By Kevin Short From The Huffington Post

UPS, one of the world’s largest shipping and logistics companies, has decided to fire 250 workers who staged a 90-minute protest in February. The protest was organized after a long-time employee was fired over an hours dispute.

Twenty of the workers were notified of their dismissal on Monday. The remaining 230 were told they would be fired as soon as replacements are trained.

The workers, who are based in Queens, N.Y., walked off the job when Jairo Reyes, a 24-year company veteran and union activist, got in a dispute with the company over the number of hours senior staff could work, according to the New York Daily News.

Reyes was fired on February 14 — “that was my Valentine’s Day gift from UPS,” Reyes told the Queens Courier — and the ensuing protest occurred February 26.

A UPS spokesperson confirmed the firing to the Huffington Post, referring to the protest as “an unauthorized work stoppage.”

“We simply cannot allow employee misconduct that jeopardizes our ability to reliably serve our customers and maintain order in our delivery operations,” UPS spokesperson Steve Gaut wrote in an email to HuffPost. “For this reason, the company is releasing employees involved in the work stoppage.”

The Queens workers are represented by the local branch of the Teamsters union. In a statement on their website, they describe the firings as “arbitrary discipline.”

“UPS’s actions this week were a heartless attack on drivers and their families,” the Teamsters Local 804 wrote.

Local officials and union representatives have demanded that UPS rehire the workers and that the city revoke the millions in New York government contracts currently awarded to the company.

UPS also “receives millions of dollars every year in reduced fine and fees for parking tickets,” according to NYC Public Advocate Letitia James, who will protest alongside the Teamsters at New York City Hall Thursday.

Update 4/3: Thursday, a UPS spokesperson informed The Huffington Post that the contract between UPS and the Teamsters includes a no-strike clause. Management at the Maspeth facility, where employees worked, warned the employees as they were leaving that their jobs were at risk, the spokesperson said. The Teamsters did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

For more on this story go to: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/02/ups-queens-firing_n_5078776.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Related story:

Here’s the story behind the strike that got 250 UPS workers fired

By Hayley Peterson From Business Insider

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.”

For more on this story go to: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-ups-fired-250-workers-2014-4#ixzz2y2IoNK3O