Marge Harvey says she lost her job at a UPS facility in St. Johnsbury after 33 years because she spoke up about the coronavirus pandemic.

Harvey said Wednesday she was fired on April 10 after pushing management on unsafe conditions at the facility, including no personal protective equipment, no soap in the bathrooms, and no social distancing. Harvey was concerned the virus could easily spread in such an unprotected environment.

"When the schools closed we knew things were getting really serious," Harvey said. "They weren't telling us anything, or giving us any information. We all started asking questions."

Harvey filed a whistleblower complaint with the federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration on April 20 and with Vermont OSHA the following day, saying she was fired after repeatedly complaining to management about the unsafe conditions.

Harvey said she had not yet heard back from Vermont OSHA regarding a decision on her complaint.

UPS Spokesman Matthew O'Connor said in an email Wednesday that the company has "several ways" for employees to share their concerns without fear of retaliation.

"We do not disclose personnel information, but we are following our protocols to address the issue," O'Connor said when asked specifically about Harvey.

O'Connor said UPS management is "continuously sharing" hygiene protocols suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization with all employees.

"The company has modified, and will continue to modify, our normal operating procedures to maintain social distance protocols," he said. "For example, we have added space between work stations inside our facilities and suspended requiring a customer to sign for 'signature required' packages when delivered."

O'Connor said UPS is regularly replenishing supplies at its facilities, including antibacterial soap, hand sanitizer and wipes.

"We maintain a 60-day supply of hand soap and paper towels for our facilities and we distributed an additional 250,000 bottles of hand sanitizer for employees," he said. "Disinfecting wipes are extremely limited in the supply chain, but we have other bleach disinfecting solutions in place."

UPS vehicles and equipment are cleaned and disinfected daily with an emphasis on the interiors and "frequent exterior touch points," according to O'Connor.

O'Connor said UPS is providing masks and disposable gloves to employees "as needed," prioritizing areas that are at greatest risk of exposure to the novel coronavirus, tied to the disease officially known as COVID-19.

Symptoms of COVID-19 can include fever, cough and breathing trouble. Most develop only mild symptoms. But some people, usually those with other medical complications, develop more severe symptoms, including pneumonia, which can be fatal.

"We are allowing all our employees to wear masks, and we have provided all our employees with the guidelines to properly use the masks," O'Connor said.

'Clearcut case of retaliation'

About a dozen UPS drivers gathered in front of the company facility in Williston Wednesday morning to show their support for Harvey. Scott Carpenter held a sign that said, in large capital letters, "Reinstate Marge Harvey Now!!!"

"For me it's a clearcut case of retaliation," Carpenter said of Harvey's firing. "She called them out on not covering the COVID-19 stuff."

Steve Dumont was handing out a flyer titled, "UPS Fired a COVID-19 Whistleblower. Marge Harvey had our back. We Have Hers!"

Dumont said workers at the Williston facility had to agitate for a couple of weeks to get the company to start paying attention to hygiene and other measures to protect against the coronavirus.

"UPS claims they're following CDC guidelines," Dumont said. "The cleaning they said was getting done wasn't getting done. Nobody was getting equipment. We weren't getting gloves or cleaning supplies."

The reason Harvey was given for her firing

In her whistleblower complaint, Harvey wrote the reason UPS gave her for being terminated on April 10 was that she took a photo of a moose and of a gas station while on her route and then allegedly lied about posting it on social media while on the job.

"This is a pretext," Harvey wrote. "The same manager that fired me had a contest earlier this year where he asked drivers to take photos to vie for who had the worst conditions on our routes. The threats made to me and the timing of my termination make it clear that this was retaliation for my safety activity."

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After Harvey contacted Vermont OSHA and UPS's head of safety for the district, UPS began providing PPE and established social distancing measures statewide, according to David Levin, an organizer with the UPS Teamsters United, a grassroots network of UPS Teamsters who work to strengthen the union's contract with UPS.

"The problem of the lack of PPE and unsanitary conditions in general is a nationwide problem," Levin said Tuesday. "I work with UPS Teamsters from across the country."

Levin is based in Brooklyn.

Levin said that after he published a story about Harvey's activities on the UPS Teamsters United website, her manager told her she was making a lot of people very unhappy.

"Five days later she was fired," Levin said. "It's a very dangerous thing to send a message to UPS drivers who are in a position to spread this disease that if they speak up about health and safety risks that they'll be retaliated against."

Harvey, 56, said she has worked for UPS since 1987.

"Don't get me wrong, I have everything I have because I've worked for this company for 33 years," Harvey said. "But you'd think I deserve a wee bit more respect."

Contact Dan D’Ambrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosio@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDambrosioVT. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers. Sign up today for a digital subscription.