'Please pack less' say baggage handlers

[Danger]

I do pity the poor folk. For me, even a 20kg bag seems heavy, let alone 32kg.

'Please pack less' say baggage handlers - Business Traveller

 

[Mal]

I do pity the poor folk. For me, even a 20kg bag seems heavy, let alone 32kg.

I dunno really. They sign up for a job knowing what it entails, then complain about what it entails? If the bags are heavier than what they were expecting, then the airline is at fault for accepting bags that are over the max weight.

 

[Flying Fox]

Or you could do it the USA way.... pack 32kgs in each of your 3 carry on items

 

[Travel Guru]

I'll make them a deal, i'll make an effort to pack less when they stop playing their game to see who can damage the most baggage, or that other favorite of theirs, called 'lets deliberately can get the priority tagged bags out last'

TG

 

[zzyss]

Personally, I sympathise with the baggage handlers at least in part. Looking at some of the luggages that show up on the carousel, you'd be forgiven for coughing about it. If you had 32kg in some of the threadbare, worn out, cheaply manufactured rubbish that's out there, it'd require a lot more effort to handle them in such a way as to not cause them to disintegrate or be damaged, than if they were well-constructed and sturdy.

Edit: maybe some enterprising person could design a luggage that splits into two parts for easy handling, but which can be joined back together for portability.

 

[NM]

I'll make them a deal, i'll make an effort to pack less when they stop playing their game to see who can damage the most baggage, or that other favorite of theirs, called 'lets deliberately can get the priority tagged bags out last'

Or the game called "lets call a snap strike and inconvenience as many of the people who ultimately pay our wages as we can"

 

[drewbles]

Personally, I sympathise with the baggage handlers at least in part. Looking at some of the luggages that show up on the carousel, you'd be forgiven for coughing about it. If you had 32kg in some of the threadbare, worn out, cheaply manufactured rubbish that's out there, it'd require a lot more effort to handle them in such a way as to not cause them to disintegrate or be damaged, than if they were well-constructed and sturdy.

Edit: maybe some enterprising person could design a luggage that splits into two parts for easy handling, but which can be joined back together for portability.

No sympathy from me. You sign up for a job knowing what you're getting. If you don't like it, choose another career (same goes for any other job where people cough about their conditions, you knew what it was like before you got into it, unless of course, someone has screwed them over *after* the fact)

What TravelGuru said is spot on. I was running for a very tight connection several years ago after AA changed the flight time (paper ticket days) and my ticket had a different time to that of my friend (same flights, different ticketing dates) and I had not noticed. Rocked up to T4 LAX just in time to be checked in, got on board (window seat unfortunately was I was so late) and sat down just in time to see my bag thrown from the apron up to someone near the hold entrance. Good thing I had nothing breakable in there.

When they start giving my bag some normal handling rather than pitching, i'll start caring for their cause a little more

 

[drron]

And I just want to thank the QF baggage handlers for sending our bags to Perth for an overnight holiday recently

 

[odysseus]

Personally, I sympathise with the baggage handlers at least in part. Looking at some of the luggages that show up on the carousel, you'd be forgiven for coughing about it. If you had 32kg in some of the threadbare, worn out, cheaply manufactured rubbish that's out there, it'd require a lot more effort to handle them in such a way as to not cause them to disintegrate or be damaged, than if they were well-constructed and sturdy.

Yes, fully agree. They're the ones left to carry the can (or the case) when someone just sends it through.

As for the remarks about them "signing up for the job, knowing it in advance" I can only imagine you must have been very fortunate with your career interviews where the company/promoter made everything as honest and factual as possible.

So often they just need to hire people so only present the positives and show things in the best light.

 

[straitman]

As for the remarks about them "signing up for the job, knowing it in advance" I can only imagine you must have been very fortunate with your career interviews where the company/promoter made everything as honest and factual as possible.

So often they just need to hire people so only present the positives and show things in the best light.

Is this a wind up :?:

 

[2muchplastic]

Personally, I sympathise with the baggage handlers at least in part. Looking at some of the luggages that show up on the carousel, you'd be forgiven for coughing about it. If you had 32kg in some of the threadbare, worn out, cheaply manufactured rubbish that's out there, it'd require a lot more effort to handle them in such a way as to not cause them to disintegrate or be damaged, than if they were well-constructed and sturdy.

Edit: maybe some enterprising person could design a luggage that splits into two parts for easy handling, but which can be joined back together for portability.

People probably do not want to spend a huge amount of money on luggage, (and instead use the "threadbare, worn out, cheaply manufactured rubbish") because they see how badly the luggage is treated. No point in spending $2000 on Louis Vuitton luggage, because after 2 trips it looks like the Brisbane Broncos have hoofed it around the field for 80 minutes, followed by a couple of dogs chewing the handle and tags and a cat weeing on it.

So I guess the question is - is the "threadbare, worn out" stuff threadbare and worn out because of the quality of the handling? It must have been new once!

 

[Mal]

As for the remarks about them "signing up for the job, knowing it in advance" I can only imagine you must have been very fortunate with your career interviews where the company/promoter made everything as honest and factual as possible.

Haha, baggage handling is a totally different industry. To get a job, you tend to NEED to know someone already doing it, and for them to put a good word in. Then go through the assessments (physical) and the various security checks.

Before they start, they do tend to know what is involved!

 

[drewbles]

As for the remarks about them "signing up for the job, knowing it in advance" I can only imagine you must have been very fortunate with your career interviews where the company/promoter made everything as honest and factual as possible.

So often they just need to hire people so only present the positives and show things in the best light.

If you want to become a teacher, you know you're going to have to write on a blackboard with chalk. You don't apply for the job and then whinge that the board is too high for you to write on or perhaps you have an allergy to chalk.

