July 14 (UPI) — As the Aug. 1 deadline approaches for UPS to reach a bargaining agreement with its 340,000 Teamsters workers, the company said Friday it will train non-union workers to try to circumvent a strike and keep operating.
“While we have made great progress and are close to reaching an agreement, we have a responsibility as an essential service provider to take steps to help ensure we can deliver our customers’ packages if the Teamsters choose to strike,” UPS said in a statement.
Teamsters President Sean M. O’Brien, on a swing through New Jersey to prepare for the potential strike Aug. 1, said in a Facebook statement: “UPS has 18 days to come to their senses or strike themselves. UPS Teamsters are ready for the picket line.”
O’Brien said UPS can afford to avoid a strike by making a contract offer that’s just to workers who keep UPS moving.
Under an amendment to the National Labor Relations Act during the Truman administration, companies can temporarily replace striking workers under certain circumstances.
Labor unions see it as hiring strike breakers to defeat strikes by continuing company operations.
UPS’ Friday statement on the training of non-union workers said: “We remain focused on reaching an agreement with the Teamsters that is a win for UPS employees, our customers, our union, and our company before Aug. 1. This temporary plan has no effect on current operations and the industry-leading service our people continue to provide for our customers.”
The Teamsters and UPS each blamed the other for the breakdown of labor contract talks.
On Tuesday, Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman will join Local 89 President Avral Thompson and union members at the UPS Louisville transport hub for a rally to call for a just contract.
Local 89 said on Facebook that, “As national strike preparations continue, UPS Teamsters in Louisville are united, organized, and ready to withhold their labor. These hardworking Teamsters put their lives on the line during the pandemic so Americans could stay safe in their homes, allowing UPS to rake in historic profits. Now it’s time to pay up or, in a mere 17 days from now, UPS will find out just how essential our members are.”
Teamsters President Sean M. O’Brien said when the talks broke down July 5 that UPS told union negotiators the company had no more to give the union in negotiations.
“This multibillion-dollar corporation has plenty to give American workers — they just don’t want to,” he said then.
The contract talks have broken down for now despite agreements having been reached on 55 non-economic issues, according to the Teamsters.
Tentative agreements on ending forced overtime on drivers’ days off, increasing wages for drivers who don’t work traditional Monday-Friday shifts and establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as a paid holiday.
An earlier agreement was also reached on air-conditioning delivery trucks.
Greater Louisville Central Labor Council executive director Tim Morris said if the 340,000 Teamsters strike UPS, the impact will be felt everywhere and by everyone.
“The supply chain, as we have seen through years of a global pandemic, is very delicate and the frontline workers at UPS make up a large portion of the supply chain,” he said.
The last time Teamsters were on strike at UPS was 1997 when they had about half the number of members they have today.
That strike had a major impact on the economy and cost UPS $5 million a day.
