Despite Progress, Teamsters Say UPS Strike Is Still Possible

Members of the Teamsters union with picket signs at United Parcel Service’s Livonia terminal.Jim West/ZUMA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.On Saturday afternoon, Teamsters president Sean O’Brien delivered an update on the UPS contract negotiations that could lead to the company’s workers striking next month. O’Brien stressed at a press conference that if UPS doesn’t concede to the union’s demands “we will put 340,000 strong Teamsters on the streets until we get what we want.”
Last month, 97 percent of UPS Teamsters voted to authorize a strike if contract talks failed. UPS workers have not gone on strike in 26 years. The UPS collective bargaining agreement is the largest private-sector agreement in the country. A decision to do so would have severe effects on supply chains throughout the country.
The two sides have been bargaining since May, O’Brien said, adding that the union has made only gains and offered no concessions during that period. On Wednesday, the Teamsters demanded a last, best, and final offer from UPS. The company responded on Friday by offering “significant movement on wages” and pledging to reach a deal by July 5, according to the union. The counterproposal persuaded union leaders to keep negotiating. (Normally, the Teamsters would have put the offer before its membership for an up or down vote on accepting or striking.)
As Mother Jones has reported:
The potential to strike is a huge bargaining chip for UPS workers, whose demands include higher wages and the elimination of a two-tiered driver system that Teamsters say allows some drivers to be paid less than others who are doing essentially the same work. The starting pay for part-time warehouse workers, who account for roughly half of UPS workers represented by the Teamsters, is $15.50 an hour.
The Teamsters and UPS have already reached a tentative agreement on one of drivers’ longtime demands: air conditioning in delivery trucks. More than 140 UPS workers have reportedly been injured due to heat or dehydration since 2015, but, as Mother Jones has reported, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has failed to take action to protect workers from heat, even as temperatures rise. Still, while new UPS vans will be equipped with air conditioning starting next year, and existing vans will have second fans installed, the agreement does little to protect delivery drivers from the heat this coming summer.
O’Brien concluded on Saturday by making the need to move quickly clear. “UPS has less than 84 hours to get this deal done,” he said in reference to the July 5 deadline, “or less than 84 hours to feel the wrath of the biggest, most powerful organization, and that is the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.”