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United Parcel Service drivers represented by the Teamsters union picketed Wednesday at a distribution hub to call attention to long hours and extra days being worked in the pandemic.
The 80 to 100 drivers based in Auburn are frustrated about being overworked during the pandemic, said Brett Miller, president of Local 340. The goal is to get the attention of management, he said.
“They are working Christmas hours and they’ve been doing this for 14 months straight. They’re wearing down,” he said.
The 1.2 million member International Brotherhood of Teamsters is one of the largest and most powerful unions in the U.S., with a vast marble headquarters and billions in pension fund assets. But there have been internal conflicts with the union, including over a controversial 2018 contract with UPS that was implemented despite the membership’s majority “no” vote. Now, in the lead-up to the November election to determine the next Teamsters president, that UPS contract is once again taking center stage.
While the two candidates vying for the presidency have pledged to remove a rule that allows union leadership to implement contracts in certain circumstances against the will of the membership, only one of the candidates, Boston Teamster leader Sean O’Brien, has the track record of opposing the 2018 UPS contract that is the case study for those seeking the rule change. The other candidate, Colorado Teamster leader Steve Vairma, is seen as more closely aligned with outgoing President James Hoffa and was notably silent as a majority of voting UPS members opposed the 2018 contract.
That UPS contract, which 54 percent of UPS Teamsters voted against, will loom large over the election. To successfully win union representation elections, unions need to show that they are able to provide more than the status quo. If the union’s largest contract in the country — in this case, UPS — has starting wages 13 percent below what its non-union rival Amazon offers, the union’s ability to convince Amazon workers that they need to unionize to improve their position diminishes. (Overall, though, UPS offers workers a much better deal.) And given that UPS Teamsters perform very similar work to many Amazon workers — sorting, tracking, and delivering packages — the union needs rank-and-file UPS Teamsters to get involved in the organizing campaign to have any possibility of success. If Teamster members at UPS are too angry at the union for implementing an agreement a majority didn’t want, they’re less likely to become involved in a new organizing campaign at Amazon.
UPS is now offering its higher education incentives to everyone in Kentucky.
The UPS Kentucky LOOP has expanded to all Kentucky counties, the company announced Tuesday.
The education program provides part-time employment while covering undergraduates’ tuition, bonuses and a housing stipend for up to 36 months.
A UPS driver is being hailed as a hero for saving a resident’s life during a house fire in Longview.
According to the Longview Fire Department, on May 3, around 8:10 p.m., officials responded to 106 W. Primrose Ln., just north of Pine Tree Primary School, on reports of a house fire.
When crews arrived on scene, they found fire coming from the roof. The LFD was able to get into the attic to extinguish the blaze.
Ten Queens UPS employees have been reinstated after being wrongfully terminated. Now Teamsters Local 804 is demanding weeks of back pay for these workers.
“People over packages” has been the message of Teamsters Local 804 as they fight for the rights of their members. In April, the ten workers — two of whom are pregnant — were fired for not working overtime, despite finishing their part-time shift. According to Teamsters Local 804, these employees were not informed that they had to work past their shift. It’s the union’s position that the walkout allegation was only after the fact, and they did not refused to work. The workers were fired for walking out of the job without first informing their supervisors despite fulfilling their part-time schedule.
For weeks, Teamsters Local 804 let out a rallying cry stating, “Part-time workers are essential not disposable.” They demanded that UPS management treat their employees like the essential workers they are, whether they be part-time or full-time.