[ With UPS making astronomical profits and public support for
unions holding strong, a Teamsters strike at UPS this August could be
a watershed moment for the American working class. Two UPS drivers
explain what’s at stake in the potential strike.]
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UPS TEAMSTERS ARE READY TO STRIKE  
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Sean Orr and Elliot Lewis
June 7, 2023
Jacobin
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_ With UPS making astronomical profits and public support for unions
holding strong, a Teamsters strike at UPS this August could be a
watershed moment for the American working class. Two UPS drivers
explain what’s at stake in the potential strike. _

Members of Teamsters Local 804 in New York City rally around their
contract demands aimed at UPS. The national contract expires July 31.
UPS Teamsters are voting on whether to authorize a strike this week. ,
Photo: Matt Leichenger

 

With the largest private sector labor contract in the United States
set to expire on July 31 at midnight, the eyes of the American labor
movement are on United Parcel Services (UPS) and the nearly 350,000
Teamsters like us that work there. Talk is coming from all corners of
a potential strike. International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT)
general president Sean O’Brien made it clear
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day one of his presidency: if UPS does not meet the demands of the
Teamsters, picket lines will go up on August 1. If this happens, the
strike will be one of the largest in American history.

As the contract expiration looms less than two months away, other
workers across the economy are also standing up to demand more. From a
wave of successful union elections at Starbucks, Trader Joes, and
other retail stores, to walkouts from Amazon to Hollywood, American
workers fighting for dignity and fair compensation through collective
action have momentum on their side
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In return, employers have intensified
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union busting.

The UPS contract fight therefore comes at a pivotal moment for US
labor. What happens here could shape the direction of the movement for
years to come — not only because this contract covers several
hundred thousand workers who move
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percent of US GDP daily, but also because the issues at stake in this
fight are representative of those faced by workers across the economy.

This contract fight is about two visions of work in the twenty-first
century. One is promoted by workers: equal pay for equal work, dignity
and autonomy on the job, and a stable work-life balance. The other is
promoted by Wall Street: hypersurveillance, low pay, subcontracting,
gig work, and “flexible” scheduling practices that hurt workers
and benefit bosses.

Teamsters Fighting Decades of Decline

At UPS, the first vision of work comes from rank-and-file Teamsters.
As Alex Press and other labor journalists have detailed
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the roots of this contract fight go back decades.

UPS was once a hallmark of secure union jobs. Now, 60 percent
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part-time, making around the minimum wage in many regions. Drivers in
many locations are forced to work six days a week and up to fourteen
hours a day in forced overtime. Managers follow drivers in personal
vehicles and relentlessly harass workers to scare them into working
faster. In 2018, former Teamsters president James P. Hoffa forced a
contract upon members
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despite a majority no vote, that kept part-time wages low and
established the second-tier “22.4” driver position (named for the
section of the contract that establishes the position), which resulted
in new drivers making less money than existing drivers despite doing
the same work, and giving them fewer overtime protections.

The rank and file responded to this onslaught by organizing through
the reform caucus Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) and fought
concessions the whole way, building a movement in the process. TDU
activists organized a “vote no” campaign in 2013 and again in 2018
against concessionary contracts. Then in 2021, TDU led the successful
charge
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elect a coalition slate of reformers to the union’s top leadership,
on a platform of taking on employers like UPS more aggressively to
reverse these concessions.

Teamsters rally for the contract campaign in New York City. (Alex
Moore)

Now, UPS Teamsters are demanding
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increase for part-timers to $25 an hour, the elimination of 22.4’s
two-tier wages for package-car drivers, the end to forced sixth days
of work, raising pension
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sixty thousand workers so they’re more equal across the country, no
driver-facing cameras, more holidays, and an end to subcontracting and
the use of gig workers.

The expectations of rank-and-file Teamsters are high. If the two-tier
wage structure of drivers is not eliminated on day one of this
contract, it is a strike issue. If part-time workers do not get a
significant pay increase, it is a strike issue. If all workdays beyond
the five-day workweek are not totally voluntary, it is a strike issue.

Some of these demands are about regaining ground that was lost by past
union administrations. For example, the two-tier driver wages were
only implemented in the last contract under Hoffa Jr. But for many
workers, especially those hired since the last contract, this is about
fighting for more. They kept the economy running throughout the
COVID-19 pandemic without a penny of hazard pay and watched UPS make
record profits off their backs while working forced overtime. Of
course they now want their fair share.

The widespread support of these demands through the union’s ranks
and the willingness to fight for them point to a simple truth: the
Teamsters rank and file will not accept a half-deal, trade-offs, or
“sharing the burden” with UPS. Teamsters are demanding more.

