After more than two months of negotiations, UPS and the Teamsters — the union representing more than 340,000 of the company’s workers — were unable to reach a consensus on a new four-year labor contract, ending talks early Wednesday morning.
The giant shipping company said the union walked away from negotiations.
“We have nearly a month left to negotiate. We have not walked away, and the union has a responsibility to remain at the table,” said Jim Mayer, a UPS spokesperson in a statement. But the union said UPS is the one who walked away, regardless of who walked away, the Teamsters sit ready to strike on or by Aug. 1.
“This multibillion-dollar corporation has plenty to give American workers — they just don’t want to,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a tweet.
The current contract between the two entities is set to expire on July 31 at midnight.
If the UPS Teamsters walk off the job, it is expected to be the largest single employer strike in U.S. history, with union members rotating picket line shifts 24/7, said Stephen Piercey, communications director for Teamsters Local 89, which represents roughly 10,000 UPS employees in Louisville at Worldport, the largest shipping and logistics facility in America.
Here’s what we know:
Has UPS had a strike before?
Yes.
The last time UPS Teamsters walked off the job was in 1997, creating the 19th-largest strike in American history. The 15-day strike by 185,000 workers “largely crippled the world’s largest package delivery company,” according to a New York Times article from August 1997.
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What does a UPS strike mean for customers?
At the very least, a strike means delays to package deliveries. But a UPS strike could effectively halt the supply chain nationwide.
UPS supports the national and global economy. The company estimates it “transports more than 3% of global (gross domestic product) and about 6% of U.S. GDP daily,” including everything from home-ordered Amazon packages to business shipments.
Workers at the company’s Worldport processing site in Louisville, Kentucky, handle roughly 416,000 packages per hour. Nationwide, the company employs close to 500,000 workers with roughly 65,000 being UPS drivers.
In an economy dependent on the logistics and shipping industry, a UPS employee strike could have more drastic consequences than in 1997. Customers could see slower delivery of goods to households, higher prices on products and shipping and yet another breakdown of the modern supply chain, according to reporting from the Associated Press.
“If we were forced to go on strike because UPS didn’t want to give these members what they deserve, it would cripple the company,” Avral Thompson, the president of Teamsters Local 89, said June 28. “This hub is crucial to UPS and the flow of their business.”
UPS Airlines pilots who are members of the Independent Pilots Association union will support the picket line, just like in 1997.
A strike risk analysis from Deutsche Bank indicates the Teamsters strike fund of $346 million will be completely depleted within three weeks of a strike starting.
How did we get here?
The bargaining process started last August with the introduction of a contract campaign.
In March, regional unions began the bargaining process with UPS over supplemental contracts for their employees. And by mid-May, tentative agreements had been reached on all supplements except two: Louisville and Northern California. Those regions finally agreed to tentative terms in late June.
Negotiations over the national contract began in April. Teamsters won a crucial bargaining point for members in mid-June when UPS committed to equip delivery vehicles with air conditioning and take other precautions for heat safety. But with other demands unmet, union members passed a strike authorization vote with 97% approval on June 16, giving them the ability to call a strike if they deemed it necessary.
A strike appeared imminent on June 28, when Teamsters walked away from the bargaining table and members began holding practice pickets nationwide, including in Louisville. But after UPS presented a “revised counterproposal with significant movement on wages and other economic language,” the two parties were able to come to a tentative agreement on several unresolved issues.
This story may be updated.
Contact reporter Olivia Evans at oevans@courier-journal.com or on Twitter at @oliviamevans_.