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UPS Teamsters say nationwide strike is ‘imminent’ if Friday deadline not met

The Teamsters working for shipping giant UPS said a strike is “imminent” after walking away from the bargaining table. The UPS Teamsters said in a statement late Wednesday it gave UPS a one-w…

thehill.com

The Teamsters working for shipping giant UPS said a strike is “imminent” after walking away from the bargaining table.

The UPS Teamsters said in a statement late Wednesday it gave UPS a one-week notice Tuesday to “act responsibly and exchange a stronger economic proposal” to more than 340,000 employees of the shipping company.

The Teamsters demanded that UPS delivers its “last, best and final offer” to the union by Friday.

“The largest single-employer strike in American history now appears inevitable,” Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien said in a statement.

“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,” he said.

Earlier this month, UPS agreed to “equip all newly purchased U.S. small package delivery vehicles with air conditioning” in 2024.

The company also promised to install additional cab fans and heat shields in delivery trucks, after UPS came under fire for viral social media posts showing excessive temperatures putting drivers in uncomfortable and even dangerous working conditions.

But that momentum appears to have stalled.

The union has been vocal about how higher inflation and corporate profits have created an untenable situation for working-class employees. O’Brien also took further aim at UPS management.

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

The UPS Teamsters have been engaged in ongoing negotiations for about two months, but a strike could thrust the commerce industry into chaos because it would lead to the largest U.S. strike in decades.

It will include more than 340,000 warehousing, transportation and delivery workers bound by the largest private-sector bargaining agreement in the country.

The UPS Teamsters wrote that UPS risks “causing devastating disruptions to the supply chain in the U.S. and other parts of the world” with its Friday deadline.

The group wrote that it met with UPS negotiators late into Tuesday, but union members walked away from the table after they said UPS attempted to “withhold any additional benefits from the Teamsters, seeking concessionary language instead.”

 

[The Pleasure]

I support the teamsters. Good on em. Those vans are fucking death in the heat.

 

[dolabla]

I support the teamsters. Good on em. Those vans are fucking death in the heat.

No doubt. Those things are like an oven. I've been inside them before. The worst part a driver told me was when you can't find a package, you're looking and it's just cooking back there.

 

[The Pleasure]

No doubt. Those things are like an oven. I've been inside them before. The worst part a driver told me was when you can't find a package, you're looking and it's just cooking back there.

Sad thing is entitled people are gonna bitch about the teamsters striking and then say NOBODY WANTS TO WORK ANYMORE.

 

[Rival]

This is not good. Prime day is less than two weeks away.

 

[dolabla]

If it happens, Fedex and the USPS will not be able to handle all this volume. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/340-...% of the,the nation's struggling supply chain.

A strike at UPS would affect nearly every household in the country. An estimated 6% of the nation’s gross domestic product is moved in UPS trucks every year. The explosive growth of online retail has made the company and its drivers more crucial than ever to the nation’s struggling supply chain. Beyond the company’s home deliveries, it also delivers many of the goods found in stores, factories, and offices.

 

[poppabk]

I support the teamsters. Good on em. Those vans are fucking death in the heat.

The vans are the cushy job that people working in the hubs dream of. Try unloading several trucks worth of packages that have been sat out in the sun for hours. With no air conditioning in the building.

 

[West Texas CEO]

If it happens, Fedex and the USPS will not be able to handle all this volume. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/340-000-ups-workers-voting-194241435.html#:~:text=An estimated 6% of the,the nation's struggling supply chain.

DHL will help pick up the slack.

 

[The Pleasure]

The vans are the cushy job that people working in the hubs dream of. Try unloading several trucks worth of packages that have been sat out in the sun for hours. With no air conditioning in the building.

I'm familiar. I worked in warehouses with no air conditioning. If the van is the CUSHY JOB then they have every fucking right to strike. Hell, the warehouse workers need to strike too.

 

[dolabla]

The vans are the cushy job that people working in the hubs dream of. Try unloading several trucks worth of packages that have been sat out in the sun for hours. With no air conditioning in the building.

