WASHINGTON —The Teamsters’ overwhelming authorization to its new leaders and board to call a strike against UPS prompted quick, positive company moves at the bargaining table.
Three developments followed hard and fast on each other: The 97% authorization vote among Teamsters who cast ballots, announced on June 16, the company agreement just a day or two later, to air condition all of its delivery trucks, and the union’s announcement on the evening of June 20 that all non-economic issues have been settled in national bargaining.
That last development prompted union President Sean O’Brien, Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman, and other bargainers to schedule a union-wide UPS member webinar at 8 p.m. on June 21 to update the 340,000 Teamsters UPS employs.
But that still leaves the biggest, and most-contentious, items to be settled: Raises at a time of record UPS profits, documented in a study for the union (see story in June 16 edition), elimination of the hated two-tier wage system, and promotion of part-time drivers to full-time status—a promise UPS made to former Teamsters President Jim Hoffa but never fully carried out.
“We reached a tentative agreement on well over 40 non-economic issues that affect all our members at UPS, and we did it as a team. The Teamsters haven’t sacrificed a single concession in these negotiations,” Zuckerman said in a statement Local 776 in Harrisburg, Pa., reprinted.
“Very soon we will review the language, changes, and improvements in all articles with the entire membership. Plus, the fun part now begins to fight for significant wage increases for everyone; full-timers, part-timers, long-timers, everyone.” The current contract expires July 31.
The Teamsters-UPS contract is important nationally. It will show union members whether popularly elected and more outspoken union presidents, including O’Brien and Sean Fain of the Auto Workers, can fulfill their campaign promises for raises from now immensely profitable firms and the elimination of two-tier systems.
Shows workers are united
“This vote shows hundreds of thousands of Teamsters are united and determined to get the best contract in our history at UPS,” O’Brien said after the strike authorization passed. “If this multibillion-dollar corporation fails to deliver on the contract that our hardworking members deserve, UPS will be striking itself. The strongest leverage our members have is their labor and they are prepared to withhold it to ensure UPS acts accordingly.”
And in the Teamsters case, a forced strike at UPS could affect how the nation’s critical but creaky supply chain holds up. So far it has, barely. But unlike what happened to freight rail workers last November, Congress can’t legally intervene—though the Biden administration could jawbone and/or mediate between the workers and their bosses.
Last November, Congress and President Biden imposed a contract on the 115,000 unionized workers in one key segment of that chain, U.S. freight railroads. That pact left the workers to bargain with the big six freight carriers, one by one, over the key unsolved issue of paid sick leave and sane scheduling. And it led members of the Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen/ Teamsters to oust their president, Dennis Pierce, by popular vote. They deemed him too cozy with the carriers.
And earlier in July, Biden Administration Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su apparently successfully mediated the long-running confrontation between West Coast port owners and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Issues there were also pay and scheduling.
That left the Teamsters. If UPS had forced them to strike after the contract expired on August 1, freight truck traffic would be affected.
A forced Teamsters strike would also have a spillover effect on the Auto Workers. Their contracts with the Detroit 3—GM, Ford, and Stellantis (FiatChrysler) expire this fall.
Many of the same issues are on the table, including the two-tier system and high company profits in the years since the 2008 financier-caused crash forced GM and FiatChrysler into bankruptcy and millions of people out of work.
It also produced a federal rescue plan for the two automakers, though not for Ford, which stayed in the black. But all three and the Obama administration’s chief negotiator, conservative Democrat Ron Bloom, used the leverage of the crash to impose the two tiers on the UAW. In the last decade, the Detroit 3, combined, have garnered $250 billion in profits, a UAW-produced video says.
UAW Local 12 in Toledo, Ohio—where 500 workers recently won a new contract at an auto battery plant after being forced to strike for 41 days—posted Fain’s views on its website.
“Fain proclaimed he intends to align the auto union’s fight for new contracts at GM, Ford, and Stellantis this fall with the Teamsters at UPS to build what he describes as ‘working-class’ power as part of a wider effort to reverse the decline of unions and to improve the wages and working conditions of workers throughout the economy,” Local 12’s report, from the Detroit Bureau, said.
“During a Facebook live session, Fain re-iterated Detroit automakers can afford new contracts that improve wages, eliminate the ‘tiered’ wage structure that has prevailed in the industry since 2007 and recover concessions made when Detroit automakers were facing bankruptcy. He also added he would like to see Juneteenth added to the union’s schedule of paid holidays.”
We hope you appreciated this article. At People’s World, we believe news and information should be free and accessible to all, but we need your help. Our journalism is free of corporate influence and paywalls because we are totally reader-supported. Only you, our readers and supporters, make this possible. If you enjoy reading People’s World and the stories we bring you, please support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today. Thank you!
CONTRIBUTOR
Comments