Hundreds of thousands Teamsters may strike unless there is a fair deal

I started off as a UPS employee in 1990 at just 18 years old. I worked as a preloader, sorting and organizing packages for delivery. A few years later, I became a package car driver, responsible for making deliveries in the brown trucks Americans see on our roads every day.

Now, I’m a feeder driver — in my opinion, the best UPS job. I drive the tractor-trailers in the New York tri-state area that bring packages into UPS sort facilities for distribution. I work the overnight shift, and that can be tough. But the schedule allows me to pick up my daughter from school, which is very important to me.

I am incredibly proud of my work, helping deliver packages to homes and businesses. What we do really matters. That is why UPS workers, represented by the Teamsters, have been so united in the fight to protect our livelihoods. And I truly know New Yorkers support us in our fight for a strong contract.

On July 31, the Teamsters’ five-year national agreement with UPS will expire. The union contract covers more than 340,000 UPS Teamsters nationwide — feeder drivers, package delivery drivers, and warehouse workers. Our message to UPS is clear: it’s time for UPS to share the wealth, or prepare for a strike.

Just look at what happened during COVID. More Americans started working from home, and demand for packages skyrocketed. Business boomed for UPS, and essential workers like me risked our health to keep packages moving and make our customers happy. Today, we’re still feeling the pandemic’s impact on our industry, as peak-season volume has turned into year-round demand.

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Our days are longer and more intense than ever, regardless of the fact that we received no hazard pay, no new wages, and no additional compensation for the increase in work or the risks incurred. Inflation is real and it hits working people hard. Meanwhile, UPS made $100 billion last year and their CEO made $19 million — all off the sweat and hard work of the men and women that make the company what it is. It’s easy for UPS executives to say they appreciate us. But if UPS really does value us, they need to take care of those who take care of them.

UPS can deliver a fair contract that rewards and values the Teamsters who make this company consistently profitable. This includes full-time drivers and the part-time workers in the warehouses whose starting pay is $15.50 per hour. Why shouldn’t the people who work so hard to warehouse and deliver millions of packages be paid our worth? For UPS to tell our union during negotiations that they have nothing more to give is deeply offensive. It shows how little they care about the people who actually do the work at this company.

On top of fighting for higher wages, we are working to put an end to an unfair two-tier wage system, known as 22.4. Workers classified as 22.4 do the same work as other UPS drivers but are paid less. And they have fewer protections around their hours and schedules. Imagine doing the same job as your co-worker but making about $5 less an hour with a less reliable schedule.

Anyone can see this is fundamentally unfair. It’s unsustainable. It’s a tactic by UPS to pay our co-workers less for the exact same job while attempting to create division. It is critical that every UPS employee is treated fairly and paid fairly. Our part-time employees need fair living wages, something they haven’t had in far too long. This injustice is what our current contract negotiations are trying to fix.

None of us are hoping for a strike but we’re ready to withhold our labor if UPS doesn’t come to the table with a respectable, meaningful effort to improve our contract. The reality is the pandemic increased demand in our industry and made our jobs harder while UPS executives continued to reap the benefits of our work. With the record earnings it pocketed during the pandemic, UPS can easily afford to share the wealth and settle a fair contract with the Teamsters. This must include an end to the two-tier wage system, increases in our wages, and resolutions to other longstanding issues including safeguards to prevent harassment from management.

It’s up to UPS to negotiate a fair collectively bargained agreement. I don’t know if UPS will choose to force us out on strike. What I know for sure is that as Teamsters we’re ready to take a stand for working people and do whatever it takes to win the fight.

Mishoe is a UPS employee and member of Teamsters Local 804.