We have been discussing shipping and handling charges on the Q and other TV shopping channels as well as other places, on- and off-line. This is just sad all around. ********
UPS Fires 250 Employees After They Protest the Termination of Co-Worker
UPS sent out termination notices to 250 of their Queens, New York drivers after they held a 90-minute protest in support of a fellow worker. It was supposed to be a symbolic act of solidarity with one of their former co-workers who had been recently let go, but their employer didn’t see it that way.
According to Business Insider, the shipping company fired 20 of the workers after their shift this week, and informed an additional 230 that they would be fired “once the company has trained their replacements.” Ouch.
The workers ran into trouble when in February they walked off the job for 90 minutes to protest the dismissal of longtime employee Jairo Reyes. Reyes had recently been let go over an hours dispute. UPS spokesman said the mass firings were because the employees didn’t get their protest approved by the company and that it cost UPS money in fines related to undelivered packages.
“When a group of 250 employees walk out for 90 minutes it is a significant disruption in the delivery of parcels or packages to customers on that day,” UPS spokesman, Steve Gaut said. “We get penalties if we don’t deliver on time.”
Setting aside the obvious fact that “disruption of service” is kind of the whole point of walking off the job, there are other machinations at work here. Jairo Reyes wasn’t just any employee, he was an outspoken union activist in a company that barely tolerates unions. It should also be noted that every one of the 250 workers that were terminated were unionized. From that angle it appears less like a company dismissing their disgruntled employees and more like good old-fashioned union busting.
Local politicians certainly think so.
“They took a grievance with one employee and turned it into notices of termination with 250 workers,” New York City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer told The Queens Courier. “That’s outrageous. These are good, hardworking employees who have a contract for UPS. To try and break this contract, break this union, is something that is unacceptable and we can’t tolerate.”
It has those politicians mad enough that they are now threatening to cancel extremely lucrative city contracts (reportedly worth around $43 million) with UPS.
“These are middle class jobs that sustain families, and we can ill afford to have (so many) adversely affected by a rash decision,” said Public Advocate Letitia James, who’s written UPS a letter asking the company to abandon its hard-line approach. “We’ve given UPS breaks, particularly as it relates to this (parking) program,” James said. “They should not treat workers in this manner.” [source]
Astonishingly, when the company learned that the city may cancel their contracts over the incident, they doubled down. They warned the city that if they were to cancel contracts on them, they would fire more employees because of the “reduced need for UPS employees to serve the pick-up and delivery requirements of City offices.” It’s not yet know if New York City will relent to the blackmail or stick to their guns.
In an act of courage, more UPS workers put their jobs on the line by holding a rally in front of the company’s distribution center. At the rally politicians and UPS employees demanded that the 250 (plus Reyes) get their jobs back and that UPS comes to the table with union leaders to hash out ways to ensure better treatment for workers.
http://iacknowledge.net/ups-fires-250-employees-after-they-protest-the-termination-of-co-worker/
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