The power of 350K UPS Teamsters going on strike
By Workers Strike Back. Published June 11, 2023
UPS handles as much as six percent of U.S. GDP daily—which puts an incredible amount of power into the hands of the Teamster unionized workers to shut down major parts of the economy and win the most significant labor victory in decades. That result, however, is not automatic and will require the political preparation and involvement of huge sections of the Teamster rank and file workers.
In the pivotal logistics industry, we’re seeing struggles that aim to use the enormous economic power of those workers. We recently saw rail workers voting to strike but were defeated by bi-partisan state intervention with the betrayal of so-called “labor president” Biden and progressive Democrats. Rank-and-file workers in Staten Island formed the first Amazon union which has inspired efforts to organize more unions at Amazon, including right now at the most pivotal Amazon hub in the world, KCVG in northern Kentucky, where Workers Strike Back is on the ground supporting that crucial effort.
On July 31st, the workers' contract at UPS, a logistics giant and the largest unionized private workforce in the country, will expire. Following decades of sellouts to UPS from their union leaders nearly all cozy with the company brass, the newly-elected leadership of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters ran on a platform of getting ready to strike for big wins on both working conditions and wages. While new Teamster President Sean O’Brien has talked a big game, his background, his tight ties to the Democratic Party, and his weak stance on their breaking of the rail strike, along with a number of failures to live up to his promises so far remind working people that it is the rank and file that need to be organized to drive a strike or otherwise win the strongest contract.
Striking requires serious preparation over months of both rank-and-file members and of the union’s structures, getting as many workers as possible not just passively supporting, but actively fighting for the new contract and planning for the strike. That’s the militant rank-and-file approach needed, but unfortunately organizing efforts are far behind those of the 1997 strike, the last and only nationwide UPS strike, which won significant gains.
UPS, like most other big corporations, has been making record profits year after year since the beginning of the pandemic, while the workers make an effective pay cut due to high inflation. In 2022 alone, UPS made $11.3 Billion in profits while the company cuts full-time jobs, harrasses workers, forces them to work far more or fewer hours than they want, and soon plans to be open for delivery on Sunday. With the current contract being one of the least popular with workers ever and a new leadership feeling the pressure to satisfy the rank and file, the moment is ripe for UPS Teamsters to become the leading force in the labor movement if they use their potential power to carry out a strong strike.
As this labor wave grows and Amazon workers and so many others consider unionizing or striking, a powerful and victorious strike at UPS of 330,000 workers would be nothing short of monumental, shutting down not only UPS’s record profits, but damaging the bottom lines at countless other big companies, inspiring countless more workers into action. With these kinds of earthquakes happening in labor, right now is the time for you to get involved.
If you want to be a part of a campaign that not only watches and analyzes labor, but directly engages in rebuilding a fighting labor movement, join Workers Strike Back or make a donation to support our struggle!
