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[hubrat]

Does anyone have info. or links to articles about a mass firing of senior drivers by UPS around 1974 and/or a resulting class action lawsuit? Any information will be appreciated, even suggestions for a string to type into search engines. I'm not pulling anything up.

 

[speeddemon]

will dig around, but it would not surprise me one bit.

 

[gman]

Was that during a strike in Philadelphia. They discontinued service there for a long period of time and finally reopened with all new people.

 

[nevadapaul]

Philly was in the 60's

 

[ok2bclever]

There was a major east coast strike since I have been there and I started in '73.

It was not successful as UPS had the rest of the USA to feed off of and starved them out.

Could that be what hubrat is referring too?

 

[pd109]

When we up here in Canada went on our 1 day strike recently,the word was that they would do the same thing they did in Philadelphia if we didn`t accept thier final offer.

 

[wily_old_vet]

I was on East Coast during the strile in the 70's and to the best of my knowledge there were no mass firings, at least where I was. Strike lasted about 3 months and they came back just before Christmas. I was a clerk at the time.

 

[scratch_king]

I started working for UPS in the Atlanta Hub in 1975. I can remember at about that time that was no service to the Philadelphia area. The rumor I heard at that time was that Jim Casey himself had visited the hub there and got so mad at how badly it was running, that he had it shut down. I don't know if this story is factual or not. I had the chance to meet Jim Casey a few years after that when he visited the Atlanta Hub, he seemed to be a fairly decent guy. I think that he wouldn't be too pleased with the way things are now.

 

[hubrat]

Thanks. All the info is appreciated. Working with UPS seems to command, have commanded, gobs of time from people's lives over the years...well, some of the more senior drivers haven't had the opportunities I have to keep up with technology, internet, etc. They've been too busy taking care of the rest of the world? Anyway, a very respected driver asked what I could find out about this/these incidents.

I'm grateful for this site and for all of those who want and need to communicate.

 

[ups_vette]

In 1967 Philadelphia Teamster Local and UPS could not agree on a new contract. Bill Herlihy was the District Manager at the time and told the Union to accept the final offer or UPS will close and embargo the city of Philadelphia. The Union refused and UPS closed up shop in the city of Philadelphia and all areas covered by Teamster Local 107.

The International Teamster bylaws stated if a Teamster represented company went out of business and stayed out for a period of three years or more, the company had no legal obligation to recognize the Teammsters as the barganing agent for the employees.

Three years after UPS closed Philadelphia, Bill Herlihy, who was now the Region Manager, re-opened Philadelphia's UPS operation as a NON UNION company. The Teamsters went to court to be recognized as the bargaining agent, but the courts ruled in favor of UPS and determined UPS was NOT represented by Teamster Local 107. UPS hired mostly new workers, with a hand full of former employess.

A year later the new employees voted for Teamster representation and established a UPS only Teamster Local.

I was a driver in another Center in the East Pa District at the time of the embargo. I was a Center Manager when UPS RE-OPENED Philadelphia and assisted in the training of new drivers.

 

[traveler]

ups vette,

That's an accurate picture as far as it goes. There were massive problems in the Phila hub at that time. One of which I clearly remember was known as "smokers" coming into the Secaucus hub (now known as Meadowlands). They were trailers that had a lit cigarette but tossed in when the box was loaded and being closed. Sometimes the trailer caught fire, sometimes not. I do admit I was 100 miles away at the time but the word was "they will never close down Phila!". The Metro Jersey and New York hubs had the same mantra. Well, after Philadelphia was closed, those words were never heard again! I do remember that there were some serious problems with the non-returning drivers and hub employees during the first year of the reopening. True, it is a sore subject long in the past but still part of UPS history.

 

[feguy]

Traveler
It sounds like it was a sore subject long in the past but still part of TEAMSTER history. I don't think UPS was affected one bit.