Safeway / Albertsons, Upper Marlboro, MD

I will state the facts as I have lived them, you decide;
Union job Local 639
Pay
New hires $18.45
12 months $19.45
24 months $20.45
36 months $21.45
48 months $21.10
after 8 hour pay is 1 1/2 until your out of hours, they offer health, dental, vision taken out of your pay monthly. You have a new work schedule every 6 months as the drivers bid on the schedule. Drivers with seniority bid first and get the best days & times. You will never get two days off in a row, everyone gets Saturday off. They work around the clock new drives get the shifts that start at midnight, 2am, 3am, 5am. If you arrive back before or after your 8 hours they will ask you to take a second run and this is usually where overtime kicks in after 8 hours. You can make some money if you don't mind the unusual odd and long hours. But I drive 2 hours to get there and I get tired by the end of the week and the dispatchers and management don't want to hear that you can't work overtime. If you tell them your tired they CAN'T force you to drive but you will end up in the managements office or in an argument with them, they will harass you to work overtime. The trucks and trailers I think are in poor shape, the mechanics are lazy, they are getting new trucks . The back of the store docks vary as safety conditions go. Some dock plates work and some don't, Some docks are level with the truck and some are not and thats when a pallet of groceries will fall over and you will spend an hour restocking it back on another pallet. You have 5 minutes to take a pallet off the truck, if it takes you to long they will call you in the office. Everything you document to cover your ###. The new contract has NO 401K, the pension is $70.00 a month and you don't get that until you been there 5 years. The above BS is why they are 40 drivers short, people use to wait 5 to 8 years to get a Safeway driving job, now they can't keep drivers, oh well you get what you pay for. If you are super human and can work 60 or 70 odd hours a week then you can make some money here, you will drive and sleep and thats it. Oh yea cameras everywhere in the store, drivers lounge and in the tractor facing you and the road, don't get caught eating, drinking or smoking in the truck.

 

The union is worthless, the new contract they busted EVERYONEs pay by $2.00 and took out the new drivers (me) 401k and lowered the pension from $200. a month to $70.00 a month. Do you think they have the guts to demand dock safety. I can't tell you how unsafe the back of these supermarkets are, someone should call OSHA, maybe they will wake them up. I know one store where 3 driver have fallen between the dock and the truck and it's still not fixed. As a supermarket customer just walk back into any supermarket especially Safeway and look around. Just say your looking for the rest room, you will see instantly what a mess they are. You may not buy your food there again.

 

I've called OSHA so many time they have an office with my name tag on it, I am getting tired of reporting company and managers.

manager fired from Home Depot after 17 years for profit sharing sitting in unsafe conditions and weather around the building

shut down a bridge building company because of unsafe work practices, 480 amp welding machines sitting in puddles of water.