Get a full breakdown of the state of national negotiations with UPS from Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien, as of July 1. How far has the multibillion-dollar corporation come on its economic proposal? What are the real consequences of its corporate greed? How much time does UPS have left?

Today, July 1, Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien will hold a press conference outside Teamsters headquarters to provide an important update on negotiations. The event will take place Saturday, July 1 at 12 pm ET, and will be live-streamed on the UPS Teamsters app as well as the Teamsters Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube channels. Don’t miss this up-to-the-minute progress report on UPS’s action at the bargaining table. Follow the link below to view the news conference.

UPS Live-stream

Today, UPS, under extraordinary pressure from the Teamsters to deliver a strong contract, gave the union a revised counterproposal with significant movement on wages and other economic language. The company pleaded for the opportunity to continue negotiating, pledging across the table to reach a deal no later than July 5 for 340,000 Teamster package delivery drivers and warehouse logistics workers nationwide.

“UPS Teamsters have strategically navigated this process for maximum leverage against this multibillion-dollar corporation. At every step, we are forcing them to do what they don’t want to do: give our members more money and better protections at work,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “We have repeatedly told UPS that a new contract must be in place by August 1. The Teamsters will not work one minute beyond the expiration of our current agreement. UPS did not want to make progress on economics, but they conceded today that they will reach a deal by July 5 because they have no choice.”

“UPS came back with real movement, but it isn’t enough. After they left the room, our national committee had a long dialogue and the universal consensus was to continue our leverage campaign. One of two things will happen next:  UPS will come to terms on a deal we can confidently recommend to our members or UPS will fail and the company will put itself on the street,” said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. “Thousands of UPS Teamsters are practice picketing right now across the country, showing UPS how serious we are about getting the best contract in our history.”

O’Brien, Zuckerman, and the full UPS Teamsters National Negotiating Committee will hold a press conference outside Teamsters headquarters on Saturday, July 1, to provide an up-to-the-minute progress report of UPS’s actions at the bargaining table.

The Teamsters are fighting to win a strong agreement at UPS that guarantees better pay for all workers, eliminates a two-tier wage system, increases full-time jobs, resolves safety and health concerns, and provides stronger protections against managerial harassment.

ABF Freight Teamsters: please see below for important information from the IBT concerning the ABF Contract Ratification vote.

Local 776 UPSers “Walk the Line” Just Practicing!

With IBT General President Sean O’Brien’s June 30^th deadline for a last, best, final offer from UPS approaching, Local 776 Members at the Carlisle, PA hub stood tall, proud and united behind their negotiating committee in the fight for a just contract. Full-time, part-time, long-time, and short-time members were “Just Practicing” for a just contract as they manned the practice picket lines this morning.

United for a strong contract!

UPS Teamsters; Please see below for information and FAQs concerning "Practice Picketing". If you would like to download the flier please follow the link below:

UPS Practice Picketing Flier

Today, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters walked away from the national bargaining table and officially demanded UPS exchange its last, best, and final offer no later than June 30.

The Teamsters gave UPS a one-week notice on Tuesday to act responsibly and exchange a stronger economic proposal for more than 340,000 full- and part-time workers. UPS executives couldn’t make it one more day without insulting and ignoring union leaders and rank-and-filers as negotiations resumed on Wednesday.

Despite the Teamsters having reached a consensus on 55 non-economic issues with the company on June 19, UPS has continued to seek a cost-neutral contract during economic negotiations. The world’s largest delivery company which raked in more than $100 billion in revenue last year has made it clear to its union workforce that it has no desire to reward or respectfully compensate UPS Teamsters for their labor and sacrifice. During the past week, UPS returned an appalling counterproposal to the union’s financial package, offering minuscule raises and wage cuts to traditional cost-of-living adjustments.

“The largest single-employer strike in American history now appears inevitable,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “Executives at UPS, some of whom get tens of millions of dollars a year, do not care about the hundreds of thousands of American workers who make this company run. They don’t care about our members’ families. UPS doesn’t want to pay up. Their actions and insults at the bargaining table have proven they are just another corporation that wants to keep all the money at the top. Working people who bust their asses every single day do not matter, not to UPS.”

With a deadline of Friday to return a last, best, and final offer, UPS risks putting itself on strike by August 1 and causing devastating disruptions to the supply chain in the U.S. and other parts of the world. Teamsters nationwide overwhelmingly authorized a strike this month by 97 percent should UPS fail to come to terms on a new contract. UPS’s impending failure is one step closer to reality and has the potential to affect nearly all Americans.

“We have an economy today that is reliant on parcel delivery and no one in the game handles more packages per day or provides better service than Teamsters at UPS. Our members are fighting for a post-pandemic agreement that honors the sacrifices they made to keep this country moving during the last several years,” said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. “Time has run out for UPS to give workers that honorable contract. The Teamsters repeatedly told the company from the beginning of this process that there would be no extensions. But UPS has sat on its hands and chosen to turn its back on these workers. Come August 1, it’s going to be damn hard for UPS to ignore us any longer.”

