A national UPS strike, the first since 1997, is imminent after talks recently broke down between the company and the Teamsters Union, which represents 250,000 UPS drivers. On Thursday, CNN reported that talks between the UPS and the Teamsters broke down, with each side accusing the other of walking away from the talks.
The Teamsters have been demanding more pay, the elimination of two tiered pay systems which they say allow certain drivers to be paid less than other drivers for doing the same work, air conditioning in all vehicles, and more full time jobs.
The week before, the Teamsters walked out of contract negotiations with the company and demanded that the company present their last, best, and final offer. The company responded with a new offer, but negotiations broke down once again.
With no new negotiations scheduled, the union has been fanning out to locals and UPS barns to intensify strike preparations. Union members have been doing practice picket lines. Practice picket lines have been going up in many places around the country, including Missouri.
In 1997, the UPS strike was the largest strike in terms of striking workers that the country had seen so far. Almost 100% of the UPS workers who were members of the Teamsters were involved. Missouri is not a right to work state, so the percentage of drivers who are members of the Teamsters is likely to be higher than in other states.
During the strike in 1997, UPS losses were over $600 million. Over 7 million packages were backlogged during the strike, resulting in a loss of $780 million over the strike. At the time, UPS said that it might have lost 5% of its business for good. FedEx has been a lot more prevalent in the area in recent decades.
No comments:
Post a Comment