this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2023
539 points (88.2% liked)

Technology

71955 readers
3057 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Tech workers react to UPS drivers landing a $170,000 a year package with a mixture of anger and admiration::Some tech workers questioned whether UPS drivers deserved high pay — others jumped in to note the importance of the jobs and harsh working conditions.

(page 3) 45 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Squander@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

UPS drivers currently make an average of about $95,000 a year with an additional $50,000 in benefits. - That is news to me.

[–] mayo@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

The port workers in Vancouver BC also just landed a good deal after striking for a little bit.

I can imagine that UPS drivers would have a lot of leverage since UPS would suffer massively if they couldn't deliver packages.

Westjet union also struck a new deal recently. I think it was something like 30% increase, captains making in neighbourhood of 300k.

I'm definitely very interested in joining a labour union for my next job. Tech workers should be looking to unionize.

I'm not sure tech workers could do UPS jobs or UPS workers could do tech jobs. Different types of people. I think some of the frustration could come from the fact that one requires advanced education. Ideally we're all paid 'enough' and then some are paid more/less depending on skill. Tech workers on average might be better, but it's still not enough in high COLAs to live in comfortable apartment and raise a family without stressing about money.

[–] Stinkywinks@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago
[–] 9488fcea02a9@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

tech workers: i'm underpaid and everyone else should be too!

fucking unionize already. tired of this crabs-in-a-bucket mentality

[–] alvvayson@lemmy.world 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Or, perhaps this article is just trying to sow discord between workers.

One of the old tricks in the books to make people despise unions is to take the very best union deals and sensationalize them, so that others hate the union out of jealousy.

Make it appear like the UPS driver is getting paid $170K for 32 hours of work, in a fully A/C'd vehicle on a short, easy route, starting pay, right out of college without a degree, four weeks of vacation yada yada.

When in reality, the $170K probably only kicks in if you take the absolute worst routes, worst shifts (weekend/night) with max overtime and even then, a third of it is retirement, insurance and health care contributions. And you only get the max after 10 or 20 years of service, if they didn't fire you as you increased.

[–] NevermindNoMind@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

During an earnings call on Tuesday, UPS CEO Carol Tomé said that by the end of its five-year contract with the Teamsters union, the average full-time UPS driver would make about $170,000 in annual pay and benefits, such as healthcare and pension benefits.

The headline is sensationalized for sure. But the article itself actually makes the point that the tech workers are misunderstanding that the $170k figure includes both salary and benefits.

"This is disappointing, how is possible that a driver makes much more than average Engineer in R&D?" a worker at the autonomous trucking company TuSimple wrote on Blind, an anonymous jop-posting site that verifies users' employment using their company email. "To get a base salary of $170k you know you need to work hard as an Engineer, this sucks."

It is important to note that the $170,000 figure represents the entire value of the UPS package, including benefits and does not represent the base salary. Currently, UPS drivers make an average of around $95,000 per year with an additional $50,000 in benefits, according to the company. The average median salary for an engineer in the US is $103,845 with a base pay of about $91,958, according to Glassdoor. And TuSimple research engineers can make between $161,000 to $250,000 in compensation, Glassdoor data shows.

On the whole though this is a useless article covering drama on Blind, wrapped up with a ragebait headline.

[–] MossyFeathers@pawb.social 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I think people just don't realize how underpaid they are. They think that because they make six figures, that means they're getting paid what they're worth.

[–] huginn@feddit.it 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

If you were paid what you were worth the company wouldn't make any money.

Corporations exist by the excess value of their workers' labor, by definition.

[–] phillaholic@lemm.ee 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Eh that's a paradox though. If the company makes no money, there's no job for you in the first place making you worth nothing.

[–] bloodfart@lemmy.ml -1 points 2 years ago

It’s not a paradox. The money the company makes is profit. Profit is what’s left of revenue after costs are subtracted. People’s pay is a cost.

load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›