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CNN business
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Over the past year, early labor movements at big companies like Starbucks and Amazon have gained national attention. But what’s lesser known is that a dangerous clash is looming between one of America’s oldest unions and the world’s largest courier company.
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Contract negotiations are expected to begin between UPS and Teamsters Union in the spring before the current contract expires at the end of July 2023. Already, labor experts predict drivers and package handlers will leave before negotiations begin. on strike.
“The question is how long it will last,” said Todd Vachon, a professor of labor relations at Rutgers University. “The union president ran for office and won with a more belligerent approach. [to a deal]The general staff will be hungry to take on the company.
A UPS strike would then affect nearly every home in the country. An estimated 6% of the country’s gross domestic product is transported on his UPS trucks each year. The explosive growth of online retail has made the company and its drivers more important than ever to the country’s struggling supply chains. In addition to the company’s home delivery, we also deliver many products in stores, factories and offices.
UPS employs approximately 350,000 teamsters as drivers and package sorters in a global workforce of 534,000 full-time employees. And it’s growing fast — the company has added about 72,000 jobs representing his Teamster since the start of the pandemic.
FedEx (FDX), the United States Postal Service, and Amazon’s own shipping service have competing services, but UPS only has the capacity to handle a fraction of the 21.5 million US packages that move daily.
“We want a deal that gives UPS the flexibility to win for our employees and stay competitive in a rapidly changing industry,” the company said in a statement earlier this month. UPS and Teamsters have worked together for nearly 100 years to meet the needs of UPS employees, customers and the communities in which we live and work. I believe we will reach a good agreement.”
Unions have not gone on strike against UPS since nearly two weeks of protests in 1997. If the union goes on strike, it will be the largest strike against a single company in US history.
There are certainly signs of strain in the relationship between the company and the union.
Although the majority of members voted against ratification of the current deal in 2018, the leadership of the former Teamsters, led by then-President James Hoffa, was determined to have enough members for a ratification vote to trigger a strike. I only saw it in action because I didn’t participate.
The union’s new president, Sean O’Brien, said earlier this year, UPS contracts are a central focus of his campaign. He vows that UPS will pay Teamster members more this time around, and often speaks of the $300 million in strike funds the union has amassed to pay members if they go on strike.
“Do our members get up every day and want to strike? I think no. But are they fed up? Yes they are fed up,” O’Brien told CNN Business last week. “Whether there is a strike or not is entirely up to the company.
According to UPS, delivery drivers make an average salary of $95,000 a year, and with benefits like a traditional pension plan, they’re worth $50,000 a year. UPS semi-tractor His driver’s salary is even higher. That’s much higher than most FedEx and Amazon wages, where many drivers work for small independent contractors.
The current contract expires at 12:01 am on August 1st. O’Brien pledges that the union will not allow any kind of contract extension past that deadline.
and he added The union will demand better working conditions, in addition to better wages and benefits. This includes adding air conditioning to the panel trucks used for UPS deliveries. This poses a health risk to drivers, the union said.
“It’s no big deal for a company to install air conditioning,” he said. “Heat stroke is occurring frequently.”
The company often talks about how much they value the employees Teamster represents.
In terms of job numbers, UPS is one of workers’ best friends in US corporate management despite the apparent strain. UPS is one of the few unionized employers to significantly increase salaries and increase membership. In other companies, union membership has declined steadily or over decades.
The increase in Teamsters’ jobs at UPS is due to a steady increase in online purchases, especially during the surge during the pandemic. Last year, it took just nine months to report record profits for the full year. UPS finished his 2021 with operating profit up 50% to his $13.1 billion. Earnings in the first half of the year were up another 10% year over year.
“Everybody keeps getting rich, except our members,” said O’Brien.
UPS CEO Carol Tome, who started the job shortly after the pandemic began, says the company’s union agreement is a competitive advantage in times of worker shortages.
She also tries to assure both investors and UPS customers that the company is prepared in case the union goes on strike. refused to
“Our goal with Teamsters is win-win-win,” she told investors in July. But she added that UPS is “developing a contingency plan.”
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