The clock keeps ticking and UPS keeps delaying.

“It’s as if UPS hasn’t had months to prepare for supplemental negotiations with the Teamsters,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “We are not making concessions and we are not backing down. UPS knows the longer they take to resolve our supplements, the longer they delay national negotiations.” For a company that raked in more than $100 billion in 2022, UPS has done a lot of whining about costs during supplemental negotiations.

During a virtual meeting this evening (Tuesday) of the UPS Teamsters’ national committee, leaders and members reported the many ways UPS keeps dithering on major supplemental proposals. The company’s actions are a far cry from the collaborative presentation of itself shared during an earnings call with investors this morning.

The Teamsters Union will not turn its back on issues that members care most about. The committee remains ready to work all day and night to finalize regional supplements and riders.

After another full day of bargaining, including in New York, Northern California, Connecticut, and Atlanta, several of the Teamsters’ supplemental negotiating committees said they are still not seeing enough movement by UPS.

“UPS has been very slow in learning that these are deal-breaker issues for our members, but we’re going to keep educating them — and keep fighting,” said General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman.

UPS can’t have it both ways. Giant corporations don’t get to haul in record profits, increase shareholder returns, and then say they don’t have enough money for workers.

The sky is not falling, UPS. But you are failing to wrap up supplemental negotiations for hundreds of thousands of Teamsters. You’ve got the money. You’ve got the best workforce in the business. It’s time to #PayUp.

"It's very clear that this company does not want to invest in the people who made those profits possible," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. "UPS takes credit for its success when it talks to investors while trying to downplay that success when talking to the hardworking Teamsters who made it happen. They sit across from us and whine about the competition. It's embarrassing to watch, quite frankly."

While UPS is holding up remaining supplements and riders over very simple issues, Teamster negotiating committees have locked arms against all concessionary proposals by the company. UPS Teamsters remain steadfast in the fight for more holidays, pension increases, stronger seniority rights, and improved grievance procedures.

“The Teamsters continue to hold our position. We will not go into national negotiations until supplements are done,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien, after another long day of ongoing bargaining across the country. “We’re not making concessions and UPS knows it. This company is now down to 11 weeks to get this thing wrapped up.”

In Florida, New England, Chicago, Sacramento, and other major hubs nationwide, Teamster negotiating committees were back at the table on Wednesday, holding steady to protect and bargain on regional issues for more than 340,000 UPS Teamsters.

“We know it’s frustrating to see UPS play games and drag its feet with our members,” said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. “But Sean and I could not be prouder of the resolve of our committees and rank-and-filers in the face of UPS’s nonsense. We’re not scared of a fight. And we stand up to bullies.”

Please see below for important information from the IBT pertaining to the YRC change of operations:

Earlier this month, the Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee (TNFINC) commenced another round of meetings with TForce Freight for a new national agreement to succeed the current contract expiring on July 31.  

As negotiations resumed, union representative Kris Taylor blasted the company for trying to shrink its workforce through the use of job reductions masquerading as “buyouts.” TForce has been trying to lure certain drivers to voluntarily leave the company thereby shrinking the workforce. 

“We oppose the elimination of any union driver jobs. What makes it even more offensive is that the company already diverts an unacceptable amount of freight to rail and purchased transportation. We intend to put a stop to this,” Taylor said.  

The Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee (TNFINC) met with TForce Freight to continue bargaining for a new national agreement this week in Omaha, Neb.   

Teamster representative and TNFINC Co-Chair Kris Taylor opened negotiations by letting the company know that the diversion of freight outside the bargaining unit is unacceptable and must stop.  

“Protection of unit work is a core issue in these negotiations,” Taylor said. “Some progress was made on other issues including stewards, seniority, hiring triggers, protection of rights, and extending FMLA rights to all facilities regardless of size. Much work, however, remains to be done.”   

The parties will resume bargaining in Omaha on April 24. The current agreement expires on July 31.

Earlier this month, the Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee (TNFINC) met with ABF Freight in Kansas City to continue negotiations for a new ABF National Master Freight Agreement (NMFA) to succeed the current agreement expiring on June 30.  

Progress was made on numerous supplemental agreements including the Central Region, Central Pennsylvania, and Western Pennsylvania supplements.  

Teamsters National Freight Director John A. Murphy is leading negotiations.  

“We had a lot of good discussions across the table on various issues. The company knows our positions,” Murphy said, noting that having rank-and-file members serve on the negotiating committee is a great asset. “We had some great discussions internally where rank-and-filers spoke up and shared their opinions. Their real-time perspective working for ABF is a huge help in setting our priorities and getting the best possible result in these negotiations.”  

National negotiations formally resume on April 24 in Kansas City. Meanwhile, various Eastern Region supplements were worked on last week when the parties met at the Eastern Region Joint Area Grievance Committee hearings.