Yep, the warehouse folks have it the worst. They are the backbone of the (and of any) company. Unloading and loading the semi trailers with thousands of packages is the worst I've heard. You're basically playing tetris with peoples packages building walls and in the summer time it is miserable.

 

[dolabla]

I'm familiar. I worked in warehouses with no air conditioning. If the van is the CUSHY JOB then they have every fucking right to strike. Hell, the warehouse workers need to strike too.

It will be everybody including warehouse workers. UPS Airline Pilots are under a different union, but they came out yesterday and said they will stand with the Teamsters and not fly.

 

[jason10mm]

At some point we as a country gotta come together and realize that allowing national (and international) shipping to be so dominated by just a handful of companies puts us all at risk of these types of strikes. We should have dozens of more regional and competing companies. Otherwise nationalization is the only safe course and that will lead to double the delivery time at 10x the cost.

 

[The Pleasure]

At some point we as a country gotta come together and realize that allowing national (and international) shipping to be so dominated by just a handful of companies puts us all at risk of these types of strikes. We should have dozens of more regional and competing companies. Otherwise nationalization is the only safe course and that will lead to double the delivery time at 10x the cost.

The post office is nationalized. It was the cheapest by far until dejoy decided to run it like a business and increased prices 6% almost every year causing over 25% increase in the short term he's been there. Stamps went up six cents in one year thanks to him. That would usually tale 5-10 years to see that much of a price increase. Plus service is far slower.

 

[PaddyOCanager]

I used to load trucks for FedEx in college during the summer heat. After two weeks, you're either dead or in the best physical shape of your life.

It was well known that our working conditions at the FedEx warehouse were significantly better than at the UPS warehouse......

 

[cash_longfellow]

This is not good. Prime day is less than two weeks away.

I lol’d…but also, I’m pretty sure Amazon has their own delivery service, it’ll be okay

 

[The Pleasure]

I lol’d…but also, I’m pretty sure Amazon has their own delivery service, it’ll be okay

Imagine all the piss in those amazon vans being carried in water bottles.

 

[cash_longfellow]

Imagine all the piss in those amazon vans being carried in water bottles.

They going from 2-liter bottles to gallon milk jugs for sure lol

 

[The Pleasure]

They going from 2-liter bottles to gallon milk jugs for sure lol

Pampers. Pampers everywhere.

 

[jason10mm]

The post office is nationalized. It was the cheapest by far until dejoy decided to run it like a business and increased prices 6% almost every year causing over 25% increase in the short term he's been there. Stamps went up six cents in one year thanks to him. That would usually tale 5-10 years to see that much of a price increase. Plus service is far slower.

My understanding is that the post office lost a lot of easy revenue with the drop off in junk mail/personal letters and they were prohibited from raising stamp prices appropriate to cover their exorbitantly high pension program requirements, leading to their financial issues. Plus they had to cover every house 6 days a week instead of batch pick-up/drop-off or consolidated rural centers. But I can get stuff from England via DHL quicker and cheaper than a USPS parcel to the next town over, true.

 

[DeafTourette]

At some point we as a country gotta come together and realize that allowing national (and international) shipping to be so dominated by just a handful of companies puts us all at risk of these types of strikes. We should have dozens of more regional and competing companies. Otherwise nationalization is the only safe course and that will lead to double the delivery time at 10x the cost.

These corporate fools don't want competition. It eats into their profit margins.

 

[Ownage]

Jobs is jobs, and respect to anyone working an honest day's labor, UPS included.

That being said, UPS sucks. They've stolen packages from me during transit, lost packages permanently (including legal documents for federal government cases), and are late AF on the daily.

In my experience, FedEx rocks, USPS is decent, DHL is decent, UPS is Russian roulette.

 

[dolabla]

Jobs is jobs, and respect to anyone working an honest day's labor, UPS included.

That being said, UPS sucks. They've stolen packages from me during transit, lost packages permanently (including legal documents for federal government cases), and are late AF on the daily.

In my experience, FedEx rocks, USPS is decent, DHL is decent, UPS is Russian roulette.

It's the opposite with me. Fedex Ground has been the worst with late packages, etc. USPS has been pretty solid and are usually on time. UPS has been solid and are on time. Never had any problems with DHL packages, but they aren't as big a player here in the US so much doesn't really come through them.

