Unionized UPS workers vote to authorize a strike, paving way for potential work stoppage

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Unionized UPS workers voted to authorize a strike on Friday, setting the stage for a potential work stoppage if the package delivery company and the Teamsters can’t come to an agreement on a new contract.

The authorization doesn't mean a strike will occur. Instead, it allows the union's leadership to call for a national walkout if both sides fail to reach an agreement before the current contract expires on July 31.

"The International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced it received approval from its UPS members who voted on its strike authorization," UPS said in a statement. "The results do not mean a strike is imminent and do not impact our current business operations in any way. Authorization votes and approvals are normal steps in labor union negotiations. 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."

Teamsters leadership had urged workers to vote for the strike authorization, which would give them more leverage in their negotiations with the company.

UPS delivers millions more packages every day than it did just five years ago and its 350,000 unionized workers, represented by the Teamsters, still seethe about a contract they feel was forced on them in 2018.

The 24 million packages UPS ships on an average day amounts to about a quarter of all U.S. parcel volume, according to the global shipping and logistics firm Pitney Bowes, or as UPS puts it, the equivalent of about 6% of nation's gross domestic product.

Higher prices and long wait times are all but certain if there is an impasse.

UPS workers feel they have played a part in the transformation of how Americans shop since the last contract was ratified in 2018, while helping to make UPS a much more valuable company.

Annual profits at UPS in the past two years are close to three times what they were before the pandemic. The Atlanta 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.

The Teamsters say frontline UPS workers deserve some of that windfall.

The union announced a tentative deal on June 14 with UPS to secure air conditioning for delivery trucks during negotiations.

In addition to addressing part-time pay, and what workers say is excessive overtime, the union wants to eliminate a contract provision that created two separate hierarchies of workers with different pay scales, hours and benefits. Driver safety is also in the mix.

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