The clock is ticking. As the deadline to reach a new contract nears, a feels closer than ever.
Negotiations broke down earlier this month and unionized workers have been holding rallies and practice pickets across the country. The Teamsters, which represent more than half of the company91裸聊视频檚 workforce, with UPS on Tuesday.
That leaves less than a week to come to an agreement before the current contract expires on Monday, July 31. The union has authorized a strike and Sean M. O91裸聊视频橞rien, a fiery leader elected last year to lead the union, has vowed to do so if their demands aren91裸聊视频檛 met.
91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e sending a message91裸聊视频� all 340,000 of our members are united and ready to fight,91裸聊视频� O91裸聊视频橞rien told The Associated Press at a practice picket Friday in Atlanta, where UPS is based.
UPS91裸聊视频檚 unionized workers still seethe about a contract they feel was forced on them in 2018, and say that the company delivers millions more packages every day than it did just five years ago. The Teamsters are calling for better pay, particularly for part-time employees, and improved working conditions.
UPS has maintained that it already offers 91裸聊视频渋ndustry-leading pay and benefits,91裸聊视频� but says it91裸聊视频檚 prepared to increase that compensation. In a Friday update, the company said it aimed 91裸聊视频渜uickly to finalize a fair deal that provides certainty for our customers, our employees and businesses across the country.91裸聊视频�
If negotiations are unsuccessful the deliveries that Americans have come to rely on, particularly since the pandemic began in 2020, could be vastly disrupted. Such an impasse hasn91裸聊视频檛 been seen since 1997, well before delivery of everyday items from dog food to prescription drugs became the norm, when a walkout by 185,000 workers crippled UPS. Here91裸聊视频檚 what you need to know.
WHAT ARE THE TEAMSTERS ASKING FOR?
Much on the union91裸聊视频檚 demands comes down to better pay and improved working conditions.
Annual profits at UPS in the past two years are close to three times what they were before the pandemic. The company returned about $8.6 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and stock buybacks in 2022, and forecast another $8.4 billion for shareholders this year.
The Teamsters say frontline UPS workers deserve some of that windfall. A sticking point in negotiations has been wage increases for part-time workers, who make a minimum of $16.20 an hour.
91裸聊视频淧eople want their packages yesterday with the emergence of the e-commerce. So it91裸聊视频檚 a very demanding job,91裸聊视频� O91裸聊视频橞rien said, pushing back on the salary statistics that UPS shares. 91裸聊视频淓verybody doesn91裸聊视频檛 realize what it takes to get these packages on the truck. And a lot of our part timers91裸聊视频� work for poverty wages.91裸聊视频�
In addition to addressing part-time pay, the union wants to eliminate a contract provision that created two separate hierarchies of workers with different pay scales, hours and benefits. Driver safety, particularly the lack of air conditioning in delivery trucks, is also in the mix.
HAS UPS AGREED TO ANY DEMANDS?
Before contract talks broke down on July 5, with both sides blaming each other for walking away from the bargaining table, tentative agreements were made on several issues 91裸聊视频� including installing air conditioning in more trucks. UPS said it would add air conditioning to U.S. small delivery vehicles purchased after January 1, 2024. Existing vehicles wouldn91裸聊视频檛 get that upgrade, but the union said they will have other additions like fans and air vents.
The union also said it has reached tentative agreements to establish Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a full holiday for the first time, end unwanted overtime on drivers91裸聊视频� days off and get rid of the two-tier wage system for drivers who work weekends and earn less money.
COULD A STRIKE BE AVOIDED? CAN THE GOVERNMENT INTERVENE?
The strike can be avoided if UPS and the Teamsters agree to a new contract before the July 31 deadline. There91裸聊视频檚 also a possibility of government intervention.
O91裸聊视频橞rien said Sunday that he has asked the White House on numerous occasions if workers end up going on strike. Last year, President Joe Biden to avoid disrupting the nation91裸聊视频檚 supply chain, and workers had accept an agreement that wasn91裸聊视频檛 broadly supported by union members.
WHAT IMPACT WOULD A STRIKE HAVE?
The 24 million packages UPS ships on an average day amounts to about a quarter of all U.S. parcel volume, according to the global shipping and logistics firm Pitney Bowes. As UPS puts it, that91裸聊视频檚 the equivalent of about 6% of nation91裸聊视频檚 gross domestic product.
Higher prices and long wait times are all but certain if there is an impasse. A strike also threatens to extend .
91裸聊视频淪omething91裸聊视频檚 got to give,91裸聊视频� Thomas Goldsby, logistics chairman in the Supply Chain Management Department at the University of Tennessee, told The Associated Press. 91裸聊视频淭he python can91裸聊视频檛 swallow the alligator, and that91裸聊视频檚 going to be felt by all of us.91裸聊视频�
UPS said this month that it will temporarily begin training nonunion employees in the U.S. to step in should there be a strike.
Beyond shipping and supply implications, a union win at UPS could have significance for organized labor across industries. UPS91裸聊视频檚 contract talks arrive amid other prominent labor campaigns at Apple, Starbucks, Trader Joe91裸聊视频檚 and other companies 91裸聊视频� as well as the current seen in Hollywood.
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The Associated Press
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