(New York) The members of the union representing hundreds of thousands of employees of the UPS carrier, which delivers letters and parcels, have almost unanimously paved the way for a strike in the event of failure of the wage negotiations in progress in this group , which plays a crucial role in the American economy.
The mighty Teamsters organization has been negotiating the next collective bargaining agreement with management since April 17 and they theoretically only have six weeks left, until July 31, to reach an agreement for its 340,000 members.
Otherwise, a strike will be launched.
With 97% of the votes authorizing a work stoppage, the vote “gives the union maximum leverage to obtain demands at the negotiating table”, notes the organization in a press release announcing the results.
It “shows that hundreds of thousands of Teamsters are united and determined to obtain the best possible contract”, underlines its president Sean O’Brien.
A strike would have a considerable impact on the company but also on the American economy: UPS estimates that its trucks transport approximately 6% of the gross domestic product of the United States each day.
UPS boss Carol Tome regularly says she hopes to get a deal in time. “We told you from the start that it would be hectic and this is confirmed,” she said in particular in April.
In a message on Friday, the group stressed that this vote “does not (mean) that a strike (was) imminent” and does not in any way affect its operations. Such a vote represents “a usual step in union negotiations”, says UPS.
“Up to the limit”
Experts in the transport sector generally expect a rise in wages, although it will probably not be as high as that demanded by the union, notes Anthony DeRuijter of the Third Bridge consultancy.
But “there shouldn’t be a strike,” he says, because the Teamsters have an interest in showing that they can make progress if they want to convince employees of other companies like Amazon to unionize.
The two parties have already concluded an agreement on the installation of air conditioning and new fans in the trucks, a crucial aspect for drivers who can suffer from high temperatures in the back of the vehicles.
The union also won that management not use drones and other new transport technologies without consulting it, as well as restrictions on the use of cameras monitoring drivers.
But Sean O’Brien, who did not give quantified salary targets, warned that many points remained under discussion.
These negotiations come at a special time for the labor movement in the United States. Since 2021, small groups have for the first time succeeded in creating sections in large companies such as Starbucks, Amazon and Apple. But the rate of unionization in the private sector has fallen further in 2022, to just 6%.
However, trade unions in the transport sector have benefited from a certain momentum since the pandemic, which has highlighted the essential role of logistics.
On Wednesday, an agreement was reached between the association representing 29 ports on the West Coast and the union representing stevedores, after months of discussions and two weeks of slow work that affected port activity.
Terms of the contract have not been made public but according to Sal Mercogliano, a history professor at Campbell University who follows the shipping industry closely, the stevedores got a substantial raise.
In a joint statement, the ports and the union praised “the key role” of Labor Minister Julie Su in the negotiations.
President Joe Biden, who regularly defends the importance of trade unions, himself intervened at the end of 2022 to avoid a strike in the rail sector.
For Sal Mercogliano, it is possible that the US government will again work “behind the scenes” to avoid a strike by UPS drivers and handlers.
If the activity of the company has slowed down a little since the peak of the pandemic, the union can invoke the high inflation, estimates the expert according to whom the Teamsters “will push to the limit”.