Teamsters Settle with UPS

For actors and hotel workers, the fight continues

The Catholic Labor Network is pleased to report that UPS and the Teamsters have reached a tentative contract agreement. If ratified, the country will be spared a much-feared strike by more than 300,000 drivers and warehouse workers that would have snagged supply chains in every corner of the country.

We didn’t have to come this close to the nation’s biggest labor dispute in decades. But for months UPS failed to put a reasonable wage increase on the table, and the Teamsters practiced hitting the picket lines for much of July.

UPS employees will see significant improvements in wages and working conditions. Part-time warehouse employees currently have a starting wage of $16.20 per hour; that’s going up to $21. Full-time drivers will get a substantial wage increase as well, and won big on quality of life issues. In the future, UPS will purchase trucks with A/C – no small thing for workers toting heavy loads in our increasingly warm summers. And weekend overtime will be voluntary, not required.

Meanwhile, the summer of strikes is hardly over, especially in Southern California. There, Hollywood writers and actors remain on picket lines, seeking a share of revenues from streaming video and protections from job loss to artificial intelligence. And Los Angeles area hotel workers represented by UNITE HERE – who can barely afford to live in the increasingly expensive city – continue a wave of strikes against area hotels.

Please pray for all these workers who continue to fight for justice.