What are the reasons for the impending UPS and Teamsters strike?
Drivers and warehouse workers at UPS have voted to strike starting 1 August if Teamster negotiators and the company management can’t reach an agreement.
In June, “an overwhelming 97 percent” of UPS Teamsters voted to strike if the United Parcel Service doesn’t “come to terms on a strong new contract by July 31.” The labor stoppage by over 340,000 drivers and warehouse workers at the world’s largest delivery company could be economically damaging.
UPS carries around 20 million packages a day, roughly a quarter of parcel shipment in the United States. A 10-day strike could cost the economy upwards of $7 billion, the costliest in at least a century, according to Anderson Economic Group.
What are the reasons for the impending UPS and Teamsters strike?
Talks between union negotiators and UPS management will resume again next week after talks broke down on 5 July with both sides blaming the other. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is asking for “a new five-year agreement that guarantees higher wages for all workers, more full-time jobs, an end to forced overtime and harassment from management, elimination of a two-tier wage system, and protection from heat and other workplace hazards,” according to a press release announcing members’ decision to strike.
Prior to the breakdown in negotiations early this month, the two sides had reached tentative agreements on some of the issues like installing air conditioning in more trucks and doing away with a two-tier pay system for drivers where those that work weekends are paid less.
One of the main points of contention is pay for part-time workers. According to UPS those employees earn a minimum of $16.20 per hour. Experienced part-time workers are being paid roughly the same or less than new hires after UPS raised starting wages due to labor shortages since the pandemic.
The union is calling on UPS to share more of the company’s profits and reward workers who risked their lives during the covid-19 pandemic. Parcel deliveries ballooned beginning in 2020 as Americans had goods delivered to them while they stayed at home due to restrictions put into place to slow the spread of the virus. That saw profits surge from less than $9 billion in 2020 to almost $14 billion last year.