UPS PLEADS TO KEEP BARGAINING WITH MORE MONEY, TEAMSTERS DEMAND MORE PROGRESS
Today, UPS, under extraordinary pressure from the Teamsters to deliver a strong contract, gave the union a revised counterproposal with significant movement on wages and other economic language. The company pleaded for the opportunity to continue negotiating, pledging across the table to reach a deal no later than July 5 for 340,000 Teamster package delivery drivers and warehouse logistics workers nationwide.
“UPS Teamsters have strategically navigated this process for maximum leverage against this multibillion-dollar corporation. At every step, we are forcing them to do what they don’t want to do, which is give our members more money and better protections at work,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “We have repeatedly told UPS that a new contract must be in place by August 1. The Teamsters will not work one minute beyond the expiration of our current agreement. UPS did not want to make progress on economics, but they conceded today that they will reach a deal by July 5 because they have no choice.”
“UPS came back with real movement, but it isn’t enough. After they left the room, our national committee had a long dialogue and the universal consensus was to continue our leverage campaign. One of two things is going to happen next — UPS will come to terms on a deal we can confidently recommend to our members or UPS will fail and the company will put itself on the street,” said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. “Thousands of UPS Teamsters are practice picketing right now across the country, showing UPS how serious we are about getting the best contract in our history.”
O’Brien, Zuckerman, and the full UPS Teamsters National Negotiating Committee will hold a press conference outside Teamsters headquarters on Saturday, July 1, to provide an up-to-the minute progress report of UPS’s actions at the bargaining table.
The Teamsters are fighting to win a strong agreement at UPS that guarantees better pay for all workers, eliminates a two-tier wage system, increases full-time jobs, resolves safety and health concerns, and provides stronger protections against managerial harassment.
“We break our backs working for this company. UPS needs to recognize our sacrifices not just with empty words, calling us ‘essential workers,’ but by putting the pay, benefits, and protections we deserve into a contract,” said Cesar Castro, a part-time UPS Teamster with Local 396 in Los Angeles and a member of the Teamsters National Negotiating Committee. “Every UPS Teamster expects this by July 5 or we will be ready to strike.”
UPS recorded $100 billion in revenue and over $13 billion in profits last year alone.
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