A death at UPS

UPS abused my brother

THE STORY that David Roy wrote about my brother is true. He was a marked man for a long time by management at UPS. He spoke with the union many, many times about always being written up and was always worried about retaliation of upper management.

My brother left his supervisor position to be a driver because of the pressure the company put on management in meetings to make decisions to lie about situations when they would have to pay out to customers, and in addition, because of the way they wanted him to treat employees to get a better performance.

Firing him for dishonesty for rolling his tire off of a driveway in terrible weather after he reported it when he called into dispatch is a prime example of the brute force and discrimination they used on him, even after 15 years of a perfect driving award in Western Massachusetts weather. There is so much more they have done to him that is, without a doubt, disgusting, immoral and unethical.

We raise our children to not tolerate bullying, and we have marches and protests and fundraising opportunities for families of those bullied. We claim that we will not tolerate it in any way, shape or form for our children. What happens when it is a bunch of adults picking on those they feel are less important than them? How do we handle it when those bullies sign your paycheck? Who becomes the voice for those who are not able to defend themselves?

The union is weak, and the employees can't rely on it for help, except maybe in some extreme situations, like in his firing. They were able to get his job back.

How does UPS's medical company fail someone's DOT license but allow them to do the most physically strenuous job without restrictions, knowing the person needs a heart valve surgery? And he died on lunch two-and-a-half days into this new job. He fell on his knee at work and grabbed his chest while unloading a truck before lunch.

After a boss and the mechanic called his cell and found out he was heading to the hospital when he didn't arrive back on time, they asked people to make notes that he was fine before he left and he didn't complain? Why would a company do that unless they have something to hide? Who does that?

UPS is trying to distance themselves from his death by not even paying him for his last day of work--even after they were questioned about why he wasn't paid. His final paid time-off pay has been sitting in one of the desks of one of the people that used to harass him for almost three months, instead of being sent to his address for the estate to handle. I also have never received a callback from human resources on my requests from the first week of May about his benefits.

What kind of respect does this company have for their employees when, after 27 years with a company, your direct managers and upper management don't even come to the wake or anything?

This behavior should not be tolerated! The government and more people should be stepping in to control companies that don't get rid of management that break rules, break laws and abuse their powers.
Kathy Wilson, Valley Glen, California

How much can one person take?

I WAS saddened to hear about Dave from a friend of mine who was also a long time UPS driver like Dave and myself. My sincere condolences go out to his family. I knew Dave when I worked there, and he was a good guy. I considered him a friend.

I would like to commend Dave Roy for writing his account about how his friend was treated at UPS. I worked at this hellhole for 19 years until I suffered an injury and resigned. However, I did not leave only because of my physical problems. I could have bid on jobs that were offered at the time that were less physically demanding, but paid a bit less. I needed to get out because I was mentally drained as well.

I can say that the abusive treatment what Mr. Roy spoke about happens quite often, and to different degrees to many drivers, including myself. I couldn't take the mental abuse that the supervisors at this company dished out anymore! When I heard about Dave's death, my first thought was that he would be alive today if it wasn't for the constant stress and bullying provided by the supervisors at UPS.

I know what many people think, "UPS pays really well so they should be tough and push their drivers." But many supervisors go too far. How much can one person take? What do you do when you become dependent on the pay and feel like you can't leave?

I know there are some decent supervisors at this company, so I don't want to make a blanket statement that they are all horrible. However, many that I knew, who probably aren't there anymore or have been promoted, were relentless. The ones I knew while I worked out of the West Springfield building would not tell you your grandmother died so you would finish your route (that really happened to me), so they would not have to find someone to do your work. I could give you several more examples, but I am getting stressed.

To the supervisors that treat their employees poorly: You should be ashamed! I know you don't care about anyone but yourself, but the person you're screaming at is a person that has a family just like you. He or she has a life, and you may be shortening that life. Case in point: Rest in peace, Dave.
John Drumm, Agawam, Massachusetts

Thank you for speaking for Dave

I JUST wanted to thank the person that wrote the article about Dave Allyn. Dave was a very good friend of mine, and I can't thank you enough for speaking for him. I believe that UPS killed my friend, and I'm glad that everybody knows! Again, Thank you so much.
Candy Young, from the Internet