In effort to reduce the detrimental effects of my experience after months of no resolution, the following email was sent.
"I do not feel safe returning to work until my safety concerns have are resolved. A company that has decided to do nothing for an employee that suffered sexual harassment and discrimination is not a safe space. I have also been denied my most basic right. Even, now I will be represented without my statements and by someone who has left me in the dark as well. A company that has decided to back up those retaliating against me, by refusing my statements where I was guaranteed otherwise... is not a safe place. I am asking the company to prioritize this issue until it is resolved where my safety and experiences are concerned. I hope we can agree that my experiences matter and my sense of safety as an employee is not up for debate."
In response, UPS fired me, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters representatives dismissed my case.
"When you dress up and go to work, what do you expect other male employees to think about what you wear?"
"As a woman you have a responsibility to dress like you represent your spouse and family in public."
"When you leave your work at night, in the parking lot by yourself, picture yourself in danger because of what you are wearing."
For many women these statements sets the women's suffrage movement back a hundred years. For United Parcel Services popularly known as UPS the statements are standard towards addressing gender discrimination, sexual harassment, amongst other biases in the work place. You read that right.
These past years has been hard for everyone. So when I picked up an extra night shift with UPS to make ends meet. I did not expect a system so tolerant of gendered discrimination.
Within my first 30 days, I was in line for promotion. At this time a part time supervisor began harassing my every move, even after I was moved elsewhere. The union helped put a halt to it. Then his supervisor retaliated by targeting me for dress code violations where I was not dressed differently than white male counterparts. I submitted a report with evidence where I wore a white male employee shirt to work and was asked to leave work or change. (This employee has since worn the same shirt and was recently awarded employee of the month, he has never been dress coded.)
These were all I reported hoping to end any further retaliation. Instead I was met with sexual harassing, demoralizing questions and statements. None of which were related to my case. UPS Head Of Security, union Stewart and management representative all condoned and doubled down on the harassments against my protest. Threatening an employee with sexual abuse/assault is an illegal form of gender discrimination. By the head of security, management, and a union steward at that. Being retaliated against is a clear misconduct on the managements end. Addressing policies while centering men is proof of UPS shortcoming as far as making a male dominated work place safe and conducive for everyone else.
I was forewarned by other femme employees, supervisors and management that gender discrimination was an issue UPS did not care about. That many women don't follow up on reports because the process has been made unnecessarily strenuous. For up to 4 months, nothing was done or said to me since the original harassments. I made more reports and filed a grievance since November. It was not until I reached out to Malcolm K. Berkley who assigned an investigator to help UPS cover their tracks, under the guises that there was intent to make amends.
We recently had a meeting about my grievance where I sought the following reliefs.
1. Atonement to the employee. (Financial Compensation)
2. A commitment to correct oppressive biases in UPS policy, not limited to training on basic professional ethics where marginalized groups.
3. Accountability.
UPS blatantly attempted to silence my experiences. Not only were there standard attempts to prevent me from attending other meetings, UPS also refused to have statements detailing my experiences and months of report at the meeting. Where they already provided statements from other parties. UPS continued harassment and retaliation by making it unnecessarily hard to access equal representation and treatment.
One UPS security manager Richard quoted,
"I made additional inquiries and found out that investigations are proprietary and confidential and we do not furnish copies unless there is a subpoena for the information that must be sent to our legal department. Hope this helps."
I was asked to get a subpoena, for my statements where all other statements against me where provided. By this time my union representative insisted there was nothing she could do where I told otherwise.
Unfortunately Union's like International Brotherhood of Teamsters established for workers can easily be manipulated at the expense of workers who need them. Speaking on collaborative efforts by the vice president of the union (my rep) and several UPS management to refuse adequate representation, withhold evidence and encourage blatant disregard for marginalized experiences.
I am waiting on EEOC to file an official charge as the case continues. The reality is majority of resources established to help maneuver these systemic isms are just as problematic if not worse. This process has been an eye opening experience. For one I experienced firsthand how multi billion industries like UPS exploit and target marginalized group while invalidating their realities. Speaking to the harassments, discrimination, retaliation as well as the unnecessarily strenuous system in place to prevent speaking up or any sense of justice.
What Is Working At UPS like?
Over the past weeks UPS glass ceiling folks continue to highlight the company's achievements. I do not understand how any company continues to put itself on a pedestal at the expense of its working class. And during a pandemic.
1. You don't hear about warehouse workers, lifting and arranging each packages one by one into trailers, no matter how heavy and in difficult weather conditions.
2. You don't hear that workers risk getting hurt physically everyday they show up but will not access insurance until nine months into the job.
3. You don't hear that workers get paid $15 an hour for intense physical and mental labor. $17 dollars during peak season but it drops back $15 by the new year.
4. You don't hear that workers are pressured to work even faster and harder when understaffed and those who cannot, risk limited hours.
(There are consistent periods were new hires flee leaving heavier workload to employees who do show up. The consequences are, frustrated supervisors desperate to made do resulting in other employees being overworked, pressured, and forced to take on more work without extra pay. It's easy to think you can just choose to not do more work. Until you notice Mariana who works four part time jobs in an overflowing trailer at the brink of a breakdown. Or the mom with the new born. or the older guy with a hurting shoulder... all working twice as hard and without pay.)
5. You don't hear being understaffed remains an ongoing issue all these years and the company has done nothing to help that because the working class is always replaceable. Besides, the pressure of being understaffed is on the workers that does show up. Even during peak season and there is no reward or bonus pay.
6. You do not hear that many workers do not know their rights or about the union. I recommended a pocket size handbook detailing workers rights in English and Spanish. Which is bare minimum.
7. You do not hear about the inadequate training or lack of that many supervisors and upper management receive. How else do you explain different management representatives including a transfer doubling down on using sexual harassments as a standard effort towards resolution on a discrimination case.
8. You do not hear that UPS is a company that prioritizes operations and money over its workers.
9. Maybe like UPS corporate, you do hear and choose to do nothing about it.
10. Inconsistent start times. Meaning an employee could be written up for clocking in at 11:01 where the start time is 11. Whereas UPS can abruptly change start time to 11:20 or 10:45 without any regard to the employee. (Most employees already arrive earlier as it can up to 10-15 minutes to arrive at your work station.)
11. Gender discrimination not limited to rape culture and sexual harassments.
12. Political biases (Referring to the trump/pence stickers attached across several properties, as well as the racial and sexist biases evident at UPS )
13. Retaliation (The case above is a prime example. The system in place is structured to make correcting it strenuous and almost impossible.)
14. Faulty And Broken Machinery/Equipment's and so on.
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