WHEREAS, UPS has announced its decision to fire its 250 delivery drivers in Queens over a labor dispute; and

WHEREAS, the company as of April 8 had already fired 36 of the drivers and said it would fire the other 214 as replacement drivers were trained; and

WHEREAS, the company is conducting the mass firing as retaliation for a limited job action conducted by the workers in February 2014; and

WHEREAS, the Queens delivery drivers, who are members of Teamsters Local 804, had participated in a 90-minute work stoppage in February to protest the unfair dismissal of a veteran UPS employee of 24 years; and

WHEREAS, the company’s decision now to fire the 250 drivers is a blatant attack on the union and the company’s dedicated employees; and

WHEREAS, UPS, which had $55.4 billion in revenue worldwide in 2013, can easily afford to treat its employees fairly and decently; and

WHEREAS, UPS does millions of dollars worth of business with New York City, and City Comptroller Scott Stringer and Public Advocate Letitia James have rightly called on the company to back down from its threats and rehire the fired employees; therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the United Federation of Teachers calls on the city to continue using all available leverage with UPS to stop the company’s vicious anti-union assault on the Queens drivers; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the UFT stands in solidarity with the UPS drivers in Queens and pledges to help them in their fight to retain their jobs and to ensure fairness and decent treatment by their employer.