New Employee Orientation & Union Attendance: What UPS Teamsters Should Know

If you searched "attendance," you may be looking for a few different things at UPS. In your contract, the word "attendance" comes up most often around new employee orientation meetings, steward and business agent attendance at those meetings, the probationary trial period (how many days you have to work before you gain seniority), and attendance at tractor-trailer (feeder) school. This guide walks through each — pulling contract-specific rules from your contract excerpts and clearly labeling anything that is general background.

Just so it's clear up front: the everyday dictionary meaning of "attendance" is simply "the persons attending something" or "the number of times a person attends" ^[9]. That's the plain-English sense — but your contract uses it in some very specific, money-and-seniority ways. Let's get to those.

Attendance at New Employee Orientation

When you were first hired, UPS held an orientation. Under the National Master UPS Agreement 2023-2028, business agents and/or a steward are permitted to attend new employee orientations, and the sole purpose of their attendance is to encourage new employees to join the Union ^[2][8]. The Employer must give the Local Union at least one week's notice of the date, time, and location of the orientation ^[8]. Upon request, the Union representative is given a list of the names of the employees attending orientation no later than at the meeting ^[2][8].

Importantly for stewards: the steward stays on the clock for the actual time spent in the meeting for that purpose, if the orientation is held during their normal working hours at their normal place of work ^[2].

Some supplements add real dollar amounts. Under the Local 705 Agreement, attendance at orientation meetings is capped at three (3) days and does not count as working days, and people attending orientation are paid a daily rate of $90.00 for full-time and $50.00 for part-time ^[1]. Local 705 also spells out that the steward or business agent attending must give notice, and the steward remains on the clock for the actual time spent talking about the benefits of Union membership when the orientation is at their normal place of work during normal hours ^[1].

Attendance and Union Membership (Dues Timeline)

"Attendance" at orientation is tied to how the Union tracks new hires. Under Article 3, Section 2 of the National Master, the Employer furnishes the Local Union a list of new employees and notifies the Union when a new employee attains seniority — including name, address, hub or center, shift, and classification — on a monthly basis ^[2].

Under that same section, all newly hired employees must become and remain members in good standing of the Local Union as a condition of employment on and after the 31st day following the beginning of their employment ^[2]. An employee who fails to acquire or maintain membership can be terminated 72 hours after the Employer receives written notice from an authorized Local Union representative certifying membership was offered and the employee had notice and opportunity to pay dues or initiation fees ^[2].

The Probationary "Attendance" Trial Period

A big attendance-related question for new hires is: how many days do I have to show up before I get seniority? This is contract- and supplement-specific.

Under the Local 705 Agreement, a probationary employee works on a forty (40) working day trial basis and may be terminated without further recourse during that period — but the Employer may not terminate or discipline for the purpose of evading the Agreement or discriminating against Union members ^[1]. After working forty (40) days within a ninety (90) consecutive day period, the employee is placed on the regular seniority list, and their seniority date reverts back to the first day of the 40-day period in which they gained seniority ^[1].

• Attendance at orientation meetings (up to three days) does not count toward those working days ^[1].
• Once you attain seniority, you are required to pay the Union initiation fees ^[1].

General note: Probationary rules vary by supplement and rider. If you're not in Local 705, your own supplement may use a different number of days or a different window. Ask your steward or check TeamstersGPT with your supplement selected.

Attendance at Tractor-Trailer (Feeder) School

"Attendance" also comes up around getting into feeder/tractor-trailer work. Several riders and supplements require you to notify the Employer if you want to attend the tractor-trailer school and let seniority govern who goes.

• Under the Local 705 Agreement, interested employees notify the Employer, and in seniority order are permitted to attend the training program on their own time; the Employer furnishes equipment and instructors ^[6]. To qualify to attend, an employee generally must have a one (1) year safe driving record and a clean DMV Abstract Report for the year preceding the application ^[6]. Upon completion, the Employer determines whether the employee is qualified and whether to place them on the qualified list ^[6].
• Under the Local 100 Full-Time Seniority Application Rider, the process is similar: interested employees notify the Company, attend in seniority order on their own time, and must have one (1) year UPS safe driving for the year preceding their application; to move from the qualified list to a tractor-trailer job, the employee must not have had an avoidable accident during the preceding year ^[7].
• Under the Local 688 Rider, attendance carries a consequence: if you sign up for the company tractor-trailer school, are selected to attend, and do not attend or only partially attend, you are not eligible to qualify again for eighteen (18) months from the date of the feeder school ^[5]. Likewise, an employee who disqualifies themselves for any reason must attend the company tractor-trailer school again in order to re-qualify ^[5].

So at feeder school, "attendance" is not optional once you're selected — skipping or half-attending can lock you out for a year and a half ^[5].

The PCM: Daily "Attendance" for Drivers

There's also a daily attendance element in UPS operations. Under the UPS 340 Methods manual, all Service Providers "will attend a Pre-work Communication Meeting (PCM) at their scheduled start time" ^[3][4]. The 340 Methods also stress arriving at your center on time so you can complete your morning activities without rushing and without jeopardizing service commitments ^[3]. Keep in mind the 340 Methods is a UPS company policy document, not part of your negotiated contract — but it is what supervisors reference for the daily routine.

What the Contract Does NOT Say Here

Your contract excerpts do not contain a general company-wide "attendance policy" with a point system, occurrence limits, or automatic discipline steps for calling in. Attendance-based discipline at UPS is generally handled through the discipline and just-cause provisions of your contract, not a standalone attendance article in these excerpts.

General background (not from your contract): Outside of labor contracts, "attendance" is often tracked by software and time-and-labor systems that automate scheduling and record who was present ^[11], and the term is also widely used in schools and other settings to mean the record of who showed up ^{[9][10][12][13]}. That general usage is separate from your UPS contract rights — don't confuse a generic "attendance tool" with what your Local agreement actually requires.

What To Do Next

• If you're a new hire, confirm your probationary trial period and your seniority date with your steward — under Local 705 your date reverts to the first day of the qualifying 40-day period ^[1].
• If a business agent or steward should have been at your orientation, note that the Employer owes the Local one week's notice and a name list ^[2][8].
• If you're aiming for feeder work, ask about tractor-trailer school eligibility and the safe-driving requirement in your supplement before you sign up — and don't skip it once selected ^[5][6][7].
• Because these rules vary by Local, talk to your steward and ask TeamstersGPT with your specific supplement selected for the exact numbers that apply to you.