UPS: Race inequality rife despite Black MD

Black workers at major UPS depots across the England complain that their superiors refer them with racially insulting names such as ‘boy’ ‘aggressive' and 'wild’. In one of many disturbing incidents, a senior manager informed a Black HR worker, after seeing an employee with dread locks that:

We don’t want Rastafarians working here."

Equally disturbing is the fact that in areas of London, whilst the majority of its lowest paid workers are Black or minority ethic, when you get to management level workers informed OBV that it’s virtually all white.

UPS is not just any old company. It’s one of the biggest courier companies in the world, which prides itself on excellent service and a strong equality brand. Earlier this year, the African American George Willis was appointed UPS Managing Director for the UK, one of only a select few to hold senior positions in the British economy.

And yet for BME workers here in the UK, the lack of progress and bullying has become common place which often makes their lives miserable.

The Unite Union has called for action against the UPS citing that a worker's contract ‘can be torn up at any moment, and that bullying is used as a tool to coerce workers to work longer than their contractual basis, fearing if they don’t they’ll lose their job.

UPS UK is no stranger to accusations of bullying and racism. Back in 2011 Clive Henry accused the company of forcing him to resign following excessive work demands after working for the company for 11 years, with 100% attendance for seven years.

He took UPS to a tribunal, represented himself and lost. This time it isn’t one person making the claims it is numerous and on behalf of the Unite Union.

As a global company Black people here in the UK, the USA and beyond will want UPS to answer a number of questions:

• In the four top levels of management, what percentage in each one are BME workers?
• What is the race equality strategy within UPS? And are they reaching their targets?
• When someone complains about racism, what is the procedure?
• And what happens if a worker refuses to go way beyond their contractual hours? Is there repercussion for that worker?

These basic questions should be relatively easy for a company such as UPS to answer, we’ll post them to the UK’s Managing Director George Willis, and continue to support those BME workers who feel they are badly treated.

Simon Woolley, OBV Director