UPS Fires 250 employees for staging a 90 Minute protest to defend co-worker

UPS is firing 250 Queens, N.Y.,
drivers for walking off the job
during a 90-minute protest in
February.
The company dismissed 20 of
the workers after their shifts
Monday and issued notices of
termination to another 230
employees, notifying them that
they will be fired once the
company has trained their
replacements, UPS spokesman
Steve Gaut told Business Insider.

The workers were protesting
the dismissal of longtime
employee and union activist
Jairo Reyes, who was fired over
an hours dispute, according to
Gaut. The New York Daily News
first reported on the firings.

Local politicians are threatening
to cancel city contracts that give
UPS millions of dollars in breaks
on parking fines.
"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."

UPS fired back that it might need
to terminate additional
employees if the city alters its
contract.
"UPS appreciates its business
with the New York public
offices," Gaut said. "Ultimately if
that business is reduced or
eliminated, the result will be
reduced need for UPS employees
to serve the pick-up and delivery
requirements of City offices,
potentially impacting the
livelihoods of the many local UPS
employees that did not join in
the illegal work stoppage."

UPS employs 1,400 workers at
the Maspeth distribution center
where the strike took place on
Feb. 26.
"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," Gaut
said. "We get penalties if we
don't deliver on time."
For that reason, strikes are not
an approved method of conflict
resolution in UPS' contract with
the union, he said.
The local branch of the
Teamsters union that represents
the dismissed workers has
described the firings as "a
heartless attack on drivers and
their families."

"The company fired a group of
drivers to try to divide us, create
panic, or try to get Local 804 to
cave in and sell out. That is not
going to happen," the union
wrote on its website.
One of the workers facing
dismissal had just returned to
his job after a serious accident,
according to the Daily News.

"Domenick DeDomenico, 40, was
in a coma for 10 days after
getting hit by a car last year
while delivering packages for
UPS," the Daily News' Ginger
Adams Otis reported. "He fought
back from serious brain injuries
and needed a year of speech
and physical therapy."

Reference: Business Insider