UPS is facing its largest labor strike in decades - as over 90% of the shipping company's union members have voted to stop working if a deal can't be reached on the Teamsters' current labor contract which expires on August 1, according to CBS News.
At issue is how employees will be compensated under a rumored plan to deliver packages seven days a week. UPS began delivering on Saturdays last year to keep up with demand. The company is now proposing a two-tier wage structure that would shift part-time workers making $15/hour to full-time at the same wage. Drivers currently make an average of $36 an hour, or around $75,000 per year.
With UPS's roughly 19 million shipments per day accounting for roughly 6% of the nation's GDP, a labor dispute could disrupt the US economy. The company transports around 36% of deliveries between the top three logistics providers, while the U.S. Postal Service stands at 35% and FedEx comes in third at 17%.
The vote "gives the negotiating committees bargaining leverage this week and during subsequent negotiations for the national contract and the supplements," said Teamsters director and co-chairman of the bargaining committee, Denis Taylor.
That said, the Teamsters are deeply divided on the proposal, making a deal more difficult to reach and a strike more likely.
An opposition group within the union, UPS Teamsters United, argues that the delivery company, which posted a $5 billion profit in 2017, should pay new full time workers the same as existing workers. -CNN
"Most people understand in the world of Amazon (AMZN) and e-commerce, UPS isn't going to be Monday to Friday or even Monday to Saturday any more, it's going to be a seven-day operation," said David Levin, spokesman for UPS Teamsters United. "But they made record profits. They don't need concessions to do that."
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11 comments:
Good!!!! The only way to affect change is to hit the companies bottom dollar... This will certainly do that!!! To bad it takes a union to stand up to these clowns, and the average person won't...
Fire every last one of them and hire people that want to work!!
1:55 believe me they earn every penny they get.The company puts constant pressure on their drivers to work wide open all the time and it doesn't let up.
The employees will never recoup the wages lost while on strike. The union only cares about dues. Been there - done that.
1:55 wouldn’t understand the concept of hard work while still living in his parents basement.
What’s difficult here Wages go up and Shipping costs go up. This equals Consumer Pays
Amen
Expect to not see free delivery on shipped items nearly as much as before.
UPS made $11.7 billion in profits in 2017 (google it). They stand to make more with 7 day delivery. How much will they make if they dont have a skilled labor force or have to hire and train new people? I think they can afford some concessions, it will get settled long before august and you will never hear about it again.
Same thing happened in the Mid 90's and UPS took a nice loss. Don't expect it to happen this time.
I'm taking bets that the drivers will not strike. UPS will give them what they want, and just raise their rates to the customers to cover it. It's no skin off of their enormous profits. And with the raises, UPS will demand even more productivity from the drivers. Win for UPS, and win for drivers (maybe). Those well paid drivers already have no time for their families. With overtime, which they all are required to perform, the average driver makes well over $100K per year. I don't envy them. They give up their very lives and time with their families for the above average earnings. If the drivers ever get less greedy for money, and start stressing more time off for quality of life issues, then they will really be doing something for their families. They think money is everything and their time with their families is worth nothing.
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