UPS wrapped up its bitter labor dispute with the Teamsters union Wednesday night, putting 250 fired workers back in their drivers’ seats.
The accord was struck after Teamsters Local 804 and top UPS executives spent the day negotiating at a Manhattan law firm, sources told the Daily News.
The deal rescinds the termination notices given to 250 Queens drivers after they walked out for 90 minutes on Feb. 26 to protest the firing of longtime driver Jairo Reyes, a union activist.
Reyes also gets his job back, according to the sources.
The union agreed to pay the company undisclosed damages for deliveries missed during the 90-minute walkout. In addition, all the drivers who participated have to serve a short suspension, sources said.
That includes the 36 who were removed from the payroll in the past two weeks — the first wave to go as UPS started firing the workers from the Maspeth depot..
The Atlanta-based shipping company had played hardball with Local 804 since the walkout, refusing to back down from its position that it had the right to fire any worker who participated in what it considered an illegal work stoppage.
After negotiations failed last month, the union turned to elected officials and UPS customers for help.
Public Advocate Letitia James led the charge, writing a letter to UPS reminding the company that it had a $ 43 million contract with the state — as well as other perks, including city parking ticket privileges that saved it millions.
“Today we are celebrating a victory for working-class New Yorkers. The 250 truck drivers at the UPS facility in Maspeth who were in jeopardy of losing their livelihoods will now have their jobs reinstated,” James said Wednesday night. She thanked those who supported the workers and added “We have sent a clear message to corporate America that firing workers en masse for minor workplace disagreements is unacceptable.”
UPS, which employs 6,000 union workers citywide and 16,000 across the state, said it valued its business with New York and hoped to maintain its good relationship.
But the company said it couldn’t condone illegal walkouts because they put its customer relations in jeopardy.
Some customers, however, let the company know they didn’t approve of the decision to fire the drivers.
“You’re firing 250 drivers/workers and guess what? I’m firing you!! I’m boycotting UPS until these people are rehired!!” customer Rose Mary Rios wrote on Facebook Wednesday before the agreement was announced.
“Stop firing drivers in retaliation,” wrote Leon Laporte, one of several dozen messages left in support of the workers.
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