Help! my station has had enough!

[spanky1996]

I am writing because I am so fed up with the manager at my station, I need some help. First off, I work for Express and last year they hired a new manager with no airline or management experience. Since this time, moral has reached an all time low at our station, some of our best people now are leaving, half the staff is on this new medical leave program, and no one can believe what is going on. We are treated like kids, and actually get reprimanded for helping passengers or for being injured. Just recently, a fellow agent became ill at work (so ill that they needed emergency help) Most companies/managers would have seen to it that the employee was ok, and send/drive them home to make sure they were okay… NOT my station… The poor sick employee was told that if they left (to go to doctor or home) it would count as an absence (and the current absence program we have in place states that after 7 absences FOR ANY REASON, you can and will be terminated.) Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand why absence programs operate but this is out of control- So this poor employee now has to get someone to cover the remainder of his or her shift, which takes an additional 4 hours. This is crazy! You mean to tell me that we were better off with a sick/injured employee who will be outside working ramp??? Where they could get even more injured. Sounds like a huge liability. So our manager strolls in late (as usual) and signs the shift swap and goes into their office. A TRUE manager would have made sure the employee was okay or if they needed anything.. But I don’t need to tell you that because you know. That is just the beginning-this manager is unbelievable… We even have an agent off duty because the agent has a sinus infection, and can’t talk to well. Our manager said that talking to passengers is a job requirement, and since you cant talk well, you need to go on this new unpaid medical leave.. Understand please, that where I work is not a hub city, and we don’t have too many agents to begin with. For the $6.27 they pay us an hour we deserve more respect and deserve to be treated fairly. All this from a manager who while flying for company business flew jump seat because the plane was oversold (pax were actually denied boarding and given accommodations) and our manager put on such a scene that somehow they rode jump seat. (Isn’t that illegal?) I would like to talk with someone in corporate or whoever cares, about what goes on at our station, because I am a good employee with a great record, and want nothing more than to do my job without being harassed by an incompetent, useless manager.

e-mail me at ryanm2000@myself.com

Thank you for your time, and for letting me express how my station feels.

Ryan M.

 

[brandnewsin1]

hey...you work for PSA!!! Deleted and the rest of the company hiarachy are all *deleted*. They don't care about employees, pax, etc. Just as long as their fat check goes into their fat pocket every month. Hey man, express managers get bonuses for keeping their stations understaffed, underpayed, etc. It doesn't matter where you go, man.

 

[wings396]

Welcome to the New US Airways..customer service and treating employees with respect are GONE... Out the window....All that matters now is how much they can make, and how little we can get. For $6 an hour go to KMART, BK, anywhere but this outfit, especially if you work for Express...or Mainline Express. I don't know where you are, but I would hope a $6 an hour job can be had anywhere. As for you Manager, that too is the new trend, pay crap and you get crap..who wants a Managers job when they have to manage employess who could car less. Hence you have the typical Know Nothing Manager. Good luck.

 

[libertybell]

What city are you from?

 

[spanky1996]

I will tell you what city I work in if you e-mail me at ryanm2000@myself.com. I fear for my job if I were to post it here.

 

[PITbull]

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On 6/13/2003 6:44:00 PM spanky1996 wrote:

I will tell you what city I work in if you e-mail me at ryanm2000@myself.com. I fear for my job if I were to post it here.



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Spanky,

Since you appear to be NEW to this board...

be careful who you permit to e-mail you OR who you e-mail. Management is on these boards, and even if someone appears innocent enough and may empathize with you, they just may not be "true to form."

 

[Bluestreak]

Why don''t you just quit? You are making $6/hr. Surely you can find a job that pays better.

There are plenty of expressed stations that are now providing the same level of service as they were when they were mainline. The new work force of motivated college age kids is doing a great job loading our bags and turning our aircraft on time. There was no need to be paying ramp agents $50,000 a year when a student would kill to do the same job for $6/hour and travel benifits. Look at CAE, GSP, and CAK for some "expressed" success stories. It took a few months for them to get up to speed, but now they are doing a great job. I imagine we will see the same thing happen in SDF and LEX once all the slow moving mainline folks decide to leave and give their job to someone that really wants it.

I think it is a different story at the hubs. The express ops have a long way to go. CLT seems to be doing the best.

 

[spanky1996]

Sad thing is I fall under the "college kid" category.

You see, I love my job- and you are right, I can turn a full ''express'' plane in 10 minutes by myself because I genuinely LOVE it. I just can''t stand how poor our manager is. I have been to other stations in the ''express'' system and the other managers are cool with their employees, and give them the tools to do their job. Mine just sits at his/her desk and bosses us to do her job and then disrespects us. No way to run a airline.

You are right, I should find another job.. but its too hard because my heart is in this one.

Thanks

 

[PITbull]

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On 6/13/2003 9:54:43 PM natural1 wrote:

Why don''t you just quit? You are making $6/hr. Surely you can find a job that pays better.

There are plenty of expressed stations that are now providing the same level of service as they were when they were mainline. The new work force of motivated college age kids is doing a great job loading our bags and turning our aircraft on time. There was no need to be paying ramp agents $50,000 a year when a student would kill to do the same job for $6/hour and travel benifits. Look at CAE, GSP, and CAK for some "expressed" success stories. It took a few months for them to get up to speed, but now they are doing a great job. I imagine we will see the same thing happen in SDF and LEX once all the slow moving mainline folks decide to leave and give their job to someone that really wants it.

I think it is a different story at the hubs. The express ops have a long way to go. CLT seems to be doing the best.

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Spanky,

There you have it above...now who do you think this "nut case" is?

 

[spanky1996]

I just remembered a quote my station manager said recently...
and I quote..
"Sometimes, I just wish they would close our station down, then we could all get new jobs, and could still fly for free."

I guess I have just been waiting for that. But now I will start looking for a new job.. so sad

 

[Bluestreak]

It sounds like your manager is pretty bad. My advice (other than quiting, you must really like airline work)would be to first talk to your manager about the problems you are having with him/her and if your manager doesn''t seem responsive talk to your manager''s supervisor. There has to also be paperwork you can fill out. Be sure to cover yourself by filling out the required paperwork.

Don''t fear reprisal. Express will not fire you unless you are still on probation. Express never fires anyone. It costs the company about $40,000 dollars in legal fees to fire a union employee. It is much cheaper for them to pay you a couple years wages than it is to fire you. Plus, turn over is around 80% per year. They figure any problem employees will quit before they need to be fired.

The one good thing about express is everything is small. If you work for PSA, you can get a hold of the manager that over sees out station ops with just a couple phone calls. If you have valid complaints, they might listen to you. If you can show your problem manager is costing money or hurting on time statistics, they will probably listen to you.

I hope this helps. And if you really like your job, don''t quit. Loser supervisors get found out and sooner or later lose their jobs. If you really like your job, be smart and patient, and slowly build a case against your manager. It sounds like everyone in your base already dislikes this person. Put "organized" back into organized labor.

 

[wings396]

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On 6/13/2003 9:54:43 PM natural1 wrote:

Why don''t you just quit? You are making $6/hr. Surely you can find a job that pays better.

There are plenty of expressed stations that are now providing the same level of service as they were when they were mainline. The new work force of motivated college age kids is doing a great job loading our bags and turning our aircraft on time. There was no need to be paying ramp agents $50,000 a year when a student would kill to do the same job for $6/hour and travel benifits. Look at CAE, GSP, and CAK for some "expressed" success stories. It took a few months for them to get up to speed, but now they are doing a great job. I imagine we will see the same thing happen in SDF and LEX once all the slow moving mainline folks decide to leave and give their job to someone that really wants it.

I think it is a different story at the hubs. The express ops have a long way to go. CLT seems to be doing the best.

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Well if this is not the bafoon statement of the year, I don''t know what is. All those $6 Expressed stations have a revolving door of employees that require constant training. It is obvious that you ahve never busted your butt loading hundreds of 80lb bags or deicing an a/c in subzero weather. Please get your facts together before jumping on the "Overpaid Ramper" bandwagon. All of this will come to light when some college boy working for $6 with a hangover makes some big safety blunder...you know kind of the same deal with subcontracting mtc to some H/A outfit that has trainees fixing a/c...I''m sure you work for 20k a year somewhere...right...

 

[wench]

PineyBob,
Well Said!

Ah yes , treachery at it''s finast!

As in the Medieval Days-what did they say?

Off With His Head!

Very Well M''Lord!

 

[spanky1996]

Thanks Piney Bob-
You are right- But how can I make him/her feel our pain. We''ve tried the delay idea, but he/she just goes in after we enter the reason for the delay and changes it to something non related to the station, so its not our fault. Even though it is. So that idea is out... any more?

 

[Mike W]

Let''s see.I am a mainline Fleet Service agent.Before the paycuts I never made 50K.Yeah,you can make a lot more if you want to spend all of your time working OT.It never ceases to amaze me where people come up with these salary figures.BTW,disregard my signature.I''m no longer in CLE because Dave closed the station.I now reside in DFW.