Teamsters Are Close to the Largest Strike in Decades
Today Teamsters are erecting practice picket lines as the July 31 expiration of their contract with UPS rapidly approaches. After negotiations broke down yesterday, the second-largest strike at a single employer in US history is a real possibility.
A UPS driver makes a delivery on June 30, 2023, in Miami, Florida. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)
Outside United Parcel Service (UPS) buildings across the New York area this morning, members of Teamsters Local 804, which represents some eight thousand UPS workers, practiced picketing. Holding signs that read “UPS Teamsters Just Practicing for a Just Contract,” the workers acclimated themselves to what will become their routine should they fail to reach a tentative agreement with the shipping giant by their current contract’s expiration on July 31.
Workers, community allies, and elected officials such as state senators Julia Salazar and Jabari Brisport — both members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — joined the Teamsters.
“They made over $100 billion last year while you get peanuts,” Senator Brisport told the crowd. “They sit in air-conditioned offices while you swelter in your working conditions.”
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