PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Contract talks between UPS and the Teamsters union broke down early Wednesday, each side blaming the other for walking away. The union, representing 340,000 of the package-delivery company's workers across the country, has authorized a strike if a new deal isn’t worked out before the end of the contract — midnight on July 31.
Union officials said UPS “walked away from the bargaining table after presenting an unacceptable offer," specifically with regard to the economic package. The company said it was the Teamsters who abandoned negotiations, “despite UPS’s historic offer that builds on our industry-leading pay.”
Richard Hooker Jr. with the Teamsters Local 623 in Philadelphia says workers aren’t trying to get rich, they just want fair wages. And they want to get paid on time.
“Our members have a hard time getting paid. Now you would think that a company who makes as much money as UPS, they will have a system in place where our members could get paid on time,” he said.
But workers’ gripes are not all about pay. They also want a healthy work environment, better access to health care, more full-time jobs and a stronger pension.
“A couple of weeks ago, nationally, the teamsters voted 97% to go on strike if need be — 97% want to go on strike. That tells you something about the conditions, the wages, the treatment. That tells you all you need to know — 97%.”
UPS says its workers move 6% of the nation’s GDP around in those iconic brown trucks and vans. Refusing to negotiate threatens the U.S. economy, the company says, and would carry far-reaching implications for the supply chain, which has just begun to recover from pandemic-related entanglements.
The Teamsters say if workers went on strike, deliveries would indeed come to a halt. And a strike would have major consequences locally, Hooker said, "because our area, right here in Philadelphia, we have the second-largest air hub in the country, the largest air hub on the East Coast."
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But the union hopes other working people will support them.
“When you guys called on us during the height of the pandemic, we delivered — and I mean that figuratively and literally. We deliver. We showed up to the hospitals with the COVID vaccine. We showed up to the homes with baby formula, clothes, because America did not want to go out to the stores — and very rightfully. So we understood that, but we didn't have that option,” Hooker said.
Annual profits at UPS in the past two years are close to three times what they were pre-pandemic. The company returned about $8.6 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and stock buybacks in 2022, and forecasts another $8.4 billion for shareholders this year.
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