UPS fires 250 workers for protesting.

[Bucman 891]

UPS recently fired 250 Queens, N.Y., employees for staging a 90-minute strike in February to protest the dismissal of one of their co-workers, Jairo Reyes.

The story has been widely reported, but little has been said about why Reyes — a 49-year-old longtime employee of UPS and a union activist — was fired in the first place.

We spoke to UPS and Reyes to get their sides of the story.

UPS said it dismissed Reyes on Feb. 14 because he repeatedly clocked in earlier than his shift was set to start, which resulted in his being paid overtime for hours that he allegedly didn't work.

"There was a disagreement over the hours he clocked and the hours he actually worked, and we discharged him after several warnings," UPS spokesman Steve Gaut told Business Insider.

The early clock-ins were reported over a period of five days, Gaut said. Reyes was officially fired for "admitted dishonesty."

But Reyes said he had a manager's approval to clock in early, beginning around Jan. 6. That same manager later denied giving approval for the new schedule, and Reyes was subsequently fired, he told Business Insider in an interview.

Reyes has alleged that the manager was retaliating against him for signing a grievance in early February about senior workers' hours. Reyes said he was never given a warning before he was fired.

"It broke my heart," said Reyes, a married father of two and a 24-year UPS veteran. "I was out on disability for a year, and I come back thinking I'm going to be able to get back on my feet. Now my daughter is getting ready to go to college and I'm worried. I still have a $13,000 payment to make for her to go to school."

According to the union, Teamsters Local 804, the firing violated an "innocent until proven guilty" clause that allows terminated employees to continue working until they have had an opportunity to defend themselves in a hearing with union and UPS officials.

That hearing was eventually held on Feb. 26 at the Maspeth distribution facility where Reyes worked, and his termination was upheld. Immediately following the meeting, Reyes walked out of the facility with about 250 workers in tow.

Alleged video of the walkout shows Reyes standing in a circle of UPS workers outside the facility and giving an impassioned speech against UPS.

"Without us, there is no UPS," he's heard shouting to the crowd. "Why do we get kicked down — because we filed a grievance? Because we want things done right? ... Are they not creating an environment of hostility? Everything we do is wrong ... It's not fair to be kicked around. We gotta unite!"

Toward the end of the video, an unidentified man explains that he's spoken to UPS and union officials, and orders all the workers to return to their jobs. The strike lasted 90 minutes.

UPS employs 1,400 workers at the Maspeth distribution center. The company is firing 250 employees who took part in the walkout.

The company maintains that the 250 firings are totally unrelated to Reyes' dismissal.

Strikes are not an approved method of conflict resolution in UPS' contract with the union, so the company has the right to fire employees engaging in a walkout, Gaut said.

"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."

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-ups-fired-250-workers-2014-4#ixzz2yUTdZjFH

 

 

 

I agree with what UPS did. From a business prospective its puts a burden on others to get more done and they did this on company time. Union shops typically do not allow wildcat strikes like this. If what UPS says is true it sounds like the guy was given multiple chances to stop clocking in early and ignored. Obviously 2 sides to every story, but New York is a employment at will state and they could fire him for no reason at all if they wanted to.

[BwareDWare94 723]

If Reyes really had managerial permission to clock in early and take care of certain things, he shouldn't have been fired, but if he really wasn't doing anything, as UPS claimed, he should have been fired, too.

 

This really sounds like a case of people expecting a bit too much of their employers. UPS is a pretty nice gig, and like Fedex it's one of the better jobs people can get without a degree. While I think employers in this country can be ridiculous, I don't really see how this escalated just from punching in early.

[southgadawg 52]

Most larger companies have digital time clocks with cameras focused on them so research can be done to determine who actually keyed in an employee's badge number or swiped their card. I have little doubt that it is likely BEFORE the decision was ever made to terminate him that there was an investigation done and all the ducks were in a row. Most large companies are so afraid of lawsuits they don't dismiss hourly associates without some sort of documentation.

 

As far as the other workers being terminated it seems that they agreed the union should speak for them, then they went out of the parameters of what the union could do based on their labor agreement. It is sad that a large number of them took that risk but sounds like those involved didn't make an informed decision.

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

Ya... doing this kind of... off the cuff and on the company's time is a big no no. The OP mentioned it, but think of the extra burden it put onto the other employees -- even for 90 minutes? To be fair, I absolutely despise unions and generally what they stand for today... So I am a tad biased, but... I see UPS not doing anything wrong here. As far as the original firing -- I really can't say. Seems like a "he said" "he said" kind of deal between the employee and his manager -- whose word is corporate going to go by, right or wrong?

[Bucman 891]

Most larger companies have digital time clocks with cameras focused on them so research can be done to determine who actually keyed in an employee's badge number or swiped their card. I have little doubt that it is likely BEFORE the decision was ever made to terminate him that there was an investigation done and all the ducks were in a row. Most large companies are so afraid of lawsuits they don't dismiss hourly associates without some sort of documentation.

 

As far as the other workers being terminated it seems that they agreed the union should speak for them, then they went out of the parameters of what the union could do based on their labor agreement. It is sad that a large number of them took that risk but sounds like those involved didn't make an informed decision.

Thing is, they can't be sued for anything. New York is a at will state which means they could fire him for drinking a pepsi that day instead of a coke. Obviously firing for race, gender or sexual preference would warrant one, but in this case the guy has nothing on UPS at all.

[JetsFan4Life 542]

 

Most larger companies have digital time clocks with cameras focused on them so research can be done to determine who actually keyed in an employee's badge number or swiped their card. I have little doubt that it is likely BEFORE the decision was ever made to terminate him that there was an investigation done and all the ducks were in a row. Most large companies are so afraid of lawsuits they don't dismiss hourly associates without some sort of documentation.

