After working at UPS for 21 years, one member didn’t feel that he should have been fired for doing what other workers around him routinely did. And neither did his Business Rep, who took up the case and got him his job back.
“They told me I couldn’t play music, even though we were allowed to when I worked in a different facility, and other workers in San Jose could. They spent a day trying to make a case against me and they finally fired me for gross insubordination and escorted me off the property,” the member who wanted to tell his story but also wanted to stay on the down-low says. “I stood my ground. I wasn’t going to take their harassment.”
“Management clearly wanted to make an example out of this member,” says Business Rep Johnny Gallegos. “The case we made was that his insubordinate actions were in direct response to how poorly management was treating him. And we were able to prove it.” The UPS panel ultimately agreed that the member should be reinstated on March 1. He’ll have been out of work for three months.
“The managers thought they had a slam dunk case,” the member says. “But Johnny investigated, made a thorough case, and caught management in all kinds of lies.”
“They thought I was done. One manager said that I’d never come back and he told me to ‘have a good life.’ Even now, they’re mad that I am coming back,” the member adds. “Johnny is my boy — he did the impossible for me. He fought for me and I’m getting my job back. Respect!”
