The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, representing workers at shipping giant UPS, is gearing up for a potential strike.
Negotiations with UPS have been ongoing for seven months, and as the July 31 contract negotiation deadline approaches, the spirits among the union members remain high. If the strike goes ahead, approximately 340,000 drivers, warehouse workers, and other employees could walk off the job, marking one of the largest labor actions in U.S. history.
The possible strike comes amid increasing labor activity around the globe due to elevated inflation. Companies are pulling in record profits during the recovery from the pandemic, leading to a shift in the economy’s value distribution from labor payments to returns on investment.
The Teamsters’ president, Sean O’Brien, has called for a change in the economic model, urging UPS to allocate more of its profits to improve the working conditions of its employees.
As negotiations continue, UPS has begun training nonunion workers to prevent labor disruption, a move the Teamsters deem insulting to the bargaining process.
Furthermore, the potential strike could disrupt parcel deliveries nationwide. The logistics publication Freightwaves reported that out of the 18.6 million parcels UPS handles daily in the U.S., about 14.6 million parcels, most of which are ground deliveries, could be diverted during a strike. This could result in a loss of about 30% or 4 million parcels per day.
This situation serves as a stark reminder of the critical role of labor negotiations in maintaining smooth operations in sectors such as shipping and e-commerce. The outcome of these negotiations may also set precedents for future labor disputes, notably with e-commerce giants like Amazon.