April 30, 1997

Mr. James P. Kelly
Chairman of the Board & CEO
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE
55 Glenlake Parkway, NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30328

Dear Sir:

I am a stockholder of United Parcel Service. I am also a twelve-year employee of UPS. I am writing this letter in order to bring a chronic situation to your attention. I am a shop steward that is currently representing a coworker, Tony Holloway, who has filed a complaint with the Oakland Office of the NAACP, the EEOC and The Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Tony and I have attempted to address our concerns through the use of all the tools we are aware of, including information requests under the National Labor Relations Act. We have the full support of Teamster Local 78. We have received no cooperation from District Management. In fact, the discrimination continues today. Is District Management acting independently? Is this the policy that you have set? Is District Management acting under your auspices? The situation at the Oakland Hub is not an anomaly. It is an example of business as usual.

I am currently off work due to stress that is the result of discriminatory actions taken against me by District Management. I am a good employee. I have been singled out for discrimination because of my union activities.

The problems that I have outlined in this documentation are not mine alone. It is our problem. You and the Board of Directors represent the stockholders. You are responsible for the management practices of United Parcel Service. I represent my Teamster Brothers and Sisters in the capacity of Shop Steward.

I am in the process of accumulating additional information from concerned coworkers and those ethical persons in management. A considerable amount of documentation has already been generated pertaining to our concerns. Further information will soon be available, as it is gathered by the Shop Stewards of UPS, on the World Wide Web Newspaper, "The Steward", which is published by the Plebeian Tribune Press. The Internet address will be; "http://www.thesteward.hypenet.com".

The discrimination against me, as a shop steward, started immediately after a six-month protection period under CAL-OSHA had expired. I had written a letter, dated October 6, 1989, to The National Safety Manager, Frank Wondrasch, at the Corporate Office in Greenwich Connecticut. Copies were sent to Jack Rogers and Bob Alcorn. I spoke up out of concern for the safety of my coworkers after the entire work crew was exposed to a hazardous chemical and required medical attention. District Management apologized for their actions. On February 14, 1990, I wrote a letter to the District Manager, Bob Alcorn, pointing out blatant racial discrimination. I was singled out, harassed, and issued a termination letter on April 16, 1990, for violating a secret, discriminatory company policy I had no means of being aware of. I was told that I could keep my job if I stopped writing letters to upper management. I agreed. The minority employee, whom I helped with the letter, was soon terminated for violating a secret, unwritten company policy. If crucial questions had been properly addressed, at that time, today’s problems might not exist.

Functional Shop Stewards point out and are instrumental in resolving problems. We don’t create them. Consider this a test of the UPS open door policy regarding concerns about harassment and discrimination. This policy was recently touted in the letter of April 15, 1997, from North California District Manager, Harry Lustgarten, to the North California District Management Team.

The buck stops with you! What are you going to do about it?

Sincerely,
 

Charles R. Engel
Steward, Teamster Local 78

cc: http://www.thesteward.hypenet.com

See attached document binder.

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