Joe Biden prided himself on being a friend of labor, but they don’t want his help; that’s the case for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. New president Sean O’Brien, who has been preparing his rank-and-file for war with UPS, pretty much told the Biden White House to stay away from the contract negotiations with the shipping chain. The contract between UPS and the Teamsters expires on July 31, meaning that 340,000 workers could walk off the job if a new agreement isn’t reached (via Associated Press):
The head of the Teamsters said Sunday that he has asked the White House not to intervene if unionized UPS workers end up going on strike.
Negotiations between the delivery company and the union representing 340,000 of its workers have been at a standstill for more than a week with a July 31 deadline for a new contract approaching fast.
The union has threatened a strike if a deal is not reached by the time the collective bargaining agreement expires. Asked during a webcast with members Sunday on whether the White House could force a contract on the union, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said he has asked the White House on numerous occasions to stay away.
“My neighborhood where I grew up in Boston, if two people had a disagreement and you had nothing to do with it – you just kept walking,” O’Brien said.
“We don’t need anybody getting involved in this fight,” he said.
UPS employs over 530,000 people, so a significant portion of its labor force will be temporarily unavailable. It’s not just shipped goods; e-commerce has a 20 percent return rate so those packages will face severe disruptions should a strike occur. It could be one of the largest union strikes in history. UPS suffered through one of these in 1997; it wasn’t pleasant. Some progress was made on worker safety, with UPS promising to equip all small delivery trucks with air conditioning starting in 2024. Since then, both sides have accused the other of killing negotiations.
Is it a bad sign that one of the most prominent labor unions told the president to stay away? It could be that they feel they don’t need his help, but it could also be a ploy to avoid having too many cooks in the kitchen. Let’s hope a new deal is agreed upon because things could get sluggish on the shipping front soon. And the Teamsters need a win here to bolster their position regarding their next target: Amazon drivers.
In the meantime, UPS is training nonunion workers as a secondary protocol should things remain sideways at the deadline.
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