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The US faces the biggest strike ever as 350,000 UPS workers are set to protest over better conditions, even though delivery drivers already earn upwards of $95,000 a year.
UPS’ contract is set to expire on July 31, 2023, and 350,000 of its 534,000 employees are expected to go on strike to demand better conditions.
Those represented by the Teamsters labor union are demanding air conditioning in the back of trucks, after several workers have been injured or died due to extreme heat, as well as better pay packages and benefits.
If the workers go on strike, it will be the first time the company has since 1997, when employees demanded full-time positions and the union wanted to maintain control over the pension fund.
Labor experts suspect the unionized workers will go on strike sometime during the spring while the contract is being negotiated and it will it affect the whole country.
The 1997 strike lasted 15 days and affected 80 percent of shipments, losing UPS $780million, according to Parcel.
Now, UPS controls around six percent of the nation’s GDP, and with the pandemic exploding online retail business to a new level, the company added 72,000 unionized jobs since 2020.
UPS moves around 21.5milion packages a day, according to CNN Business, and its competing companies – FedEx and Amazon – do not have the same capacity to manage that many packages.
UPS’ contract is set to expire on July 31, 2023, and 350,000 of its 534,000 employees are expected to go on strike to demand better conditions (pictured: NYC workers)
The current President Sean O’Brien – who won office by prioritizing the UPS contract – has also reminded workers that there’s a $300million strike fund to cover payroll while on strike and is planning to demand better pay and benefits and air conditioning in the back of trucks
UPS said in a statement that it wishes to come to a peaceful conclusion that ‘provides wins for our employees and that provides UPS the flexibility to stay competitive in a rapidly changing industry.’
‘UPS and the Teamsters have worked cooperatively for almost 100 years to meet the needs of UPS employees, customers, and the communities where we live and work. We believe we’ll continue to find common ground with the Teamsters and reach an agreement that’s good for everyone involved,’ the company said in a statement, according to CNN Business.
Tensions between the company and its worker have been rising since 2018, after the last contract was ratified by former Teamster president James Hoffa. The vote was put in place because not enough workers ratified the vote to trigger a strike, according to CNN Business.
The current President Sean O’Brien – who won office by prioritizing the UPS contract – has also reminded workers that there’s a $300million strike fund to cover payroll while on strike.
‘Do our members wake up every day wanting a strike. I’d say no. But are they fed up? Yes they’re fed up,’ O’Brien told CNN Business. ‘Whether or not there is a strike, that’s totally up to the company. We’re going to utilize as much leverage as we can to get our members the contract they deserve.’
UPS drivers already make around $95,000 yearly and receive an additional $50,000 in benefits, according to CNN Business. Semi-truck drivers make even more than that.
UPS’ starting pay is between $2 and $5 higher than its competitors, according to Youtuber Laos House, who works in the business.
The average delivery driver makes around $95,000 at the company and the average salary is reportedly around $44,452. UPS pays much higher than its competitors
If the workers go on strike, it will be the first time the company has since 1997 (pictured in Chicago), when employees demanded full-time positions and the union wanted to maintain control over the pension fund. More than 185,000 Teamsters were involved in the first nationwide strike in the 90-year history of UPS
The mega-company reportedly starts at $22 an hour in New Jersey, compared to the lowest at $17 through FedEx ground. The next highest is Amazon and the US Postal Service at $18 an hour, to the second highest FedEx Express at $20 an hour.
Its max pay reportedly outweighs other carriers between $6 and $14 an hour, maxing out at $38, in New Jersey.
The median salary at UPS is $44,254, according to Business Insider, whereas Amazon is $29,007 and FedEx is $49,059.
In addition, workers want air conditioning the back of truck, which can hit triple-digit temperatures in the summer – especially after several have suffered injuries or even death.
In early July, a 24-year-old worker Esteban Chavez Jr, known as Stevie, was delivering packages when he suddenly collapsed during his shift in California.
Chavez’s family believes he died due to high temperatures.
‘Everyone knows, it is pretty hot out there, those trucks are a hot box,’ Chavez Sr. said. ‘They have all these guys running around, delivering packages and trying to meet their quotas and do their jobs.’
The UPS driver had just turned 24 the day before his death and returned to work after time off to heal from a shoulder injury.
‘It’s not a heavy lift for the company to install air conditioning. There’s a lot of heat stroke going on,’ O’Brien told CNN
President of the Teamster 804, in Brooklyn, Vinnie Perrone, told News 12 that ‘nothing was done’ about the heat related incidents the team faced.
‘They’re basically just turning a deaf ear to it,’ Perrone said. ‘We still have concern about our members safety inside the buildings and outside the buildings.’
UPS CEO Carol Tome said the contracts the company has is competitive for worker shortages and that the company wants a ‘win-win’ situation.
UPS also said it is preparing contingency plans in case workers do go on strike, according to CNN Business.
The 1997 strike lasted 15 days and affected 80 percent of shipments, losing UPS $780million, according to Parcel. Striking UPS employees are pictured picketing in 1997 as a truck leaves the downtown Chicago UPS shipping center
UPS drivers already make around $95,000 yearly, which is still significantly higher than its competitors, like Amazon and FedEx. UPS Driver Gilbert Lopez works in Los Angeles, California, U.S., September 1, 2020