UPS Stewards National Call

General President Sean M. O’Brien and General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman will hold a National UPS Teamsters Call with shop stewards this Sunday. Hear directly from Teamster leadership about the current state of supplemental and national contract negotiations and get the most up-to-date information from the first full week of in-person bargaining with the company in Washington...We urge all stewards to register for this important call and get more information on future updates and forums with Sean, Fred, and other leaders from the International. Follow the link below to register for the call:

UPS Stewards Call

On the final day of this week’s negotiations in D.C., the Teamsters National Negotiating Committee met this morning to get another progress report on supplemental bargaining. Many of the supplemental negotiating committees again worked late again last night, moving closer to tentative agreements on key member proposals.

"Seeing how stern Sean has been with the company has been great to see," said Roy Coleman, a feeder driver and member of Local 767 who is on the National Negotiating Committee. "He takes this extremely seriously and truly does hold our employer accountable in these discussions. He's not backing down to them and that is exactly the leadership the membership wants and needs."

"The way the leadership is approaching these negotiations just proves that they have the members' backs," added Jill Dunson, a Local 767 UPS part-timer who is also on the National Negotiating Committee.

Although today is the last day in D.C. that the committees will be meeting, supplemental negotiations will continue over the weekend and next week for the remaining unresolved agreements. General President Sean M. O’Brien and General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman will hold twice-daily National Negotiating Committee calls on Saturday and Sunday to check in on the progress of negotiations this weekend, along with a call for all UPS shop stewards on Sunday at noon Eastern.

IBT President Sean O'Brien, foreground, and IBT Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman, background, tell it like it is at the negotiating table.

Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien, General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman and the Teamsters UPS National Negotiating Committee met with the company Thursday morning to discuss the progress being made on negotiating the supplements to the national contract. It was the first time the full committee has met with the company since the opening of national negotiations Monday morning.

Regional committees have been working overtime all week in an effort to finish supplemental bargaining. The Teamsters have vowed not to begin national negotiations until agreements are reached on the supplements.

IBT President Sean O'Brien, (Center) at National Negotiations

“We are committed to getting these supplements done. We’ve made progress but it’s still not enough,” O'Brien said. “We will not go into national negotiations until these are done.”

UPS Lead Negotiator Lindsay Marshall reported that the company and his supplemental negotiators have never worked this hard before, working past midnight in some cases. O’Brien responded to Marshall, “Good, now you know how our package car drivers feel.”

As has been the case all week, regional committees will continue supplemental negotiations with the company throughout the day and into the evening.

On Saturday, April 15 at 3:30 PM General President Sean M. O’Brien, International Vice President Lindsay Dougherty, Local 396 Secretary-Treasurer Victor Mineros, and Local 952 Secretary-Treasurer Eric Jimenez will join Southern California Teamsters, representing over 30,000 UPS workers across the region, to rally and show UPS we are UNITED FOR A STRONG CONTRACT. The rally will be livestreamed on the Teamsters Facebook page, on the @Teamsters Twitter page, on the @TeamsterPower YouTube Channel, and also on the UPS Teamsters app.

Don't miss this important event. Follow the link below for the livestream link:

UPS Rally

Recently Local 776 mailed the April 2023 edition of the “Local 776 Review” to the membership. Did your copy get lost in the mail, or inadvertently put in the recycle bin before you got a chance to read it? All is not lost, the Newsletter is available to download, view, and print from the website. Go to the “Downloads” section under Member Resources where you will find the current, as well as past newsletters.

Union Will Not Enter National Negotiations After UPS Drags Its Feet for 4 Months

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters today demanded United Parcel Service (UPS) stop stalling and negotiate in good faith to finalize supplemental contract negotiations as soon as possible, telling the company that bargaining for a new national agreement will not start until UPS gets its act together.

The Teamsters began supplemental negotiations with UPS in January. Out of 40 supplements to the national contract nationwide, 30 remain unresolved after repeated delays by UPS.

“We have clearly stated our intentions to UPS from the beginning that there would be no national negotiations until these regional contracts are completed. This is not a game. But you wouldn’t know that based on UPS’s behavior” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “The livelihoods of our members are at stake. UPS delays, disappears, drags its feet, and refuses to talk about the real issues that workers need to be addressed. The Teamsters aren’t going to stand for it.”

More than 340,000 Teamsters work at UPS, protected by the largest private sector collective bargaining agreement in North America. The current five-year agreement expires July 31, 2023.

UPS Teamsters are also covered under supplemental agreements, riders, and addendums specific to the regions in which they work. These contracts define provisions not covered under the national agreement like paid time off, discipline language, seniority, overtime, and work hours.

strong>“The Teamsters and UPS have 12 weeks to come to terms before our contract expires, and UPS is not taking this seriously,” said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. “UPS has had four months to bargain in good faith and reach an agreement on supplemental issues. They haven’t. They don’t get to drag out this process. We will be in Washington, ready to reach an agreement on all outstanding issues in our supplemental contracts. It’s up to UPS to get its act together, show up, and do right by its workforce. Until then, there will be no negotiations on a national contract.”

“After pulling in record-breaking revenue of more than $100 billion last year, UPS is delusional to think they can just ignore the workers who make them successful,” O’Brien said. “UPS is making a joke of supplemental negotiations. When they finally decide to bargain in a professional and serious manner, the Teamsters will be here, ready to go.”