'm more on the Union side, however them pushing for a *BAN* is a bit harsh. Limiting the use of and/or smoothing the transition of drone implementation is more what they should aim for. But their usual stance is take the high wall first and negotiate down.
 
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Blah blah blah. Unions had a place decades ago. My experience with unions in recent years has been that they need to die and never come back.

1. We don't do the work we are supposed to do. Give us more money anyway
2. We will not sign a contract that allows our members to be fired short of committing murder on company grounds. (The sabotage of company assets by union "workers" was a daily occurrence. The production line is down, the "workers" get to take an extended break until the line is back up again.)
3. The sabotage of merchandise was also a huge issue

4. "Teachers" unions... HAHAHAHAHAHA idiots.. the whole lot of them. Give us more money even though we have no clue what we are doing. Who cares if 5th and 6th graders are unable to even read/write.

I worked in a union shop once.. never again.. EVER!
 
Nolan7689 said:
Detroit is currently having something of a small renaissance. A lot of construction revitalizing the downtown area and the majority of it is union work. The last couple of years the amount of work there has been increasing.
Click to expand...

What i meant is that when unions in Company A stiffle innovation and automatization, it means company B without those problems will be able to offer cheaper products and services, outcompete company A, which will result in company A dying, resulting in layoffs. Yes, i do understand the fears that all drivers will be replaced by automatization - but that is innevitable. When you do a job requiring no qualification, you are going to lose it in next 10 to 30 years. Just look at robots in car industry doing all the painting, welding, metal work etc.
 
$800 GPU get's dropped on my roof from 1000 ft in the air during a rainstorm.

I agree, though, that most unions are a huge hindrance because they take things too far these days.

But never underestimate management's desire to screw employees over.
 
Unions can fuck off. All they do is raise health care costs and fuck up state budgets with their greedy retirement packages.

I never joined a union at any of my jobs. This is no longer the early 1900's. There is no need for greedy unions today, all they do is sabotage and hold companies hostage.
 
Why not respec the drivers to operate/oversee the drone fleets?
 
vegeta535 said:
I am very anti union and on their side here. Also who the fuck wants a package to be delivered in the middle of the night? That makes package theft job easier. Not many people are out even at 10pm.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure majority of package theft happens during regular, daylight business hours when people are at work and/or out running errands. Kind of hard to spot a package sitting on a dark porch from the street.
 
Except in very deep snow UPS delivers here in all weather. Wind is a really big problem especially. But until these drones can fly in all weather I just don't see drone delivery happening very much: what are they going to do just tell people, "hey you gotta wait, it's too windy (or whatever) today?" Or keep a bunch of people in reserve to deliver in bad weather?;) . I wonder if the union knows this and is just using it to show how "effective" they are and letting UPS say, hey yeah we care about workers (a win-win).
 
vegeta535 said:
I am very anti union and on their side here. Also who the fuck wants a package to be delivered in the middle of the night? That makes package theft job easier. Not many people are out even at 10pm.
Click to expand...
Uhh, I'd like my packages delivered in the evening when I'm home rather than sitting out on the porch all day while I'm at work... you know.. when packages get stolen.

Drone delivery could quite possibly allow for people to actually set delivery windows when they'll be home to immediately open the door and retrieve the package, since it would all be automated and not rely in a fleet of trucks driving around a typical maze of a city all day long.
 
While i to for the longest time thought that unions should die and go away because of how corrupt they can be I can still to this very day see why they were created in the first place. Just look at all the scummy things that companies like Uber, and other gig economy corps do to their "employees" (contractors). The amount of mergers and power that some of these multi billion corporations have now a days is scary. I dont trust any of these companies with their employees well being if money can be made otherwise. I do agree that something needs to be done with the corruption in unions but getting rid of them i fear would actually do more harm in the long run
 
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cyclone3d said:
Blah blah blah. Unions had a place decades ago. My experience with unions in recent years has been that they need to die and never come back.

1. We don't do the work we are supposed to do. Give us more money anyway
2. We will not sign a contract that allows our members to be fired short of committing murder on company grounds. (The sabotage of company assets by union "workers" was a daily occurrence. The production line is down, the "workers" get to take an extended break until the line is back up again.)
3. The sabotage of merchandise was also a huge issue

4. "Teachers" unions... HAHAHAHAHAHA idiots.. the whole lot of them. Give us more money even though we have no clue what we are doing. Who cares if 5th and 6th graders are unable to even read/write.

I worked in a union shop once.. never again.. EVER!
Click to expand...

I'm very much anti-union. While they once had their place, many of today's federal and state regulations (which quite a few originated or were inspired by unions) makes unions no longer needed. But if there was ever a place where I felt that unions had a place in today's world, it would be with teachers. In many areas, they are underpaid, underappreciated, overworked, and forced to supply their classrooms out of their own pocket.
 
Teamsters would be better off making sure that any drone operators/repair folks are Teamsters. Become part of the change rather then fighting it because the fight against the tech will be a losing one.
 
Dead Parrot said:
Teamsters would be better off making sure that any drone operators/repair folks are Teamsters. Become part of the change rather then fighting it because the fight against the tech will be a losing one.
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SSSSSHHH IT folks are never unionized. There's no way in sam hell they would pay us overtime for our MINIMUM 50 hour weeks.
 
VirtualMirage said:
I'm very much anti-union. While they once had their place, many of today's federal and state regulations (which quite a few originated or were inspired by unions) makes unions no longer needed. But if there was ever a place where I felt that unions had a place in today's world, it would be with teachers. In many areas, they are underpaid, underappreciated, overworked, and forced to supply their classrooms out of their own pocket.
Click to expand...

And why is that? The schools need to either:
1. Provide the needed supplies.
2. Require the parents to provide the needed supplies.
3. Some combination of the above 2.

As for the teachers union in my area, they are very much corrupt.. or at least the leadership is.
 
Budzman said:
Unions can fuck off. All they do is raise health care costs and fuck up state budgets with their greedy retirement packages.

I never joined a union at any of my jobs. This is no longer the early 1900's. There is no need for greedy unions today, all they do is sabotage and hold companies hostage.
Click to expand...

Obviously you've never worked in a "closed shop", where Union membership is mandatory.

I do. they leech a good chunk of my paycheck every payday. I still have a job because of the Union, after multiple rounds of layoffs, but in recent years they have been basically useless. they get over a quarter million dollars a year in dues from our workers, hope someone is having a good vacation with it.
 
as for driverless trucks, all i can see them used for is for ground delivery between UPS locations. I cannot see them taking over the to the door delivery as how is a driverless vehicle bring the package to me?
 
katanaD said:
as for driverless trucks, all i can see them used for is for ground delivery between UPS locations. I cannot see them taking over the to the door delivery as how is a driverless vehicle bring the package to me?
Click to expand...

UPS sends you an SMS/message few minutes before delivery with exact time (+/- minute) when the delivery truck stops in front of your house. You go to truck, enter the code for your package, truck opens the door corresponding to your item, you remove the item, truck leaves.
In other words, the delivery trucks would be mobile "UPS Access Points" (search for it on google images if you don't know what i mean).
 
I'm usually in favor of workers over the big faceless corporate overlords, but some of this stuff is starting to get in the way of progress. If a company wants to automate you out of a job, there should be no reason they can't. Retrain and pick up another marketable skill. Instead of being a horse and buggy repairman, become an auto mechanic.

Gone are the days when any one of us can expect to spend our entire working lives in the same field or same career. Technological advancements are just too fast for that, and we can't let people throwing a hissy-fit about not wanting to adapt to the times to stand in the way of economic efficiency and progress!
 
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