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A UPS driver in Vermont has filed whistleblower complaints after she was fired after raising Covid-19 safety concerns at the facility where she worked.
Marge Harvey, who has worked with UPS since 1987, said she was fired on April 10 from her job at the UPS facility in St. Johnsbury. She has since filed complaints at both the federal and state level with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration. She said she is seeking to get her job back.
Workers at UPS distribution centers in Vermont held protests outside some of the company’s six facilities Wednesday morning, including ones in Williston and Berlin that each drew about a dozen workers.
Outside the Williston facility, one UPS worker, Scott Carpenter, held a sign reading in big letters, “Reinstate Marge Harvey Now!!!. In the lower right corner of the sign was smaller lettering reading, “What Can Brown Do? Reinstate Marge!”
Harvey, who lives in St. Johnsbury, said in an interview Wednesday that she started raising concerns about Covid-19 safety issues in early March, upset about the lack of personal protective equipment, no soap in the bathrooms, and no guidelines for social distancing.
She said her boss said he was firing her because of “dishonesty” over photos and videos she took while out on the job and posted to Facebook.
“I posted a couple of pictures of gas prices because I was irritated that I was paying $1.57 in Canaan it was $2.19 in Lyndonville,” Harvey said. “‘Then I took a couple of videos of weather conditions as well as a moose.”
She said on April 10 she was called into a meeting with Phil Parsons, the facility’s manager in St. Johnsbury, and was asked if she posted the pictures and videos on Facebook while on the job.
“I said no and yes because the pictures were posted when I was in Canaan but the videos were posted once I got home,” she said. “They considered that an act of dishonesty because I said no to one and yes to the other.”
She called that reason for firing her an excuse to terminate her for activism. “In actuality it’s because I’ve been pushing this Covid-19 since the beginning because UPS was very slow to respond,” Harvey said.
“I want them to just put me back to work,” she added.
Phil Parsons, manager at the St. Johnsbury UPS facility, could not immediately be reached Wednesday for comment.
Matthew O’Connor, a UPS spokesperson, in an email Wednesday in response to a request for comment did not specifically address the firing.
“UPS has several ways for employees to share their questions and concerns with the company with confidence and without fear of retaliation,” O’Connor wrote. “We do not disclose personnel information, but we are following our protocols to address the issue.”
Harvey’s OSHA complaint also addressed the taking of photos while on the clock.
“The same manager that fired me had a contest earlier this year where he asked drivers to take photos to vie for who had the worst conditions on our routes,” the complaint stated. “The threats made to me and the timing of my termination make it clear that this was retaliation for my safety activity.”
The complaint also stated that her boss was upset that she went over his head to report the safety problems. In addition, an article highlighting Harvey’s activism was posted to the Teamsters for Democratic Union website a week before she got fired.
“Fed up with dangerous working conditions, rank-and-file Teamsters in Vermont Local 597 took action and won results,” the article stated.
Harvey said after that article came out, “My manager angrily told me that I almost got him fired.”
In addition to the whistleblower complaints, the Teamsters, the union that represents UPS workers, has filed a grievance on her behalf seeking her job back. Harvey was a union shop steward at the St. Johnsbury facility.
About a dozen UPS workers took part in the protest outside the Williston facility Wednesday morning on Harvest Lane. Several talked of the slow response by the company to providing the proper supplies in response to Covid-19.
They spoke of the lack of soap in the bathroom and cleaning supplies prior to complaints raised by workers.
“At the start of all this it took some time,” said Steve Dumon, one of the UPS workers. “We finally have some equipment. We finally got the cleaning supplies.”
The workers highlighted the importance of making sure trucks were properly cleaned for drivers, especially when a new driver takes a vehicle.
David Levin, an organizer with Teamsters for a Democratic Union and the coordinator of a campaign called UPS Teamsters United, said Wednesday that UPS has been slow to provide the proper safety equipment and guidelines at facilities across the country.
“It’s a huge issue nationally,” said Levin, who is based in Brooklyn, New York. “UPS, they were behind to begin with and they were very, very slow to catch up in terms of increasing sanitary conditions and PPE.”
He said Harvey’s firing made the situation unique compared to other sites where workers had made complaints about conditions.
“I don’t know of anywhere else in the country where the response of the company has been to retaliate against somebody who spoke up about them,” Levin said.
Dan Whipple, VOSHA program manager, said Wednesday he is aware of Harvey’s complaint but couldn’t comment on it because it is currently under investigation.
Whipple also said he couldn’t comment if any recent inspections of UPS facilities in Vermont had taken place by VOSHA and what the results were.
Asked how the public would know if problems have been found at a facility in Vermont, Whipple replied, “There’s always the option of filing a FOIA and we would answer the FOIA appropriately.”
VTDigger earlier this week did file a public records request seeking information regarding all complaints VOSHA has received during the coronavirus pandemic. The news organization is awaiting a response.
The organization Rights & Democracy Vermont issued a statement this week in support of Harvey, calling on UPS to reinstate her.
“Essential workers like UPSers are our frontline defense against COVID-19,” James Haslam, the group’s executive director, said in the statement. “UPS workers need PPE, sanitary conditions and other health and safety protections. If they’re at risk, that risk spreads.”
Several of the workers who turned out Wednesday at the protest in Williston said they knew Harvey, and remarked how outspoken she was in protecting the rights of her fellow UPS employees.
“Someone has to be an advocate for people,” Harvey said Wednesday. “This COVID-19 thing, I thought, was serious enough for this company to step up to the plate and pay attention.”
Correction: David Levin’s name was incorrect in a previous version.
