UPS Employees Accuse Company Of Not Doing Enough To Protect Them

CHELMSFORD, MA — A local teamsters union is accusing UPS of "failing to keep its employees safe" through a lack of information and cleaning supplies necessary to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus at its local Chelmsford facility.

President of the Teamsters Union 25 Sean O'Brien wrote in a letter addressed to UPS Chelmsford Teamsters and posted to Facebook Monday, that at least three of the employees at the Brick Kiln Road facility had tested positive for the virus and more had been quarantined.

He said the company was "refusing to provide hand sanitizer and proper safety materials" to employees. O'Brien said he had sent a letter to the company Friday, but they had yet to respond as of Monday. UPS officials deny that.

"It’s simply not accurate, as we have undertaken extensive actions," said UPS Spokesperson Matthew O’Connor in an email to Patch. "We are actively communicating with employees about recommendations for protecting their health including personal hygiene, social distancing and other protocols. We are regularly urging employees to maintain social distances and not touch their face, and to wash their hands often and take other protective measures."

As of Monday, 56 people had died across the state because of the virus, including one person in Waltham, according to officials. There were 5,752 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state according to DPH. The last time Waltham updated the number of diagnosed cases of people who tested positive for coronavirus, on March 25, there were 24 people in the city, but the mayor and health officials said that number was expected to rise as more testing became available.

O'Brien said in addition to lack of proper disinfectant materials, the company has not helped educate employees about their safety and who might have been exposed.

"UPS has failed to clean and sanitize the trucks, equipment, and work areas on a daily basis," he wrote. "UPS is also refusing to provide critical information to its employees regarding positive and presumptive positive COVID-19 cases in the facility."

Several people who say they work at UPS have also told Patch that they don't have hazard pay, and they don't have access to hand sanitizer.

O'Brien said the union believed that the company’s was putting teamster members in harms way.

"As of the writing of this letter, we are aware that there are three (3) employees that have tested positive in the UPS Chelmsford facility: One is a driver in the Wilmington Center, and two (2) are full time 22.3 employees that work on the twilight and midnight shifts. These employees worked in the following areas last week: PSC/bulk area, unload, air driving."

O'Brien said at least another two dozen UPS Chelmsford employees have been quarantined by a doctor, some of which have family members at home who have tested positive.

He advised any members who test positive or are quarantined by a doctor, to notify the union in an effort to help keep the other 1,500 employees in the facility safe.

UPS has almost 500,000 employees in 2,800 facilities around the world and O'Connor said the company is providing personal protective equipment to employees "in line with Centers for Disease Control recommendations."

"We have intensified our aircraft, vehicle and equipment cleaning processes. We are modifying our service procedures," he said. "For example, we have eliminated the need for customers to sign for packages in order to maintain social distancing."

O'Connor stressed that the organization was focused on safely maintaining services, since it is deemed a critical business.

On Monday UPS corporate based in Georgia, announced an increase in efforts in coordination with the president’s Coronavirus Taskforce, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and State health agencies to help ship protective gear to hospitals and get testing kits transported.

Do you work at the Chelmsford facility? Email us at Chelmsford@Patch.com

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