With the largest private sector labor contract in the United States set to expire at midnight on July 31, the eyes of the American labor movement are on United Parcel Services (UPS) and the nearly 350,000 Teamsters like us that work there. Talk is coming from all corners of a potential strike. International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) general president Sean O’Brien made it clear on day one of his presidency: if UPS does not meet the demands of the Teamsters, picket lines will go up on August 1. If this happens, the strike will be one of the largest in American history.

As the contract expiration looms less than two months away, other workers across the economy are also standing up to demand more. From a wave of successful union elections at Starbucks, Trader Joe’s, and other retail stores, to walkouts from Amazon to Hollywood, American workers fighting for dignity and fair compensation through collective action have momentum on their side. In return, employers have intensified their union busting.

The UPS contract fight therefore comes at a pivotal moment for US labor. What happens here could shape the direction of the movement for years to come — not only because this contract covers several hundred thousand workers who move 6 percent of US GDP daily, but also because the issues at stake in this fight are representative of those faced by workers across the economy.