BOYCOTT UPS — Use the US Postal Service Instead: UPS Fires 250 Employees for Staging 90-Minute Protest in Support of Fired Labor Organizer

The then Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis tours UPS facility - June, 2012. Labor officials
should quit the PR tours and  to start protecting workers. (Photo by US Dept of Labor)

By Hayley Peterson
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.”

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