Posts tagged UPS
Opinion: Workers say ‘I like unions, I just don’t like my union’ — here’s what they’re discovering
February 28, 2026 // "I like unions. I just don’t like my union." Time and time again, I hear this sentiment from employees nationwide. Most will express frustration with their union officials, who’ve disappointed or even mistreated them and other members. Some tell me how they tried and failed to improve their own union from within. They imagine there’s a better union out there — one where union officials actively improve the workplace and help employees achieve some measure of personal freedom.
UPS Is the Symptom, Not the Disease: How Labor Policy Shapes Long-Run Worker Outcomes
February 18, 2026 // The question, then, is not whether the gains are real, but how the trade-offs unfold. Why do headline-grabbing contracts so often coincide with downsizing, automation, and job losses in sectors governed by exclusive, monopoly bargaining arrangements? When short-run wage gains are secured through monopoly bargaining power, where do the adjustments occur—and who ultimately bears the costs?
Teamsters union sues UPS to block delivery driver buyouts
February 12, 2026 // UPS said it has been engaged with the Teamsters on a voluntary separation plan since early January and didn’t spring any surprise on the union last week. “We are aware of the Teamsters’ response to the voluntary separation program we planned to offer our U.S. full-time drivers and are working to resolve the matter through the legal process. This does not affect our operations, and we will continue to provide the reliable service our customers expect from UPS,” said Genny Bowman, vice president of communications, in a statement to FreightWaves.
Rivers Casino Portsmouth First Virginia Gaming Property to Unionize
November 5, 2025 // The Local 822 Teamsters chapter said workers at the Portsmouth casino backed unionizing with 95% support. The Norfolk-based union, which primarily represents freight and manufacturing employees in the region, says the Rivers Casino contract sets a precedent for fairness, wages, and workplace protections in Virginia’s rapidly emerging gaming industry. Local 822 represents workers at UPS, UPS Freight, ABF Freight, and Pepsi. Rivers has now been added to the list.
Op-ed: The Bad Teamsters Bargain With UPS
October 30, 2025 // Businesses that lose money and are uncompetitive won’t survive. See trucking company Yellow Corp., which filed for bankruptcy in 2023 in part owing to Mr. O’Brien’s labor militancy. Mr. O’Brien refused concessions and tweeted an image of a tombstone “Yellow: 1924-2023.” UPS doesn’t want to be Mr. O’Brien’s next victim. The Teamsters boss has insisted that its contract requires UPS to create 30,000 jobs. He hasn’t read the fine print—or is misleading his members. UPS merely committed to giving part-time employees a chance to apply for some full-time job openings. If UPS reduces job openings, workers don’t have an opportunity to fill them.
Amazon Plans to Replace More Than Half a Million Jobs With Robots
October 21, 2025 // Amazon also said that it’s not insisting executives avoid certain terms, and that community involvement is unrelated to automation. Amazon’s plans could have profound impact on blue-collar jobs throughout the country and serve as a model for other companies like Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, and UPS. The company transformed the U.S. work force as it created a booming demand for warehousing and delivery jobs. But now, as it leads the way for automation, those roles could become more technical, higher paid and more scarce.
UPS Avoids Teamsters Strike at Largest Air Hub as Union Further Slams Buyouts
August 14, 2025 // The Teamsters alleged that the package delivery company had ignored or delayed answering complaints that they were regularly diverting airport distribution services to workers paid a lower rate. UPS agreed to a new settlement that solved a jurisdictional dispute between two Teamsters local branches at the maintenance center. In Chicago, the union secured a first contract for its administrative and specialist workers at Teamsters Local 705, with the new deal earning the employees the top wage rate for their respective job duties.
UPS buyout details: What’s in the offer, how many jobs are affected and what Teamsters say
July 30, 2025 // UPS is offering a voluntary buyout program to U.S. full-time drivers for the first time in its history. The Teamsters union criticizes the buyout, calling it "insulting" and a violation of the 2023 contract. UPS attributes the buyout to restructuring efforts following revenue decline and increased costs. The buyout, called the "Driver Voluntary Separation Program" is available for consideration by full-time, U.S.-based drivers, and is the first time in the company's history this sort of offer has been made to drivers, UPS said in a statement.
Unions don’t deliver for workers
July 11, 2025 // Take the recent UPS layoffs. In August 2023, the Teamsters Union touted its new UPS contract as a historic victory, claiming historic wage increases and increased benefits. Fast forward to January 2024, when UPS announced it was eliminating 12,000 jobs. Just a year later, it said it was cutting its delivery business with Amazon in half by the second half of 2026 and was aiming to shutter 10% of its buildings. Why the cuts? Because the union’s monopoly bargaining power allows it to demand wages that make it tough for companies to stay competitive. When costs climb, even giants like UPS have little choice but to cut jobs or invest less in the future. The UPS saga is a shining example of what the Mercatus report highlights: union power can backfire, leaving workers worse off in the long term.
How the Teamsters Cost 30,000 People Their Jobs
July 10, 2025 // "That's true," says Palagashvili. "[Yellow Corp] was having a lot of financial issues. But if you're on the verge of collapse, the last thing you need is a Teamsters Labor Union contract that says you have to increase labor costs. Yellow is basically covered in gasoline, and Sean O'Brien comes and lights the match." Meanwhile, union leadership help themselves. The Teamsters now brag that it has $1 billion in assets. Sean O'Brien pays himself more than $430,000 per year. The same year Yellow went bankrupt, United Auto Workers went on strike against Stellantis, the company that owns Chrysler. Stellantis gave in, giving the UAW a pay raise and promising to open a new plant. But then Stellantis started laying off workers: 1,340 during the strike and 2,450 more the next year.