Some 340,000 full- and part-time UPS (United Parcel Service) workers are on the verge of a strike, as contract negotiations between the company and the UPS Teamsters National Negotiating Committee came to a screeching halt at 4 a.m. on July 5.
Teamsters union and UPS representatives each blame the other side for the break in negotiations. They were meeting to bargain on a new contract as the current work agreement is set to expire on July 31.
“This multibillion-dollar corporation has plenty to give American workers––they just don’t want to,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a press statement. “UPS had a choice to make, and they have clearly chosen to go down the wrong road.”
Back on March 23, Teamsters Local 804––which represents New York City’s UPS workers––wrote on its Facebook page that “UPS is raking in record high profits. But the company is telling Teamster negotiating committees that it wants even ‘more flexibility.’
Teamsters got UPS through the pandemic, and Teamsters are the reason this company is so successful. UPS pays part-timers little more than minimum wage in many parts of the country, while full-time drivers are divided into two tiers. Enough is enough!”
No additional negotiations were scheduled by press time.
Last month, 97% of Teamsters members had voted in favor of a strike authorization. It was seen as an opportunity to reset the current work contract, which was ratified in 2018 without full worker support. In 2018, union leadership ratified a 5-year deal that only 44% of Teamsters members voted for.
At the time, the Teamsters wrote that although it had encouraged its members to cast ballots regarding the contract, “…only 44.3% of the eligible UPS membership participated in the ratification referendum on the National Master Agreement. Of the 209,043 members who were eligible to vote, only 92,604 (44.3%) cast a vote. The results of the tabulation show that 42,356 (45.8%) voted for the proposed contract and 50,248 (54.2%) voted against it.
“In such circumstances where less than 50% of the membership votes on a final contract offer, the International Constitution provides that ‘a two-thirds (2/3) vote of those voting shall be required to reject such [a] final offer…’ Failure to reject the offer by at least two-thirds vote of those voting ‘shall require the negotiating committee to accept such [a] final offer or such additional provisions as can be negotiated by it.’ As the vote tally indicates, a majority of members did not vote and a two-thirds majority of those who did vote did not oppose the contract.”
The agreement was technically rejected by most of the Teamsters members who voted on it, but because voter turnout was low, the contract had to be accepted.
The 2018 contract created two tiers of workers: new full-time drivers who were hired at the lower-pay scale of $20.50 an hour and who could also be asked to make weekend deliveries, and full-time drivers who already worked with UPS were set to earn more than $36 an hour, plus double time on Sundays.
Another major issue the Teamsters wanted dealt with was the notorious lack of air conditioning in UPS delivery trucks. UPS had resisted installing air conditioning in its trucks––even though drivers were often suffering from heatstroke––because of the costs associated with refitting their vehicles. Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien announced on June 13 that air conditioning was one issue the company and union had come to an agreement on. “New contract language would mandate UPS equip in-cab air conditioning systems in all larger delivery vehicles, smaller sprinter vans, and all of UPS’ most recognizable brown package cars purchased after Jan. 1, 2024,” the union announced.
“Two fans would also be installed in the cab of all package cars following ratification of a new contract. All newer non-electric UPS package cars and vans would be installed with exhaust heat shields, further protecting Teamsters from dangerous heat. Additionally, newly existing and purchased package cars going forward would be retrofitted or equipped with air induction vents in the cargo compartments to alleviate extreme temperatures in the back of the vehicles, which has been blamed for the death of a driver and hospitalizations of others.”
Now the final deal on a new contract is all that’s on the line. If Atlanta-based UPS is hit with a work stoppage, it would be a major blow to the U.S. economy: by its own estimate, the company says its workers deliver 6% of the nation’s gross domestic product.