UPS and Its Marching Orders

The other vision of work comes from Wall Street, which is the real
force that the Teamsters are fighting against at UPS. Seventy-two
percent of UPS stocks are owned by Wall Street firms; the two largest
shareholders are Vanguard Capital and BlackRock. These firms and
others own and control most of the rest of our economy, meaning not
just UPS but its main competitors, including FedEx and the railroads.

What does Wall Street want out of the UPS contract? Steady and massive
profits.

From their perspective, UPS is one of the great success stories of the
pandemic. From 2012 to 2019, UPS yearly profits ranged from $7.1
billion to $8.2 billion. In 2020, when the rest of the economy was
suffering from the pandemic, UPS made over $8.7 billion in profits. In
the years since, it reported the largest profits in its history: $13.1
billion in 2021 and $13.9 billion in 2022.

UPS will try to further increase these profits in the 2023 contract by
asking for “flexibility” to schedule employees to work any of the
seven days in a week, the installation of driver-facing cameras to
further harass workers, and the continued use of gig workers to
deliver packages.

The biggest impediment to Wall Street dictating terms for the entire
logistics industry is the Teamsters’ UPS contract. Simply look to
the competitors to see what corporations would do without an unionized
counterforce at UPS: Amazon drivers paid nearly minimum wage and
having their hours cut next week if they do not meet inhumane
production standards this week; FedEx moving to eliminate all direct
hires and switching to a 100 percent subcontractor model; workers
forced to eke out a living in their cars, delivering packages, people,
and food until enough money is made to pay off the car expenses and
cover that month’s rent — if they’re lucky.

But Wall Street does not just want profits. They want power —
hoarded for themselves and as far away from us as possible. They are
constantly working to create the best possible economic conditions for
profit-making, and there is no better condition for that than
demobilizing and dividing the working class.

For that reason, far more important than any particular concession,
Wall Street wants a deal at UPS without a strike, and they will be
willing to give up a few of those concessions to get it.

A two-week strike could cost
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approximately $3.2 billion. But more important, a strike at UPS would
be the largest demonstration of working-class power seen in the
post-COVID-19 economy. Every worker across the economy would learn
that they have the power to win better conditions through the
collective action of simply withholding their labor. That result is
what Wall Street fears the most.

Unfortunately for UPS, the Teamsters will not be shaken. A strike
authorization vote for UPS Teamsters is set to begin this week; IBT
general president Sean O’Brien has urged
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members to vote yes. TDU will work to ensure that the national
negotiating committee receives the largest “yes” vote possible.

The UPS contract fight matters for the entire working class. If we
want workers at Amazon, FedEx, and throughout the country to know that
organizing a union leads to better pay and working conditions, greater
control over their working lives, and opens the door to a better
world, then there is no better opportunity to show what we mean than a
strike victory against UPS and Wall Street this summer. A national,
high-visibility strike led by a newly reformed union could point the
way forward for many workers across the economy and reinvigorate the
labor movement as a whole, by demonstrating that our collective power
does not come from leaders at the bargaining table, but from the
essential labor that rank-and-file workers perform to keep society
running, and our power to withhold it.

A UPS Teamster contract rally in New York City. (Matt Leichenger)

Who Will Win?

The contract fight at UPS started nearly a year ago. Last August,
Teamsters had contract kickoff rallies around the country. In the
fall, UPS workers around the country filled out contract surveys,
affirming the popularity of ambitious demands. Over the winter,
thousands of Teamsters stood at gates and in break rooms handing out
contract unity pledge cards, to educate each other and build support
for the major contract demands they are willing to strike over.

In the spring, they held contract action team trainings around the
country to map their workplaces, select picket captains, and develop
organizing plans to engage their coworkers. And in the last month,
rank-and-file TDU activists began petitioning at dozens of UPS
“barns” to demand the company accept a higher national pension
plan and raise part-time pay to $25 an hour. They remain firm in their
high expectations. They want to win the best contract in Teamster
history, and they’ll be willing to hit the streets in a walkoff on
August 1 to do it if they have to.

While UPS will do everything it can to negotiate a settlement before
August 1, ultimately, the decision to strike will come down to the
340,000 UPS Teamsters who have fought concessions for decades and now
have the wind at their backs. At the 2021 IBT Convention, TDU
activists led the successful charge to end
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allowed Hoffa Jr to force the last contract on UPSers in 2018. Now a
simple majority vote will rule on a contract vote.

Will a majority of UPS Teamsters even accept a tentative agreement
without striking, given the immense power they know they have, the
ground they need to recover, the public support they enjoy, and how
much they have to gain? Thanks to decades-long reform efforts, that
will be their decision to make.

This article was copublished with _Labor Notes_
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* UPS
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* Teamsters
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* Strike vote
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