Teamsters president throws down gauntlet to UPS: Strike coming in 2028

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It's two years until the contract between United Parcel Service and its 330,000 unionized drivers and package handlers is due for renewal, normally a time when labor-employer relationships are less contentious. The Teamsters union is ready for war. 

In a series of self-produced Teamsters podcasts starting in mid-July, President Sean O'Brien put UPS on notice that rank-and-file members will go on strike if the company doesn't acquiesce to demands for even better terms than the rich contract currently in place, which he calls “historic" for its pay and benefits.

Among issues the union is prepared to strike over are expected attempts to roll back health and pension benefits, automation and deployment of autonomous trucks, and alleged outsourcing of last-mile delivery and supply chain functions to non-union subsidiaries. 

Perhaps the most unusual strike trigger is a new demand that all four union regions, which are governed by supplements to the national master agreement, be allowed to go on strike mid-contract if the parties remain deadlocked on how to resolve union grievances.

"It's going to be a battle, and we are probably going to strike UPS. I mean, we have to because they don't respect us. They don't do what they’re supposed to do on the obligation of the contract. They fight us on everything," O'Brien said on a recent episode of the "Better Bad Ideas" podcast.

It's no secret that the Teamsters and UPS don't have good relations, but the level of animosity this far ahead of negotiations is striking. 

Since union leaders lack their most powerful weapon, the strike, in the middle of a contract, tactical posturing and aggressive public rhetoric typically decline. Contracts are supposed to provide a period of operational stability for the company and workers, with union leaders shifting to enforcing what was already won rather than demanding new concessions. Mid-contract disputes are resolved through highly structured administrative procedures.

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