If you want to become a high-rise crane driver, you know you're going to have to climb a long ladder and spend your working day in a small cabin in the air. You don't apply for the job and then whinge you're claustrophobic and have vertigo.

When you're wanting a career, you know what the career entails. If your employer makes you do things outside the scope of your role or career definition then yes, you have every right to complain.

You cannot tell me that if you apply to become a baggage handler for an airline, you don't know that you're going to have to lift heavy baggage and awkward items.

And if you're trying to wind us up (as someone else suggested) it won't work.

Sorry, back on topic now

 

[NYCguy]

No point in spending $2000 on Louis Vuitton luggage, because after 2 trips it looks like the Brisbane Broncos have hoofed it around the field for 80 minutes, followed by a couple of dogs chewing the handle and tags and a cat weeing on it.

Vuitton luggage that one would check in costs considerably more than that. If it is 'injured', one can return it to LV for repair/restoration, often at little or no cost to the owner. Monogram canvas seems to attract unwanted attention, in the same way that a Bentley would if you parked it overnight on the street in the Bronx .

As for the baggage handlers... Boo hoo, it's your job. If your employer isn't providing you with the equipment and training to do your job safely, then the problem needs to be addressed with that employer.

 

[trooper]

I like the signs that remind folks that the bag is there to carry and protect the contents... and that some level of wear and tear is normal...*

OK.. so baggage handlers should know what they are getting in to? Fair enough... but then pax should know that their baggage is going to be given a workout even IF every handler takes care....

(I use Samsonite suitcases and they are 10 years old and going strong.....)

* No, I am not excusing "abuse" of baggage.. but anyone who thinks a bag can go from check in to hold to carousel and always remain pristine deserves the same level of incredulity as is being shown to the poor handlers....

 

[2muchplastic]

No, I am not excusing "abuse" of baggage.. but anyone who thinks a bag can go from check in to hold to carousel and always remain pristine deserves the same level of incredulity as is being shown to the poor handlers....

I don't think that anyone would dispute that there would be a degree of fair wear and tear. As you say the suitcase is there to provide a protective covering for your belongings, and just by being used and handled will mean that there is a degree of wear and tear.
But I think it is the expectation of the length of time that it takes from being shiny and new to being a battered wreck with the handles falling off should be more than just a handful of trips!

 

[odysseus]

Mal's answer is fair enough. However...

If you want to become a high-rise crane driver, you know you're going to have to climb a long ladder and spend your working day in a small cabin in the air. You don't apply for the job and then whinge you're claustrophobic and have vertigo.

When you're wanting a career, you know what the career entails. If your employer makes you do things outside the scope of your role or career definition then yes, you have every right to complain.

Just because things were originally considered safe - or more likely not considered at all - doesn't mean that they continue to be thought safe. People have "whinged" after accidents on the job, whether severe, like deaths in mining, or less so but still significant at times as in office work.

Note also with your analogies that the comparison fails. In this case, they are talking about the extent and severity of the task at hand, rather than the job itself. They're not saying they won't load luggage at all (or luggage of certain characteristics, e.g. vinyl). They're saying to keep it reasonable and not excessive. Perhaps a better analogy would be if your teacher had to write 30 copies of each handout by hand instead of just one - permanently, because the school wasn't going to pay for copies.

Changes have happened to working conditions in different industries reasonably frequently.

I find it odd that you think considering the safety aspects of different jobs and that maybe considering their situation is winding you up.

 

[drewbles]

Just because things were originally considered safe - or more likely not considered at all - doesn't mean that they continue to be thought safe. People have "whinged" after accidents on the job, whether severe, like deaths in mining, or less so but still significant at times as in office work.

Note also with your analogies that the comparison fails. In this case, they are talking about the extent and severity of the task at hand, rather than the job itself. They're not saying they won't load luggage at all (or luggage of certain characteristics, e.g. vinyl). They're saying to keep it reasonable and not excessive. Perhaps a better analogy would be if your teacher had to write 30 copies of each handout by hand instead of just one - permanently, because the school wasn't going to pay for copies.

Changes have happened to working conditions in different industries reasonably frequently.

I find it odd that you think considering the safety aspects of different jobs and that maybe considering their situation is winding you up.

I was probably not clear enough in my original post.

I do not begrudge employees the right to a safe working environment, far from it. I'm all in favour of a safe workplace and employers complying with all reasonable OH&S matters.

My point was simply that baggage handlers *know* bags may be heavy and odd shaped. You don't apply (or get into the job) knowing otherwise. If you can't lift a 23kg bag (with or without assistance), you shouldn't be doing the job.

Employers should offer employees help/assistance aids or the like, but the handlers have no right to whinge based on knowing what a job entails, taking it, then finding out they don't like it. If you don't like it, change rolls. I have worked for companies who employed me for one thing then exploited me for other reasons and indeed just exploited me 24 hours a day rather than my slated 9-5 type conditions in my job contract. I didn't whinge, I just found another job (I'm in IT and they decided it'd be nice if I was on call 24 hours a day for no extra salary).

 

[pauly7]

If you want to become a teacher, you know you're going to have to write on a blackboard with chalk. You don't apply for the job and then whinge that the board is too high for you to write on or perhaps you have an allergy to chalk.

LMAO
Chalk? Blackboard??.... how old are you and when is the last time you were in a classroom?!

 

[drewbles]

LMAO
Chalk? Blackboard??.... how old are you and when is the last time you were in a classroom?!

Last time I checked, they still use it. Some may have whiteboards and markers, private schools may have more.

Most government schools don't have all the luxuries remember.

And i'm not that old. I'm old enough to have used computers regularly in high school (and indeed knew more about them than the teachers did at the time, and probably still do).

Windows 95 was the order of the day when I was at high school, let's just leave it at that