Posts tagged UPS
UPS offers Teamsters new proposal that could prevent strike
July 3, 2023 // UPS and the Teamsters are on track to reach a deal no later than July 5, according to the Teamster’s Twitter page. UPS has now provided the Teamsters with a revised proposal with significant movement on wages and other economic languages. “We are encouraged the Teamsters are ready to continue negotiations and discuss our most recent proposal,” UPS said in a statement. “Productive discussions are critical at this stage of the process. We look forward to the union’s input so we can reach a timely agreement and provide certainty for our employees, our customers and the U.S. economy.”
UPS Agrees to Ax Two-Tier Wage System in Win for Teamsters
July 3, 2023 // United Parcel Service Inc. has agreed to end a dual wage system for delivery drivers in its next contract with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, dramatically lowering the chances of a nationwide strike when the current labor agreement expires at the end of July. The Teamsters announced the tentative pact on Twitter Saturday evening, adding they also persuaded UPS to end a mandatory overtime policy for unscheduled workdays and provide Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a paid holiday
Sean O’Brien’s summer of the strike
June 26, 2023 // It’s the spark for the combative spirit that permeates Teamsters headquarters, where a whiteboard charts a long-term battle plan on a timeline — “practice picketing,” “CAT trainings” (for “contract action teams”), “identify strike teams” … and finally, on the July 31 spot that marks the end of the current contract: “STRIKE.” Why strike now? As O’Brien himself acknowledged in his Senate testimony, UPS already offers the most plum jobs in the logistics industry, with driver salaries starting at $93,000. But O’Brien argues that the pandemic gave UPS workers the greatest leverage they’ve had in decades. In 2020, union members risked their health to keep packages moving. UPS’s profits surged and have remained high, with customers still hooked on the online shopping habits they adopted during the lockdowns. “Our members are fed up” and remain convinced, he said, that “the only concern that was being addressed was UPS’s bottom line and their balance sheet.” No better time, O’Brien reasons, for workers to go to the mat to demand wages beginning at $20 an hour, tighter safety provisions and an end to the two-tier employment system ushered in by the last contract.
As Boston’s own Sean O’Brien matches UPS at the bargaining table, Amazon could be next
June 26, 2023 // But O’Brien said he’d support pulling the trigger — putting the International’s $300 million-plus “strike defense fund” to use — if he doesn’t see adequate financial gains for his membership. For him, this battle over the largest private-sector union contract in the United States isn’t only about righting the wrongs baked into the union’s current agreement with UPS. It’s meant to show how organized labor can flex its muscle against giant companies. And it’s a prelude for a long-awaited showdown with decidedly anti-union Amazon, where the Teamsters hope to organize the online retail giant’s massive logistics workforce. “All eyes are upon what the Teamsters do in these negotiations,” O’Brien said in an interview. “It’s going to be the defining moment in the labor movement. It’s going to be a template on how we take on Corporate America, how we take on big business.” Dissatisfaction with the current UPS contract, signed in 2018, helped O’Brien win his race to lead the Teamsters two years ago. Then the head of the Teamsters Local 25 in Charlestown, O’Brien broke away from the previous International leadership, led by James Hoffa, because of disagreements over the last round of UPS negotiations.
Student Activists Are Turning Their Attention to the Labor Movement
June 22, 2023 // Last year, the Young Democratic Socialists of America’s Red Hot Summer program trained hundreds of young people to organize their workplaces and helped launch union drives representing thousands. This year’s program hopes to be even bigger, writes YDSA’s cochair. Student workers across the country are engaged in an unprecedented wave of labor organization. Spurred on by the support of organizations like the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), of which I am cochair, undergraduate student workers have launched union drives on nearly thirty public and private campuses in the United States. These workers are fighting for increased pay, improvements to scheduling and hours, sick pay, and better health care. They are also fighting for issues that go beyond bread and butter, like removing Israeli products from dining halls.
DOCKWORKERS SETTLE, TEAMSTERS AUTHORIZE UPS STRIKE
June 20, 2023 // Congestion at West Coast ports during the pandemic demonstrated the crucial role the sea freight gateways to the U.S. play in keeping retailers stocked. The new labor agreement ensures that labor disputes are unlikely to be a cause of disruption in the coming years. Meanwhile, negotiations between UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on a new contract to replace the one that expires at the end of July have been ongoing since April. The authorization for the union to call a strike if negotiations are not successful passed with 97% of the vote, according to the New York Times. Key issues are pay increases and a pay disparity for weekend drivers.
Amazon drivers, dispatchers stage walkout at Palmdale warehouse
June 16, 2023 // The 84 workers involved in the one-day walkout are employed by logistics partner Battle-Tested Strategies and subcontracted by Amazon. They voted in April to join Teamsters Local 396 in hopes of boosting their wages to $30 hourly by September and securing immediate safety protections. In a statement issued Thursday, Amazon spokeswoman Eileen Hards said facts are “being intentionally misrepresented” by the Teamsters and Battle-Tested Strategies. “This company has a history of underperformance and not providing a safe environment, and was notified that Amazon was ending their contract before the Teamsters got involved to try and re-write the facts,” Hards said.
UPS, union reach deal to install air conditioning in all delivery vans as strike threat looms
June 16, 2023 // UPS trucks carry about 6% of US gross domestic product, the broad measure of a nation's economic activity. It delivered an average of 18.7 million US packages a day in the first quarter of this year. While the deal on the AC doesn't necessarily end the threat of a strike, it is sign that the two sides are making progress towards an overall agreement.
340,000 UPS workers are voting whether to authorize a massive strike
June 8, 2023 // The vote results will be announced next week on June 16, the union said. Strike authorization votes are routine during contract negotiations, and almost always pass. A nationwide UPS strike would be the largest work stoppage in US history. The union represents more than half of UPS’s total global employee base – 340,000 UPS Teamsters – which includes drivers and package sorters. Voting will occur in person both at local union halls and at the gates of UPS facilities, according to the Teamsters.
Potential UPS strike approaches as company negotiates with union
May 29, 2023 // Tensions are rising as the potential for delivery truck drivers going on strike inches closer. UPS has until Aug. 1 to make a deal with the driver's union before they walk.