The conflict between UPS Corporate and UPS workers who are members of the Teamsters Union has been in the spotlight for the last few weeks as tensions continued to rise with no relief in sight, ultimately prompting the Teamsters to greenlight the use of a strike in the event that corporate did not come to an agreeable new contract (their current five-year contract expires on July 31).
The clock has been ticking, and today the alarm is buzzing, as July 5 was the deadline set by the union.
Over the weekend, Teamsters president Sean O’Brien held a press conference just before today’s deadline to give an update on the situation as well as reemphasize what exactly is at stake in this showdown. “Our administration has made it clear. We will not be working beyond the expiration date without the contract our members have demanded, and more importantly without the contract our members deserve,” said O’Brien.
What UPS workers and the Teamsters Union are looking for in a new contract includes a much-needed increase in full-time workers to meet unprecedented demands in the shipping and delivery industry, increased wages appropriate to both the work being done and the profit being raked in by workers, and greatly-improved working conditions, such as addressing the dangerous heat waves sweeping across the United States, which are only becoming more frequent over time.
While Corporate has voiced agreement with improving working conditions by installing air conditioning units in its trucks, disagreement persists regarding the wage increases and hiring of new workers.
In Saturday’s press conference, O’Brien stated early on that the primary purpose of the conference was to show the public, in particular, how hard UPS employees work to make sure public needs are met in a timely fashion and as efficiently as possible; that the demands they have are not unreasonable compared to the quality of work.
“We want to let the general public know that we are in a crossroads with UPS,” he said in his opening statement. “We’re at a crossroads because through the toughest times that we’ve seen during the pandemic, the one thing that was constant was our Teamsters going to work every single day, making certain that supply chains kept flowing throughout this country. We had part-timers going to work in these warehouses with total disregard for themselves and their families, putting themselves at risk, putting their families at risk. We had members that died because they went to work to provide these services to the general public. And we want to make certain that UPS rewards not only the part-timers but also the full-timers, everybody that works as a Teamster at United Parcel Service.”
O’Brien went on to share financial information that is readily available to the general public showing how UPS profits soared during the course of the pandemic; a major increase in the inflow of money, most of which went straight to the top of the company, completely bypassing the workers who made it possible.
“I want to remind the politicians, and I want to remind the media: this is the largest collective bargaining agreement in any private sector union,” O’Brien continued. “We have the opportunity, because of the courage and conviction of our rank-and-file members that go to work every single day, to set the tone and set the standard high for Labor, not just at Teamsters, but the entire Labor Movement.”
After UPS made little-to-no movements in the way of committing to the negotiation process, the Teamsters issued a demand to them for a “last best final offer,” which finally prompted Corporate to agree to return to the negotiating table. But time was already running out when this press conference took place, with July 5 just a few days away as a necessary deadline in order to ensure that a new contract would be ratified by the end of the month when the current contract expires.
Shortly after the press conference, the Teamsters announced via a Tweet thread that some progress had finally been made at the bargaining table, with agreements including the dismantling of UPS’s 22.4 two-tier wage system, securing Martin Luther King Day as a paid holiday, and ending forced overtime particularly on drivers’ days off. After breaking the news, the Teamsters Twitter account stated the following:
“The extraordinary gains, each of which have been key issues for #Teamsters throughout the yearlong contract campaign, came on the heels of an aggressive public warning from the Teamsters National Negotiating Committee that @UPS was running out of time to get a deal.”
Celebrations, however, were unfortunately short-lived, as negotiations quickly fell apart over pay raises, enhanced benefits, and better working conditions, when UPS representatives walked away from the bargaining table early this morning after submitting an insulting and unreasonable offer that was unanimously rejected by the National Negotiating Committee.
Commenting on the situation, O’Brien had the following to say just after things fell apart: “UPS had a choice to make, and they have clearly chosen to go down the wrong road.”
According to statements and Tweets made by the Teamsters, while there is still a path for UPS to take in order to make this work, that path has become increasingly narrow, and time is just about to run out. They have also made early statements to the media that a major strike is not only still on the table, but now more likely than before.
Watch our full live reaction to Saturday’s press conference as it happened: