Teamsters say largest single-employer strike in American history is inevitable

In a landslide vote earlier in the month, United Parcel Service (UPS) workers represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters authorized a nationwide strike as part of their effort to win a strong contract in ongoing negotiations.

Today, union negotiators walked away from the bargaining table and officially demanded that the company exchange its last, best, and final offer no later than June 30.

The Teamsters said in a statement that 97% of UPS workers represented by the union voted in support of a strike if there’s no acceptable deal with management by July 31, when the current contract—the biggest of its kind in North America—expires.

The union represents more than 340,000 UPS package delivery drivers and warehouse logistics workers across the U.S.

“The largest single-employer strike in American history now appears inevitable,” said Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, after leaders of the union representing shipping giant UPS quit negotiating with company representatives.

O’Brien set a Friday deadline for UPS to “act responsibly and exchange a stronger economic proposal for more than 340,000 full- and part-time workers.”

After the Teamsters had given the company a week to propose a better offer, O’Brien said, “UPS executives couldn’t make it one more day without insulting and ignoring union leaders and rank-and-filers as negotiations resumed on Wednesday,” so the union stopped engaging in feckless talks.

“The world’s largest delivery company that raked in more than $100 billion in revenue last year has made it clear to its union workforce that it has no desire to reward or respectfully compensate UPS Teamsters for their labor and sacrifice,” O’Brien alleged. “During the past week, UPS returned an appalling counterproposal to the union’s financial package, offering minuscule raises and wage cuts to traditional cost-of-living adjustments.”

O’Brien argued that “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.”

Thousands of part-time workers at UPS around the US had their hourly wages cut one year ago, eliminating 2021 raises that increased their base rate from $15.33 an hour to $18 an hour, which was implemented to attract and retain workers in the tighter labor market.

“They don’t care about our members’ families. UPS doesn’t want to pay up,” said O’Brien. “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.”

Despite having reached a consensus on 55 non-economic issues with the company on June 19, the Teamsters said UPS continued to seek a cost-neutral contract during economic negotiations.

The world’s largest delivery company which raked in more than $100 billion in revenue last year has made it clear to its union workforce that it has no desire to reward or respectfully compensate UPS Teamsters for their labor and sacrifice.

During the past week, UPS returned an appalling counterproposal to the union’s financial package, offering minuscule raises and wage cuts to traditional cost-of-living adjustments.

With a deadline of Friday to return a last, best, and final offer, UPS risks putting itself on strike by August 1 and causing devastating disruptions to the supply chain in the U.S. and other parts of the world. Teamsters nationwide overwhelmingly authorized a strike this month by 97 percent should UPS fail to come to terms on a new contract. UPS’s impending failure is one step closer to reality and has the potential to affect nearly all Americans.

“We have an economy today that is reliant on parcel delivery and no one in the game handles more packages per day or provides better service than Teamsters at UPS. Our members are fighting for a post-pandemic agreement that honors the sacrifices they made to keep this country moving during the last several years,” said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. “Time has run out for UPS to give workers that honorable contract. The Teamsters repeatedly told the company from the beginning of this process that there would be no extensions. But UPS has sat on its hands and chosen to turn its back on these workers. Come August 1, it’s going to be damn hard for UPS to ignore us any longer.”

The Teamsters met with UPS negotiators late into Tuesday night over Article 34 of the union’s National Master Agreement, governing health and welfare and pension benefits for members. Despite early progress, UPS attempted to move the goalposts at the 11^th hour and withhold any additional benefits from the Teamsters, seeking concessionary language instead.

When the Teamsters walked away from the table, UPS agreed to resume negotiations on Wednesday. When corporate executives showed up, they only resubmitted the same proposal for worker concessions under Article 34.