UPS on hot seat for firings

UPS is taking heat in New York for firing 250 protesting workers, with some elected officials calling for the company to hire them back.

But management at the Sandy Springs, Ga.-based shipping giant said Thursday the workers’ walkout violated their labor agreement, and that the company has no plans to reinstate them.

The dispute started with the firing of an employee, Jairo Reyes, who was discharged in February for a timekeeping violation, according to UPS spokesman Steve Gaut.

During a hearing that month discussing Reyes’ grievance over his firing, Gaut said a union official left the meeting and called for a walkout. About 250 of the 1,400 workers at the New York facility — most of them drivers — followed him out the door in a 90-minute work stoppage, Gaut said.

Gaut said the walkout violated the workers’ contract. All 250 workers received termination notices.

— From wire reports