I interrupt the regular shitty-tipper coverage to bring you more about my wage dispute. Yesterday Stoner Manager made it clear that while he knows that we (the drivers) are getting "fucked over" by the new wage policy, he's not going to get yelled at for having a higher percentage of late pizzas because he didn't circumvent the dispatch system. I was once again ready to walk out. I thought I had covered this with El Jefe and that we were clear on how things were going to work. Half the problem is drivers like Goofball who know they're getting fucked and just don't care because it's easier to just do what they've always done and not fight it.
So I threw down with El Jefe again. Did I mention that this is his last week in the store? So I take anything he says with a grain of salt.
Anyway...
We threw down, it went something like this:
Me: Mr. Jefe, we need to talk. You told me when we talked about this last time that things were going to change. They have not. Today, even after I asked him to stop, Stoner Manager continued to check me out on deliveries while I was in the store and far in advance of the pizzas being ready. When I asked him to stop he said that he didn't care that I was getting fucked over because he needed those pizzas checked out in less than 20 min.
El Jefe: It's not 20 min.
Me: Beside the point... You need to fix this. Do I need to go to [regional manager]?
El Jefe: No, you can just unassign runs that get logged out to you like that.
Me: Why does it fall to me to be a bitch about this? Do you know how much trouble it will cause me if Stoner Manager checks things out to me and then I go over and uncheck them out? That's not my job! You need to talk to him and stop him from doing it. That's YOUR job.
El Jefe: *mumble, mumble*
Me: Does that mean you're going to talk to him about it?
There may have also been something about it being his job to care that other drivers are getting fucked over even when they don't care themselves.
If things don't change my plan is to go to the regional manager. Then corporate. Then the Texas Workforce Commission. Maybe those last two at the same time. And I'm going to tow the line because it's up to me to determine if they're retaliating (something they aren't doing right now and I would hope that they don't stoop to).
Throw in a new general manager to deal with and this problem could easily go away or it could get much much worse.
Anyone have any advice? Have you ever dealt with this?
4 comments:
I went through something sort of similar while working in Texas 25 years ago...I worked in a fitness center drop off kid care center, and the higher ups decided the minimum wage we were getting was too much, so they put us on "contract" pay--whatever the center brought in we were supposed to split up, and that would be our pay.
That dropped us from $3-something an hour to 75 cents an hour.
I'd go to the regional manager first if you think you'll get some consideration there, but don't wait too long before going to the employment commission. Back then it took them a couple of months to get involved, and it might take even longer now.
I went directly to the employment commission because the managers were boneheads and didn't care; going over their heads was pointless. The end result was the day care workers getting a settlement and reinstated to former wages. But it did take a while, and by the time they ruled I had moved out of state. Still got my settlement check though ;)
Wow, that sucks that you have to fight for your minimum wage. I would not put up with it, at all. I hate it when managers fudge the delivery times to make themselves look good.
There's a reason corporate wants good on-times! It's good for business. Bad delivery times = less business = less money for the owners = less money for the employees.
So when managers lie (and say that they have good times when they do not), it is costing us all money in the end.
Sorry for the rant, and I've got no specific experience or advice, but keep being the bitch!
Thumper: Thanks, I think I will go ahead and start the TWC process if I have to go to the regional manager. Since this is a company wide policy (and the circumventing the dispatch process is a de facto policy), I don't think my general manager is going to do much.
Kevin: I don't think our times are bad, we get the pizza there in the quoted 30-45 minutes, it's when we quote 45-1 hour and the system doesn't understand that the pizzas aren't late because we quoted a correct time. The whole system's broken and too easy to manipulate. The pay thing is a symptom of the larger problem. It just happens to affect my pocketbook so I get to be the champion, which sucks.
You should read up on your rights under the law. If your pay is reduced when you are 'checked out on a run' before you actually leave the store, that could be a minimum wage violation.
I'm a pizza driver too for Papa Johns. Our pay is reduced from min wage to $4 an hour while clocked out. NO ONE is allowed to dispatch a driver 'early' because it directly affects our pay.
Check out the website I run and look at the Legal Issues section to learn more and ask questions.
You may also be eligible to join in class action lawsuits against Papa Johns, Pizza Hut and Dominos if you have (or still do) worked for them is the past 2 or 3 years.
My website for pizza drivers is the "Pizza Delivery Drivers Forum" at
http://gregspages.com/discussion/index.php
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