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Most UPS Teamsters know that the co-chaired safety committees are a sham. Too many of us are familiar with the way the company uses the committee to advance its own agenda, manipulate numbers and shift blame for workplace injuries. You probably already knew safety at UPS is often just a bad joke told at the expense of workers. But did you know it doesn’t have to be?

More importantly, did you know we could fix much of the problem simply by learning how our safety committees are actually meant to work?

Time for a quick summary of some very important facts most UPS employees don’t even know about the safety committee:

1. The union members on the committee represent the safety interests of the union and its members first and foremost, not the interests of the company..
2. Eligibility to serve on the union side of the committee is ultimately decided by the union, not by the company.
3. The union co-chair of the committee is chosen by a vote of the union members on the committee, not by the company.

Far too many employees (and committee members) believe that the safety committee is a company committee. It is not — it is a co-chaired committee with members from the union and management sides, respectively. The basic guidelines are set by Article 18 of our master contract.

But if you read the “safety” boards in our building you will notice that the co-chairs of each committee are labeled as “management” and “non-management.” See what they did there? By mislabeling the union side of the committee, they’ve made it easier to forget who the union side of the committee represents. Whether by design or dumb luck (which is all too often the case at UPS), that’s exactly the effect their selective mislabeling has had.

Union members on the committee aren’t there to spread company propaganda about time limits for injury reporting or to find ways to blame workers for getting injured. Union members on the committee are there to report potentially hazardous conditions and help investigate, present concerns raised by other union members and find ways to solve these problems. Article 18 even states that a safety concern should be presented to the safety committee prior to a filing grievance, making each union safety committee member a quasi-shop steward.

The company does not get to run the committee. The company does not get to steamroll concerns raised by the union side of the committee. The company does not get to tell union employees whether or not they can serve on the committee. The company does not get to choose the union co-chair. The company does not get to do any of these things — unless we let them.

And sadly, we’ve been letting them for far too long. I would like to see that change, and I’m guessing the majority of my co-workers, especially those who’ve been harassed for reporting injuries, would also like to see it change.

If you’re one of those who wants this to change, I hope you’ll be part of the change. If you’re a current committee member, I hope you’ll seek concrete ways to change the atmosphere on the committee from within — maybe you’ll even run for co-chair. If you’re not on the committee, I hope you’ll consider putting yourself forward for membership on the committee — not for the free food, paid time in meetings or time away from your work area during the shift. That last item, joining the committee, is one I’m going to be looking into myself.

Maybe you’ll join me, in whatever way you can. It’s going to take a concerted group effort to turn the tide.

In the next installment of Why Safety Is a Joke, we’ll discuss a few of the lies that are sometimes spread with the unwitting assistance of union members on the safety committee.

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Filed under: 2008 contract, UPS, rights