by Charlotte Hazard
As contract negotiations continue, UPS workers who are part of the Teamsters union voted overwhelmingly to organize a strike that could start as soon as the beginning of August.
The union wants better pay, elimination of surveillance cameras in the trucks and more full time jobs, according to CBS News. To bolster their case, the Teamsters point to record profits for UPS in 2022, saying the company paid out more that $8 billion in shareholder dividends.
If the strike goes through, it will be the largest labor stoppage since the steelworkers’ strike in 1959. The last time that UPS workers went on strike was 1997, which lasted 15 days.
The president of the Teamsters labor union, Sean O’Brien, said in a statement obtained by NBC News that the vote showed that workers are “united and determined to get the best contract in our history at UPS. If this multibillion-dollar corporation fails to deliver on the contract that our hard working members deserve, UPS will be striking itself.”
The Teamsters union represents 340,000 workers at the package delivery company. The strike is set to occur if no agreement is reached with UPS by the time the current contract expires on July 31.
A UPS spokesperson said that they are confident that an agreement will be reached by that time.
“We continue to make progress on key issues and remain confident that we will reach an agreement that provides wins for our employees, the Teamsters, our company and our customers,” spokesperson Glenn Zaccara said in a statement, according to CBS.
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Charlotte Hazard is a 2022 Liberty University alumni who graduated with a major in journalism and a minor in government.
Photo “UPS Truck” by Matthew Parsanian.
