Teamsters Local Union 988 — Local services in Houston

I was an employee with UPS for nine years. My spouse died unexpectedly and I got sick within months. My illness got bad enough that I ended up in the hospital and remained sick after discharge. As soon as the company heard I was sick, they canceled my insurance and fired me. They also canceled the insurance of my children, who had just lost their mother. My spouse died on my birthday from a drug overdose. She was a SA/DV survivor. I wasn't aware of what had happened to her. The company didn't care. Within 18 months, we had lost most of what we had. My mortgage defaulted. The lender wouldn't work with us. All of my accounts closed. I remained confined to bed after hospitalization with serious illness. We had to move out of the house. The house was burglarized by people we knew. We were being falsely reported on by the same people. could not find anyone to list our storm damaged and burglarized home. . Several years passed. The property overgrew. My credit was ruined by a predatory lender. We lost almost everything. We finally began to recover three years after my initial illness when we left the house. I never got a single phone call from the Union while any of this was happening after initially calling them and explaining in the beginning I had lost my spouse who had also been a Union Member prior. I am a special victim. So was my spouse. Both of our 401ks, life savings, and all other assets were wiped out. This was a "fire sale." We couldn't stem the bleeding. Eventually, I started writing my elected representatives about the challenges we faced, but it was too late. They ratified another contract, raising wages and bringing AC to some of the drivers recently. We didn't have to lose everything. If we had support from anyone as these difficulties were unfolding, we would have had better outcomes. Six years later, I am paying debts for things we lost. The house got auctioned, repaired, and someone else is in it now. We lost all of our equity. We don't have a house anymore. It will be many, many years before I can rectify things. We will never be whole again. The Union needs better follow-up/outreach for employees who are out sick or terminated. We were devastated. I couldn't help how I felt. There is so much more to our horror story. The Union is supposed to stand between the company and the workers to protect workers from abuse by the company. Where was the advocacy? Our life today is a stark, dark contrast to what it was when I was working for UPS back then. I'm watching hardship overtake my former co-workers and America now. God will right these wrongs, or no one will. My children and I spent four years homeless after we lost the house while I was sick. I worked at Stafford HUB....

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