 

As far as the other workers being terminated it seems that they agreed the union should speak for them, then they went out of the parameters of what the union could do based on their labor agreement. It is sad that a large number of them took that risk but sounds like those involved didn't make an informed decision.

Thing is, they can't be sued for anything. New York is a at will state which means they could fire him for drinking a pepsi that day instead of a coke. Obviously firing for race, gender or sexual preference would warrant one, but in this case the guy has nothing on UPS at all.

 

 

You're talking in the private sector I'm guessing? As someone who works in the public sector of New York State and is also part of a union it takes A LOT for someone to get fired.

 

As for the 250 people getting fired for walking out I don't have too much sympathy. Once again as someone in a union it has been made clear to me countless times that if I were to ever go on strike or anything like that I can be terminated as it would be against our contract with the school district. I'm sure the same thing could be said with the UPS contract although I do find it strange that UPS officials said it was unrelated.

Edited April 11, 2014 by JetsFan4Life

[Socal 524]

Walk off the job, lose the job. Pretty simple

[Bucman 891]

 

 

Most larger companies have digital time clocks with cameras focused on them so research can be done to determine who actually keyed in an employee's badge number or swiped their card. I have little doubt that it is likely BEFORE the decision was ever made to terminate him that there was an investigation done and all the ducks were in a row. Most large companies are so afraid of lawsuits they don't dismiss hourly associates without some sort of documentation.

 

As far as the other workers being terminated it seems that they agreed the union should speak for them, then they went out of the parameters of what the union could do based on their labor agreement. It is sad that a large number of them took that risk but sounds like those involved didn't make an informed decision.

Thing is, they can't be sued for anything. New York is a at will state which means they could fire him for drinking a pepsi that day instead of a coke. Obviously firing for race, gender or sexual preference would warrant one, but in this case the guy has nothing on UPS at all.

 

 

You're talking in the private sector I'm guessing? As someone who works in the public sector of New York State and is also part of a union it takes A LOT for someone to get fired.

 

As for the 250 people getting fired for walking out I don't have too much sympathy. Once again as someone in a union it has been made clear to me countless times that if I were to ever go on strike or anything like that I can be terminated as it would be against our contract with the school district. I'm sure the same thing could be said with the UPS contract although I do find it strange that UPS officials said it was unrelated.

 

Union work is yes different. They help shitty workers keep jobs. At least thats what I hear from everyone I've spoke to about Unions and I myself see it first hand.

 

UPS can still fire the employees, in which case they did. But the former employees can still have the Union fight to get them they're job back. It can take months to a year for that happen. We had a guy fired for other a year because he didn't lockout a piece of equipment, he fought for a year and got his job back. The company also had to pay him 1 year pay for that time off.

[JetsFan4Life 542]

 

 

 

Most larger companies have digital time clocks with cameras focused on them so research can be done to determine who actually keyed in an employee's badge number or swiped their card. I have little doubt that it is likely BEFORE the decision was ever made to terminate him that there was an investigation done and all the ducks were in a row. Most large companies are so afraid of lawsuits they don't dismiss hourly associates without some sort of documentation.

 

As far as the other workers being terminated it seems that they agreed the union should speak for them, then they went out of the parameters of what the union could do based on their labor agreement. It is sad that a large number of them took that risk but sounds like those involved didn't make an informed decision.

Thing is, they can't be sued for anything. New York is a at will state which means they could fire him for drinking a pepsi that day instead of a coke. Obviously firing for race, gender or sexual preference would warrant one, but in this case the guy has nothing on UPS at all.

 

 

You're talking in the private sector I'm guessing? As someone who works in the public sector of New York State and is also part of a union it takes A LOT for someone to get fired.

 

As for the 250 people getting fired for walking out I don't have too much sympathy. Once again as someone in a union it has been made clear to me countless times that if I were to ever go on strike or anything like that I can be terminated as it would be against our contract with the school district. I'm sure the same thing could be said with the UPS contract although I do find it strange that UPS officials said it was unrelated.

 

Union work is yes different. They help shitty workers keep jobs. At least thats what I hear from everyone I've spoke to about Unions and I myself see it first hand.

 

 

 

 

So so true.

[southgadawg 52]

Unions have played a VERY important role in this country's work environment bringing about many positive changes through the years. I will say at one time they were definitely needed and may still have some uses in some circumstance that are not the 'normal' work environments of today. However in MOST current areas I'd think they serve little real function besides to keep the union BUSINESS fat and healthy---and unions are more or less a business on their own in many ways. Unions often keep their industry's wages artificially high while at the same time lowering productivity of the average worker. This situation frequently causes the host business/industry to struggle with it's own competitive advantage...meaning they sometimes have to lose workers or even relocate or close their unit.

 

When I was healthy enough to work in my own personal experience I witnessed first hand where unions had workers that were highly unmotivated (wanting only to do enough to keep their jobs) and they had little to no desire to succeed (because promotions weren't based on ability but on seniority). I personally had even received threats from union workers because I 'worked too fast and made the others look bad'. I was told 'you need to do what everyone else does and no more'. At one time while I was in college I was working a weekend shift in shipping and receiving at a highly unionized manufacturing job (mainly driving a forklift). At that job out of a 10 hour shift I might only have somedays 3 actual hours of work the rest of the time I had nothing to do and could not help anyone else no matter how behind they were. Getting paid for doing nothing may seem like a great gig but it still felt ethically wrong to me. That particular business changed hands several times in a 10 year period before simply fading away because none of it's owners could make a profit there even with the fact that many of it's workers were highly skilled at their specialized job.