LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Dozens of UPS workers gathered outside the company's Worldport air hub in Louisville on Wednesday morning to "practice" picketing as the Teamsters union and the company enter crunch time in their high-profile contract talks.
The union, which represents about 340,000 package handlers, delivery drivers and other rank-and-file UPS workers, is holding similar demonstrations in cities across the U.S. ahead of a July 31 deadline.
The message for UPS, Teamsters Local 89 communications director Stephen Piercey told the crowd gathered on a grassy patch beside Grade Lane: "Here's what's coming for you if you don't get your s*** together."
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As the Teamsters gird their members for a potential fight, UPS has sought to cool the rhetoric and reassure investors that the shipping giant will avert a costly work stoppage.
"We are making steady progress in our negotiations with the Teamsters on a wide array of issues," UPS spokeswoman Laura Holmberg said. "Even so, we are not surprised to see some union members making their voices heard."
The Teamsters have vowed not to work beyond the July 31 expiration of their current five-year contract unless they get a favorable deal from the Atlanta-based shipper. They’ve struck UPS only once, in 1997, which lasted about two weeks.
After two months of talks, union and company negotiators in Washington D.C. are now tackling the meat of the contract: economic issues such as wages and benefits.
The existing contract, which was approved in 2018 despite Teamsters voting against it, dictates a minimum wage of $15.50 for package handlers and other entry-level positions. But because of inflation and the tight job market, UPS is paying significantly more in many places, including $20-$21 in Louisville.
Ora Churn, a Worldport worker who attended Wednesday's rally, said makes about $30 per hour.
"I should be making more than that after 23 years," she said.
At the other end of the spectrum, the most senior UPS package car drivers make about $42 per hour — the equivalent of $87,360 a year — before any overtime.
Teamster leaders have said their members are long overdue their share of UPS’ profits, which soared during the pandemic-induced surge of online shopping.
"We’re fighting for big things and tons of money. And we're not afraid to admit it," Fred Zuckerman, the No. 2 official at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the longtime former president of the Louisville local, told Teamsters in a June 21 webinar. "UPS knows that we mean business."
A work stoppage at UPS, which handles more than 20 million packages a day, would have wide economic implications.
"No one wants to do this, but UPS knows what they have to do to fix it," Teamsters Local 89 President Avral Thompson told the crowd Wednesday. "... All indications are, this is going to be a stellar contract."
Agreements so far
The first two months of talks focused on non-economic issues, with UPS tentatively agreeing to 55 items so far, Teamsters International President Sean O’Brien said during the June 21 update.
The most significant of those, according to O’Brien, is getting air conditioning and other cooling equipment in package delivery cars — "one of the biggest demands our members had."
UPS has also agreed to remove any driver-facing cameras from its vehicles and not to rely on technology alone in leveling any disciplinary actions, O’Brien said.
The company also agreed to new limits on its "Surepost" product, a low-cost offering for businesses to ship ground packages through the UPS network that are delivered to residential addresses via the U.S. Postal Service.
Surepost was first allowed in the UPS-union contract in 2013. The concern on the part of the union is that fewer deliveries handled via UPS means less work for drivers.
The changes tentatively agreed to "will put millions upon millions of packages back on the cars," O’Brien said.Â
