UPS Teamsters Have Won Big. But for Some Workers, Raised Expectations Have Outpaced Gains.
At UPS, Teamsters just won a historic tentative agreement. Some workers are looking at what the union won without a strike and concluding it should have demanded even more — and creating demands for the next contract fight.
UPS workers and Teamsters members practice picket outside a UPS distribution facility in Madison Heights, Michigan, on July 18, 2023. (Jeff Kowalsky / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Some 323,000 US workers have struck so far this year. Another 340,000 were in gear to strike, until their nationwide mobilization forced the company to concede. United Parcel Service (UPS) Teamsters are voting on the deal through August 22.
“After 25 years of [former Teamsters president James P.] Hoffa and his givebacks, we came out ahead,” said Eugene Braswell, a delivery driver and Local 804 steward. “This is the first time in all those years that I have a national contract that I can vote yes on.”
How are UPSers making sense of their gains at the table? I spoke with two dozen rank and filers. Some were relieved they didn’t have to strike. Others had been excited for a strike — both to hit back at corporate management and to command respect from the supervisors who dish out daily abuse.
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