Teamsters picket metro Atlanta UPS hub in preparation for possible strike
DULUTH, Ga. - United Parcel Service workers are heading to the picket line in metro Atlanta as contract negotiations for better pay and conditions continue to stall.
Friday morning, Teamsters will walk the picket line at UPS's Pleasantdale Customer Care hub in Duluth as part of one of the union's practice pickets.
The Teamsters have imposed several deadlines for UPS negotiators to make their "last, best and final" offer to its unionized workers in recent days. Union officials said Wednesday that UPS "walked away from the bargaining table after presenting an unacceptable offer," specifically with regard to the economic package.
The Sandy Springs-based delivery giant told a different story, saying it was the Teamsters who abandoned negotiations, "despite UPS’s historic offer that builds on our industry-leading pay."
"We have not walked away, and the union has a responsibility to remain at the table," the Atlanta company said in a prepared statement.
Whichever the case, talks are at a stalemate with the end of the contract — midnight on July 31 — rapidly approaching. Teamster-represented UPS workers voted for a strike authorization last month and union chief Sean O’Brien said last week that a strike was imminent.
The Teamsters say any tentative agreement would need to be endorsed by its national committee before being disseminated and voted on by membership. The union has said it will not negotiate past the expiration of the current contract.
Negotiations had appeared to be progressing in recent weeks, with tentative agreements on a number of issues since national contract talks began in April. The sides agreed to scrap the two-tier wage system for drivers who work weekends and earn less money, which was a major sticking point.
The union also said it also reached a tentative agreement to establish Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a full holiday for the first time and end unwanted overtime on drivers’ days off.
Last month, the union and the company reached another tentative agreement to equip more trucks with air conditioning equipment. Under that agreement, UPS said it would add air conditioning to U.S. small delivery vehicles purchased after January 1, 2024. Existing vehicles wouldn’t get that upgrade, but the union said they will have other additions like two fans and air vents.
If a strike occurs, it would be the first since a 15-day walkout by 185,000 workers crippled the company in 1997. That strike cost the company $850 million. Experts say the company is much bigger than it was back then, and a possible strike could have an even greater impact.
A strike could severely impact the supply chain.
"It means small and medium-sized businesses will be most vulnerable, and individuals who are depending on food, and medications being shipped on a monthly basis will have a disruption," says Margaret Kidd, a supply chain expert at the University of Houston.
Annual profits at UPS in the past two years are close to three times what they were pre-pandemic. The company returned about $8.6 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and stock buybacks in 2022, and forecasts another $8.4 billion for shareholders this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.