UPS fires 250 employees for staging a 90-minute protest

[Hum]

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.

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[Dick Montage]

Fair play.  They weren't working.

[Hurmoth]

I think they call it freedom. The employees are free to protest, and the company is free to fire them :laugh: 

[Hum]

Whip them into submission.

[SoCalRox]

I'm not sure where the problem is here. 

[br0adband]

So 250 lose their jobs, not a problem: there'll be 25,000 standing in line on Monday to apply for those positions.

 

Moving on...

 

<yes, this was a facetious post...>

[techbeck]

What should have happened to all those fast food/retail workers demanding higher pay. 

[spenser.d]

So 250 lose their jobs, not a problem: there'll be 25,000 standing in line on Monday to apply for those positions.

Moving on...

<yes, this was a facetious post...>

And then the 250 they hire realize they're getting the shaft and want something better. Then what? We keep going in circles? Not exactly an efficient way to run a business or feed the economy.

[+Eternal Tempest MVC]

So 250 lose their jobs, not a problem: there'll be 25,000 standing in line on Monday to apply for those positions.

 

Moving on...

 

<yes, this was a facetious post...>

 

You know the physical demands for said positions, I doubt they will find 25K waiting to fill those positions.

[techbeck]

I am all for protesting and having your voice heard.  But this should have been done outside of work hours.  Since these employees walked out on the job when they were supposed to be working, it is considered a voluntary resignation of their job at many businesses.

[COKid]

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

Why should UPS get breaks on parking fines in the first place? As to the main point of the story, I agree with the comment immediately above mine.

[LaP]

Why should UPS get breaks on parking fines in the first place? As to the main point of the story, I agree with the comment immediately above mine.

 

So they can make more profit while overcharging US.

 

I have no pity for UPS. They have been on my black list for a while now.

[+Majesticmerc MVC]

I am all for protesting and having your voice heard. But this should have been done outside of work hours. Since these employees walked out on the job when they were supposed to be working, it is considered a voluntary resignation of their job at many businesses.

What impact would an out-of-hours protest do though? It's the same principle as a regular protest. If you don't cause disruption nobody will listen, especially when UPS (apparently) has such a level of animosity towards its employees.

[Hurmoth]

What impact would an out-of-hours protest do though? It's the same principle as a regular protest. If you don't cause disruption nobody will listen, especially when UPS (apparently) has such a level of animosity towards its employees.

They were protesting something that wasn't really any of their business. The hours dispute was between UPS and Jairo Reyes. If they had stayed out of it, they'd still have their jobs. But they didn't and now they don't.

 

There are customers who depend on getting their packages, if you were one of those customers, you'd be complaining that UPS wasn't doing their job. Guess what, it wasn't UPS, it was a bunch of stupid employees who got involved in a fight they had no business in the middle of to begin with. I'd be defending them to the ends of the earth if it was a protest on something that actually mattered, but it wasn't.

[techbeck]

What impact would an out-of-hours protest do though? It's the same principle as a regular protest. If you don't cause disruption nobody will listen, especially when UPS (apparently) has such a level of animosity towards its employees.

 

Protesting is all about being heard and showing the business and community about what you are protesting about.  When disruption occurs, that is when problems start.  Protesting should be done in a civil manner.  And if you get enough community awareness of what is going on, that will effectively disrupt the business with a bad reputation/image.  A lot of news will come from it, TV spots, and also online news stories.

[spacer]

What does "fired over an hours dispute" mean? Was Reyes complaining that he wasn't working enough? Too many hours? I'm confused as to why this would have been considered protest material by the employees that were laid off.

[xrobwx71]

 

 

UPS fired back that it might need to terminate additional employees if the city alters its contract.

Good for UPS. Bada Bing.

[+primortal Subscriber²]

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.

 

Umm, is it really smart to tell an employee hey you're fired but keep working until your replacement is trained???

 

If I got that type of notice I wouldn't show up for work anymore....

[Harrison H.]

Umm, is it really smart to tell an employee hey you're fired but keep working until your replacement is trained???

 

If I got that type of notice I wouldn't show up for work anymore....

I would keep showing up. Better to be paid for a while longer while looking for another job, than to not be paid while looking for another job.

[sbauer]

Umm, is it really smart to tell an employee hey you're fired but keep working until your replacement is trained???

 

If I got that type of notice I wouldn't show up for work anymore....

 

If you need the money, it gives you the opportunity to collect a pay check, while finding another job. They know some people aren't going to come back, but they also know that many will. If they were really concerned about people not showing up, they wouldn't have said anything. They would have quietly trained replacements and then fired everyone.

[+LogicalApex MVC]

Fair play. They weren't working.

UPS employees are unionized. The problem here is that UPS is apparently busting the union by mass dismissal of the workforce.

UPS should be operating within the bounds of the Union agreement they signed...

The workers definitely should stand up to being bullied...

[seta-san]

so a guy made a legal contribution to something he believed in six years ago that in no way affected his work and was forced out of his company for it and that's absolutely awesome to 'progressives'. 250 people walk  off the job that directly affects the company and they are being forced out and that's atrocious?

 

Liberal logic. Agree with us or you get nothing.

[FloatingFatMan]

so a guy made a legal contribution to something he believed in six years ago that in no way affected his work and was forced out of his company for it and that's absolutely awesome to 'progressives'. 250 people walk  off the job that directly affects the company and they are being forced out and that's atrocious?

 

Liberal logic. Agree with us or you get nothing.

 

That's life.

[SierraSonic]

so a guy made a legal contribution to something he believed in six years ago that in no way affected his work and was forced out of his company for it and that's absolutely awesome to 'progressives'. 250 people walk  off the job that directly affects the company and they are being forced out and that's atrocious?

 

Liberal logic. Agree with us or you get nothing.

He wasn't forced out, he was asked to step down and he did, otherwise others were going to quit, the company thought it would be more beneficial for itself to not have him after realising the lost revenue and good public image.

 

The UPS situation is the same basic thing, one guy was fired, others threatened to quit/protest, the public is mostly agreeing with them, so UPS will most likely back down and bring the people back instead of losing revenue, good public image, and city contracts.

 

What is your point here? That companies shouldn't listen to the public? Losing a CEO that would split the workforce and create grief at the company is OK business sense? I do not understand where you are getting "Agree with us or you get nothing" from "we don't agree and you will lose us". That seems to be a gamble these companies aren't willing to take. It seems to me that when liberals protest and succeed you get mad.

[Lord Method Man]

UPS employees are unionized. The problem here is that UPS is apparently busting the union by mass dismissal of the workforce.

UPS should be operating within the bounds of the Union agreement they signed...

The workers definitely should stand up to being bullied...

 

According to the agreement with the Union, workers strikes like this were not a permissible action for resolving grievances, which is why they were fired. The door swings both ways.