For the last week or so our packages at the Wilderness have been delivered all over the place by UPS, surfacing days later in some obscure part of the resort. Our usual driver, Mark Honer, has been nowhere to be found. Now, the last time I saw Mark was going on vacation with his family about a month ago. Friday I finally asked the current driver where Mark was.
He slowly turned to me and stoically answered, " Mark was fired." This was the last thing I expected to hear. He continued on, telling me how a cyclist ran into the side of his truck the Friday he returned from vacation, the day before 4th of July weekend. No one was hurt and no damage was done to UPS property, yet when he got back that day the powers at be told him to clean out his locker. As I was, Mark is a card-toting teamster, so the union is trying to get his job back. The driver proceeded to tell me that UPS wanted to make an example of him, that if any UPS driver gets in accident with a cyclist/pedestrian it is automatically their fault and they will be terminated. So they have to go before a state panel to get his job back. Mark has been working for UPS for 22 years.
I've known Mark for the past 9 months or so. I first met him when I was still a preloader. I loaded his truck for almost a full month before I got moved again. During that time I also started at the Wilderness, so I would see those same packages and Mark later in the day as well. We got to know each other in this time and he had always treated me with respect and had a kind and open ear, even when I was a lowly preloader. When I heard this news I was thrown for your proverbial loop. It felt as though he had died, it was just that shocking. How does UPS decided to fire the one of the nicest drivers in the company when there are so many jackholes? To make an example of this man seems completely uncalled for. One accident, which I'm sure wasn't his fault, means a termination of a lifelong career.
I sincerely hope Mark gets his job back or goes to work at FedEx or something for an equal wage. I do think that if he keeps going through the right hoops that UPS has laid before him, the union will be able to get him his job. Thus, my contempt for UPS grows a little bit more.
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