UPS Employees Begin Vote on Potential Strike, Could Heavily Impact Economy

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This week, the UPS Teamsters Union is beginning a vote on whether to strike if the contract negotiations don’t go their way for 340,000 UPS Teamsters. The votes will take place across the country, at local Union Halls and outside UPS offices. 

“The time has come to use our strongest leverage and officially remind UPS that hundreds of thousands of Teamsters are ready to withhold our labor to ensure UPS acts accordingly,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien.

This comes at a time when millions of Americans rely almost exclusively on UPS, and shipping companies like it, for nearly all of their goods. A strike by UPS workers could severely impact the U.S. supply chain, according to experts on the economy. 

The last time UPS experienced a crippling strike was twenty-five years ago, when 185,000 workers walked out. 

As the UPS employees see it, the conditions they are asking for—including less overtime, air conditioning in delivery trucks, and changes to pay scales— are coming to them. “Our members worked really hard over the pandemic,” said Teamsters spokesperson Kara Deniz. “They need to see their fair share.”