 

[jason10mm]

These corporate fools don't want competition. It eats into their profit margins.

That's why the gov forces them to break up. I've little doubt folks 100 years ago would tremble at the tech companies we have today with their scope and reach and just "what the hell, break that shit up!" though that has been a losing battle since almost forever.

 

[cash_longfellow]

Pampers. Pampers everywhere.

Well….that Depends

 

[The Pleasure]

Well….that Depends

Always. Always pampers.

 

[DeafTourette]

That's why the gov forces them to break up. I've little doubt folks 100 years ago would tremble at the tech companies we have today with their scope and reach and just "what the hell, break that shit up!" though that has been a losing battle since almost forever.

They're all bought by the corporations ... Nothing is being broken up any time soon. Not like it was in the past when Bell was broken up.

 

[ClanOfNone]

Blue collar workers can no longer support themselves or their families with the post covid inflation.
The American working middle class has had one foot in the grave for a while, now it is almost gone I feel like.
I used to live fairly well on what I make, even as a single parent, but skyrocketing prices for everything have not been kind. 4 years ago I was paying $1600 in rent, now I'm paying $2500.

 

[Happosai]

 

[mopspear]

My dad worked a walking/driving route for 40 years. He said it was good the first 30 but then something happened and the last 10 got worse and worse. the whole system got worse.

 

[dolabla]

Negotiations fell apart early this morning: https://thehill.com/business/408153...se-between-teamsters-and-ups-as-strike-looms/

Talks between shipping giant UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union fell apart early Wednesday morning, increasing the likelihood of what would be one of the largest strikes in U.S. history.

Representatives from UPS and the Teamsters failed to reach a deal on a new contract for the roughly 340,000 union members who work for the company. Each side blamed the other for walking away after marathon Independence Day negotiations failed to yield an agreement despite signs of early progress.

“Around 4 a.m., UPS walked away from the bargaining table after presenting an unacceptable offer to the Teamsters that did not address members’ needs. The UPS Teamsters National Negotiating Committee unanimously rejected the package,” the Teamsters said in a statement released Wednesday morning.

UPS and the union are still at odds over wages, benefits and compensation.

“This multibillion-dollar corporation has plenty to give American workers — they just don’t want to,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in the statement.

UPS encouraged the Teamsters on Wednesday to continue with negotiations.

“The Teamsters should return to the table to finalize this deal,” UPS said in a statement provided to The Hill. “We have nearly a month left to negotiate. We have not walked away, and the union has a responsibility to remain at the table.”

“Refusing to negotiate, especially when the finish line is in sight, creates significant unease among employees and customers and threatens to disrupt the U.S. economy,” the company said.

 

[Ownage]

Negotiations fell apart early this morning: https://thehill.com/business/408153...se-between-teamsters-and-ups-as-strike-looms/

Reasonable deals were offered. UPS walked away.

Time to fight.

 

[PonyStation4]

UPS delivers 6 billion packages a year. It would have a significant and long lasting impact to the logistics of the US if they strike for even 1 week. So I wonder if Biden steps in like he did for rail workers

 

[DeafTourette]

UPS delivers 6 billion packages a year. It would have a significant and long lasting impact to the logistics of the US if they strike for even 1 week. So I wonder if Biden steps in like he did for rail workers

If he does, he will lose all the union support he gained ... That's as far as I'll go into the p word

 

[Quasicat]

I used to load trucks for FedEx in college during the summer heat. After two weeks, you're either dead or in the best physical shape of your life.

It was well known that our working conditions at the FedEx warehouse were significantly better than at the UPS warehouse......

I worked a couple of evenings at the local UPS center in college. It was hot and the work was hard, but that didn’t bother me. The foreman that ran that section was the biggest dick and was constantly screaming at us and calling us “Stupid Fucks.” In the end, it just wasn’t worth it and I stopped going in.

 

[Nydius]

If he does, he will lose all the union support he gained ... That's as far as I'll go into the p word

He’s already lost a lot of it when he blocked the railroad workers from striking (ever!) and forced them to accept the management terms of the contract they weren’t happy with (one personal day off, no sick days).

