UPS Given Friday Deadline by Union as Strike Looms

Expressing frustration with an unsatisfactory counterproposal earlier this week, the leader of the union representing 340,000 UPS workers has declared that a strike is imminent. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has given the shipping giant a Friday deadline to improve its offer, demanding the receipt of its “last, best, and final offer” no later than June 30.

The Teamsters have not specified the exact time of the Friday deadline or the potential actions they might take if their demands are not met.

In addition to this development, here are some other news updates:

1. Starbucks union reports that Pride weekend strikes have resulted in the closure of 21 stores in the US.
2. H&M workers across Spain are striking for higher wages, leading to store closures.
3. A Starbucks union calls for a strike over Pride displays, but the company dismisses it as a misinformation campaign.
4. The German rail union threatens open-ended strikes due to a pay dispute.

“The largest single-employer strike in American history now seems inevitable,” stated Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien, who accused UPS executives of hoarding profits rather than sharing them with the workers.

O’Brien added, “Executives at UPS, some of whom receive tens of millions of dollars annually, have no regard for the hundreds of thousands of American workers who keep this company running.”

United Parcel Service released a brief statement indicating that it has made significant changes to its initial financial proposal. The statement also emphasized that reaching a consensus requires time, serious and detailed discussions, as well as concessions from both sides.

Negotiations for the national contract began in April, with the current contract set to expire on July 31.

Earlier this month, the Teamsters announced that 97% of unionized workers had voted in favor of a strike authorization, providing the union with increased leverage during negotiations with the company.

The Teamsters represent over half of the company’s workforce, making it the largest private-sector contract in North America. If a strike occurs, it would be the first since a 15-day walkout by 185,000 workers crippled the company 25 years ago.

While UPS has contested these claims by highlighting its industry-leading pay and benefits, unionized workers at UPS remain dissatisfied with the current contract. They believe it was imposed on them by previous union leadership in 2018 due to a technicality, resulting in two tiers of workers with varying pay scales, hours, and benefits. The union aims to eliminate this division.

Two weeks ago, the union and the company announced a tentative agreement to equip more trucks with air conditioning equipment, which was a major point of contention. UPS committed to adding air conditioning to small delivery vehicles purchased in the US after January 1, 2024.

According to the global shipping and logistics firm Pitney Bowes, UPS delivers approximately 25 million packages per day, accounting for about a quarter of all US parcel volume. This volume is approximately 10 million more packages per day than the pre-pandemic years.

UPS profits have experienced a significant surge since the start of the pandemic in 2020, as an increasing number of Americans have relied on doorstep deliveries.

In the past two years, UPS’s annual profits have nearly tripled compared to pre-pandemic levels. The Atlanta-based company returned approximately $8.6 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and stock buybacks in 2022 and is projected to distribute another $8.4 billion to shareholders this year.

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AP Business Reporter Haleluya Hadero contributed to this report from New York.

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