New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a suit against the United Parcel Service, alleging the company is committing “repeated and persistent” systematic wage theft of thousands of seasonal workers Monday morning.
“Workers told us the same story again and again: they were working long hours in the busiest months of the year, yet their paychecks did not reflect the time they spent on the job,” James said. “UPS delayed clock-ins, auto-deducted lunch breaks that workers never took, edited time sheets after the fact and avoided paying overtime that was clearly owed. Some workers were told to clock out, but then were forced to keep working for several more hours.”
The suit, filed in the New York Supreme Court, alleges UPS has been violating the New York Labor Law and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 at dozens of UPS facilities across the state. It comes after an investigation by James’ office, which began after a referral from the union representing UPS workers in the New York City area, Teamsters Local 804, which found that many workers were asked to work for hours before clocking in and weren’t paid minimum wages or overtime wages properly for at least six years, the attorney general said.
“This blatant wage theft allowed UPS to save millions of dollars while seasonal workers struggled to support their families,” James said. “The members of Teamsters Local 804 do essential, physically demanding work during the most intense period of the year. They earned every dollar of their wages and UPS had no right to take those dollars away.”
The attorney general said it was unclear how much money the suit would be seeking at this point, but it was likely it would be over $45 million.
James and union representatives said they believed UPS, the world’s largest package delivery company, was engaging in similar practices nationwide. She said she expected other states to file similar suits in the coming weeks and months.
When asked, UPS said it denied the suit’s allegations, calling them unfounded.
“UPS denies the unfounded allegation of intentionally underpaying UPS employees,” UPS said in an emailed statement. “We offer industry-leading pay and benefits to our more than 26,000 employees in New York, and we remain committed to following all applicable laws.”
Joshua Pomeranz, the local’s director of operations, said UPS purposely scheduled seasonal employees so that they wouldn’t meet union officials. He said the union only became aware of the issues when unionized drivers raised the alarm over their seasonal helpers not being paid properly.
“They reported it to us and said, ‘That’s not right. It’s not okay that these folks are doing unpaid labor, even if they might not be considered full members of the union yet, or may never become one,’” Pomeranz said.
Many of the seasonal workers who were impacted by the alleged wage theft no longer work at UPS, but Pomeranz said the union is still committed to getting them the wages they were owed.
“Even if we may never see these people again, we were going to fight for the right thing to happen for them and for UPS to be held accountable,” Pomeranz said.
It’s proved to be a difficult task over the years, he said. UPS was refusing to provide the union with phone numbers of seasonal employees even after the union took the company to court through the National Labor Relations Act, and that there was “a period of time” where UPS was “forcing individuals to sign individual arbitration agreements,” which the union has since gotten thrown out, Pomeranz told press on Monday.
“All of this is going on so this type of systematic abuse, this type of systematic exploitation, could occur,” Pomeranz said. “Finally, the right thing is being done.”
James emphasized the importance of the suit in ensuring UPS complies with the state’s labor laws for seasonal workers in the future and in obtaining justice for those harmed by their alleged practices over the years.
“These are the workers who carry us through the holidays, who helped keep our economy moving, and who have been denied millions of dollars in wages that they rightfully earned,” James said. “We are seeking restitution for all affected workers…and an injunction to ensure that this never happens again.”
