Labor or Unions

What Does Labor Want? A UPS Contract

Posted on

July 22, 2023

During the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a significant surge in online shopping and home deliveries, resulting in increased pressure on shipping networks such as UPS, Fed Ex, and the US Post Office. As essential workers, the 340,000 UPS delivery personnel are now advocating for improved wages and working conditions in alignment with their essential role in meeting the evolving consumer demand. This demand from labor unions highlights the necessity for fair treatment and recognition of the invaluable contributions made by these individuals.

In addition to air conditioning in trucks, UPS workers, represented by the Teamsters, want livable wages, the elimination of excessive overtime, and increasing the number of full-time positions. The current contract expires on July 31, 2023. UPS Teamster members have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike starting on August 1, 2023. A strike would cause billions of dollars of economic damage to the economy. Fed Ex executives have written, “In the event of a market disruption, no carrier can absorb all UPS volume.”

“The largest single-employer strike in American history now appears inevitable. Executives at UPS, some of whom get tens of millions of dollars a year, do not care about the hundreds of thousands of American workers who make this company run. They don’t care about our members’ families. UPS doesn’t want to pay up. Their actions and insults at the bargaining table have proven they are just another corporation that wants to keep all the money at the top. Working people who bust their asses every single day do not matter, not to UPS.”
Teamsters President Sean M. O’Brien

O’Brien has asked President Biden not to intervene if UPS Teamster workers go on strike on August 1st. Meanwhile, Biden’s nominee for Secretary of Labor Julie Su is still hung up in the Senate.