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Aotearoa Weekly Kōrero 1/8/2025 (lemmy.nz)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/newzealand@lemmy.nz
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Last weeks thread here

Welcome to this week’s casual kōrero thread!

This post will be pinned in this community so you can always find it, and will stay for about a week until replaced by the next one.

It’s for talking about anything that might not justify a full post. For example:

  • Something interesting that happened to you
  • Something humourous that happened to you
  • Something frustrating that happened to you
  • A quick question
  • A request for recommendations
  • Pictures of your pet
  • A picture of a cloud that kind of looks like an elephant
  • Anything else, there are no rules (except the rule)

So how’s it going?

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[–] 3 points 1 year ago (10 children)

I started working for UPS as a delivery driver in the USA and I am so surprised (and also sadly not surprised) at just how bad it is. Not just how demanding the work is, but:

  • no benefits (health insurance, retirement, unemployment) for the first six months
  • no access to medical leave (I planned a surgery before getting the job, and when asking for unpaid leave the response was "the optics aren't good, can you come in the day after?")
  • tons of unpaid work before/after shift
  • not getting paid if we leave the facility early (tried adjusting the start time myself once and they changed it back right away, although this is a certain manager I think)

Maybe I am spoilt after living and working in NZ and Europe, but it just seems so insane and such a horrible way to treat people.

Also I am dreams/nightmares about trying to find things quickly (like a package in a package car) or being stuck while driving 😅

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (3 children)

    Maybe I am spoilt after living and working in NZ and Europe, but it just seems so insane and such a horrible way to treat people.

    Not spoilt. It is horrible. It's inhumane.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

    To be fair, in NZ I believe delivery drivers for NZ Post are contractors. So other than healthcare and unemployment, I think the rest would also apply here (including the chance of a crappy manager).

    But it's something in the media from time to time, how it's pretty crappy to be a delivery driver.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    I guess it is. I'd be really interested to know if it's the case in Germany/France. I know Uber is banned because they can't classify drivers as contractors, so I wonder if delivery companies face any of the same restrictions.

    And maybe I wouldn't mind so much but my delivery route is kinda rural, so I'm delivering to Trump supporters and it's the combination of factors that get to me.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago (3 children)

    NZ Post are in court every few years about the status of delivery drivers as contractors. For a while they lose a case and they have to treat them as employees, then it gets overturned and they can be contractors again. The current government is planning on introducing a law that means if your contract says you're a contractor then you are, which is going to be ripe for abuse I'm expecting.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    That does sound ripe for abuse. Probably opens up other opportunities for other sectors to start to classify people as contractors as well

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