 

[DeafTourette]

He’s already lost a lot of it when he blocked the railroad workers from striking (ever!) and forced them to accept the management terms of the contract they weren’t happy with (one personal day off, no sick days).

True. I was disappointed but also not too surprised. Smh

 

[El Pistolero]

I'm no communist, but the savage capitalism we have come to accept with a sense of fatality, will plunge the world into some dark times. I shiver whenever I think of the mass adoption of AI...Entire sectors will be decimated in the process...

 

[Arkangelus0]

I'm no communist, but the savage capitalism we have come to accept with a sense of fatality, will plunge the world into some dark times. I shiver whenever I think of the mass adoption of AI...Entire sectors will be decimated in the process...

The real issue is this is not capitalism

The CEO, the upper managment, those people who take run the company, are in the end employees, fucking parasites and leechers, they dont own the company or take any responsability

That why capitalism and comunism is kind of pointless in the modern World

 

[Nydius]

True. I was disappointed but also not too surprised. Smh

It really exposed how phony his "I'm pro-union!" messaging was. He's pro-union, until he's not and it threatens some big time friends.

But I digress. At least in the case of the railroad workers with Biden, or the Air Traffic Controllers under Reagan, there was already some federal laws giving the federal government a degree of control, or at least access, to the collective bargaining process. I'm not so sure such a situation exists in this case. I don't know if it would be enough for the DOJ to come in and argue that because it impacts interstate commerce the federal government has jurisdiction to take over the mediation process. It might, but the railroad and ATC cases were a bit more clear cut.

 

[BadBurger]

Does anyone know if they're planning on striking right after Friday if their terms are not met, or honoring whatever is left of their existing contracts first? I've read conflicting information online.

 

[LegendOfKage]

9 times out of 10 I hear about a strike in the US, I look into the demands, and they're perfectly reasonable. I haven't looked into this one, but I'm guessing it wouldn't be an exception.

 

[Kilau]

Seems when UPS is increasing dividends and doing stock buy back they could afford to take care of their employees better. I’m not a union supporter generally but I’m on their side here.

 

[just_some_nut]

I lol’d…but also, I’m pretty sure Amazon has their own delivery service, it’ll be okay

No way in hell can Amazon handle their own volume, especially on Prime day

 

[Mr Reasonable]

I'm no communist, but the savage capitalism we have come to accept with a sense of fatality, will plunge the world into some dark times. I shiver whenever I think of the mass adoption of AI...Entire sectors will be decimated in the process...

Alas, "will" feels misplaced here. "Has and will continue to..." Might be a good substitute.

At some point people who have everything wanting even more at the expense of people who have nothing will creep it's way through the population until it is snapping at the heels of people you know. Maybe it's happened. Maybe it's about to happen to you.

 

[HoodWinked]

geeze. that's kind of nuts.

UPS, Teamsters reach labor deal to avoid strike

The deal includes wage increases for both full- and part-time workers.

www.cnbc.com

Existing part-time workers will get a raise to at least $21 an hour, if workers approve the new contract, the union said. Part-time pay was a sticking point in negotiations. Full-time workers will average $49 an hour. Current workers will get $2.75 more an hour this year and $7.50 an hour more during the five-year contract.

 

[jason10mm]

$50/hr for working at UPS, JFC. My wife is an analyst at a bank and she makes less than that.

 

[DeafTourette]

The power of collective bargaining!

 

[jason10mm]

The power of collective bargaining!

Well, it is an AVERAGE salary, so maybe the CEO making 50 mill and everyone else making $20/hr averages to 49/hr.

I'll have my wife keep her job, daddy needs a new PS5

 

[DetectiveBananas]

As someone who worked as a UPS warehouse trailer loader back in the day I can’t blame anyone for wanting better working conditions. Sounds like things haven’t improved much since then.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

My friend is a UPS driver. He's all about the new terms but he says that newbies have it too good. They treat the packages like shit going in and said they are not worth their new 21 dollar an hour pay. So, they need to sort shit out internally.