- 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
- They are demanding air conditioning in the back of trucks, better pay packages, and benefits
- UPS drivers already make around $95,000 yearly and receive an additional $50,000 in benefits
- However, the average salary is around $44,000, which is still significantly higher than its competitors, Amazon and FedEx
- UPS handles 21.5million packages a day and – the only carrier with the capacity to do so – and controls about six percent of the nation’s GDP
- If the workers go on strike, it will be the first time the company has since 1997
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.
FedEx Ground’s delivery system is at risk of complete collapse as the local contractors it relies upon face rising costs and without any sign that their compensation will go up any time soon.
The FedEx Ground network relies upon local delivery companies to make the package and parcel drop offs on behalf of the $54 billion multinational conglomerate.
But now one of the largest delivery contractors is warning that the entire system is on the brink of falling apart with local workers unable to absorb any more rising costs.
‘The FedEx Ground network is in far more peril than what anyone realizes. If Wall Street analysts, if FedEx corporate, and FedEx ground understood the degree to which the network is in danger, there would be widespread panic,’ said Spencer Patton, President of Route Consultant.
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 UPS 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.
