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Local 767 Wins Two Major Arbitration Cases at UPS
Marie Torres is back to work at UPS. The Waco, Texas package car driver was recently reinstated with full back pay, benefits and seniority. And she’s not alone.
Muhammed Farhan, a part-timer who was discharged in April 2016, also got his job back at the UPS Dallas center. Torres and Farhan are members of Local 767 in Ft. Worth, Texas and they both filed grievances against UPS for wrongful termination.
“These are both significant victories for our UPS members and, frankly, for UPS Teamsters nationwide,” said John Shorts, President of Local 767. “By discharging our sister and brother in these two cases, it was clearly the intent of the company to create a chilling effect among our members who file grievances.”
Torres, a 21-year UPS employee, was fired for what the company claimed was dishonesty. Local 767 proved that the company’s accusations were in fact related to her union activity, including supervisor-working grievances she had filed.
“This is not just a victory for me, it’s for all of us,” Torres said after winning the arbitration.
Farhan, a 15-year employee, was also accused by the company of filing dishonest supervisor-working grievances.
“What became clear in Farhan’s case was that the company was singling him out for what it saw as a high volume of grievance filing at the Dallas facility,” said Courtney Shorts, a Local 767 business agent and attorney who presented Farhan’s case to the arbitrator.
Before even looking at the merits of the case against Farhan, the arbitrator took issue with the company’s procedures in investigating and terminating him.
“The investigation by the company did not even approach the usual standards of investigatory proceedings that require a thorough, fair and impartial investigation,” the arbitrator wrote in his decision.
Thanks to Local 767, Farhan had all discipline expunged from his record. And like Torres, he was reinstated with back pay, seniority and other fringe benefits earned during the time he was out of work.
“I’ve never lied on my grievances,” Farhan said. “I believe that when supervisors steal our work it hurts my colleagues as well as me.”