The Teamsters met with UPS negotiators late into Tuesday night over Article 34 of the union’s National Master Agreement, governing health and welfare and pension benefits for members. Despite early progress, UPS attempted to move the goalposts at the 11th hour and withhold any additional benefits from the Teamsters, seeking concessionary language instead.

When the Teamsters walked away from the table, UPS agreed to resume negotiations on Wednesday. When corporate executives showed up, they only resubmitted the same proposal for worker concessions under Article 34.

Our National Negotiating Committee and rank-and-file members in every classification are assembling forces for this historic moment of struggle for all working families in America. This is what we have been mobilizing and training for since last summer. 1.3 million Teamsters and the entire labor movement stands with us as we ratchet up the pressure on UPS for a contract that is worthy of the hard work and sacrifices put in by our members.

UPS returned to the bargaining table with the Teamsters National Negotiating Committee on Tuesday morning without a revised or respectful economic proposal in hand. With the full committee behind him, General President Sean M. O’Brien took UPS to task, harshly reiterating that the Teamsters will not work beyond July 31 without a new contract.

O’Brien walked UPS through the bitter reality the company now faces over its ongoing inaction. The Teamsters want a powerful tentative agreement within the next week-or the union will demand UPS present its last, best, and final offer.

“When we say the current contract expires July 31, that means we want a new contract in place starting August 1. Not in six months. Not next spring. We demand a historic new contract on August 1, with more money in our members’ pockets immediately,” O’Brien said. “UPS has wasted enough time and hoarded these record profits. Our members want what they have earned.”

Any tentative agreement would need to be endorsed by the Teamsters’ national committee before being properly disseminated and voted on by the membership by the end of the current agreement. Before caucusing to review economic proposals, the Teamsters told UPS they are committed to working seven days a week and through the upcoming holiday weekend- punctuating the fact that UPS executives have very little time left to make significant movement on its financial proposal.

“This is why there’s new leadership at the Teamsters. UPS isn’t working with the union’s prior administration, dragging out the bargaining process and submitting to extensions until finally agreeing to a watered-down deal months after the expiration of the contract,” said General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. “This is what hard bargaining looks like. This is labor’s leverage, and the Teamsters are not afraid to use it.”

IBT General President Sean O'Brien drives home his message to UPS

UPS executives sat silently on Monday, presumably counting their cash as the Teamsters await an acceptable response to the union’s economic contract proposal shared last week. General President Sean M. O’Brien told the company on June 22 the Teamsters would not meet again until UPS returned to the table with a real offer that respects the sacrifices of the membership.

“Every hour that UPS wastes getting us the raises and benefits that our members deserve is another hour the Teamsters get strike-ready,” O’Brien said. “This billion-dollar corporation has to make some tough decisions in a short amount of time. Are they going to pony up and pay workers what they’ve earned, or are they putting themselves on strike?”

The entire Teamsters National Negotiating Committee-including union representatives and rank-and-file members from Louisville, Northern California, and Local 705 and Local 710 in Chicago gathered in Washington to review battle plans for the weeks ahead. The committee discussed top priorities around wage increases, pension benefits, and health and welfare protections as members anticipate an economic response from UPS. Local union leaders and members from across the country shared strategies for practice picketing around UPS facilities this week and next. Contract action team training among rank-and-file Teamsters is continuing, with concerted strike captain training on the horizon.

Negotiating committees for Local 705 and Local 710 met Monday as well to continue local-specific bargaining from Teamsters headquarters. The NorCal Supplement and Sort, helping to protect UPS Teamsters in and around Northern California, also continued negotiations as the last unresolved supplement anywhere in the nation.

The Teamsters’ Committee is expecting UPS negotiators to come back to the national negotiating table at 9 a.m. on Tuesday. Whether the company will have a proper economic package in hand remains to be seen.

“The Teamsters have a lot of important things to focus on these days, but we got one big priority- keeping UPS’s back against the wall,” said General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. “If they haven’t already heard us loud and clear, they’re going to get it again this week. Teamsters across this country have huddled up and we are ready to fight. It’s time to get this deal done or we’ll see you in the streets.”

With a tentative agreement on new language and new money to safeguard members and their vehicles in company parking lots, the Teamsters and UPS came to terms on all non-economic issues during national contract negotiations on Tuesday.

“We have reached a tentative agreement on well over 40 non-economic issues that affect all our members at UPS, and we did it as a team. The Teamsters haven’t sacrificed a single concession in these negotiations,” said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. “Very soon we will review the language, changes, and improvements in all articles with the entire membership. Plus, the fun part now begins to fight for significant wage increases for everyone; full-timers, part-timers, long-timers, everyone.”

Zuckerman and Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien will review and discuss all non-economic tentative agreements live with members during a webinar on Wednesday. Join General President Sean M. O’Brien, General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman, and other members of the UPS Teamsters National Negotiating Committee for a webinar on national negotiations on Wednesday, June 21. Rank-and-file members will hear about the status of negotiations, including a summary of new tentative agreements reached so far. Members who register and join the webinar will have an opportunity to ask questions and hear directly from Sean, Fred, and committee members. All UPS Teamsters are strongly encouraged to join this important webinar, which will take place on June 21 at 8 pm ET. Registration is required. Follow the link below to register for the webinar.

UPS Webinar Registration 06-21-2023