UPS worker: 'A strike is the only way'

Dylan D., a preloader at the Oakland hub since 2022, spoke with columnist Robert Ovetz ahead of a possible strike by UPS workers that could start early Tuesday morning should the Teamsters and the shipping and receiving giant fail to agree on a new contract. 

Dylan D., who did not want his last name used because of possible retaliation by UPS, works as a preloader on what’s called the sunrise shift at the Oakland, California, hub. His tasks consist of maneuvering packages from a belt into package cars. The parcels have been unloaded from planes or feeder trucks and are sent by conveyor belt and then sorted according to where they are to be delivered. 

Dylan D. and his colleagues on the sunrise shift each load three trucks with anywhere from 175-300 packages per truck. The work is fast-paced, he said, such that there is little time to properly sort packages. 

What are conditions like at the facility you work in? 

Because UPS is chronically understaffed workers take on increased workloads. After hiring blitzes UPS lays off a large number of those seasonal hires after the holidays. During peak season we have less time to complete high volume loads, which accelerates the pace of work. The net effect is a wage cut for most part-timers, the majority of whom already live paycheck to paycheck. UPS also reduces hourly pay from peak-season incentives.  

What are the main issues the workers are concerned about and are there any differences with the way the Teamsters are prioritizing them in bargaining? 

UPS workers are divided into part- and full-time classifications. We suffer various indignities such as a lack of say over working conditions, assignments or outright harassment. We part-time workers are concerned over warehouses full of work hazards. Leaking packages, chemical spills, breathing in exhaust fumes from trucks without proper ventilation are daily occurrences in the hub. Boxes can overload the belt, spill over the sides, and cause packages to fall everywhere endangering preload workers. 

The issue of pay is of course rightly a major focus for part-timers whose wages are very low nationwide. Prioritizing part-time pay increases in negotiations belies very high turnover. About 70 percent of new part-timers leave UPS before working one year. For many, the job simply doesn’t pay enough to justify working under such dismal conditions, and many fringe benefits won by our union do not kick in until after one year which means many workers cannot afford to work at UPS, given the high cost of living. 

Many union officials see part-time workers, about 60 percent of UPSers, as disorganized workers who have no stake in the union — an idea they no doubt share with the company. But part-time workers are organizing and moving in a particularly militant direction.  

Teamsters Mobilize, a nationwide group of experienced part-time UPSers are justifiably concerned that [Teamsters President] Sean O’Brien will abandon part-time demands if he has the opportunity to settle. If this happens, a “vote no” campaign that bridges the gap between full- and part-time workers will be a crucial next step. The fact that O’Brien has been moved to take up part-time issues in the way that he has thus far, however, is indicative of the militant organizing part-timers have done across the country. 

What kinds of strike prep is taking place? Is the strike threat credible? Why or why not? 

A strike at UPS is not only likely but the only way to actually win the core demands of part-timers. The top of the IBT insists that strike preparations take place combined with the self-organized efforts of warehouse workers and drivers even in locals with conservative leadership. Parking lot meetings, rallies, and practice pickets have successfully demonstrated that workers are broadly unified in the fight against the company. In many facilities, part time workers wear red on Fridays, blow whistles when they witness supervisors touching packages (a grievable offense in our contract), and post photographs together on social media. These displays of solidarity are very significant, given the isolation that exists among part-timers who work together everyday, but have little opportunities on the job to connect.  

Still, in many locals where conservative leadership prevails, or where militants are isolated from wider layers of rank and file workers, strike preparations have either been half-hearted, met with much resistance, or simply not happened. The company clearly thinks the strike threat is credible, however, and has conceded on a number of issues they might not have otherwise already. Contract negotiations about core economic issues such as part-time pay and conditions remain stalled. If a strike happens, many rank and file workers, especially part-timers, who have often been left out of strike preparations because they have been geared around full time drivers or because they have yet to be interested, will act in significant ways.  

What would you suggest other workers along the UPS supply chain do to amplify and circulate the strike? 

If there is a strike on August 1st, there will be shipping delays, price hikes, and anxious adjustments to work rhythms. Solidarity will be an option for the many who work second and third jobs to make ends meet and already have contact with other informal networks who will lend support. Part-timers who also work for UPS’s competitors already see volumes increasing as a result of the threat of a strike at UPS, for instance. Workers will find ways to combat the knock-on effects generated by the strike. Others can act in ways that obstruct the company. UPS pilots in the IPA have declared that they will refuse to transport UPS parcels during a strike, as they did in 1997.  

How would the UPS strike build worker power? 

A UPS strike would set an example for workers elsewhere for years to come. It will accelerate internal organizing at UPS in more compelling directions than previous stale models. This has already been demonstrated through the sequence of strike preparations and the level of interest generated in the lead up to the contract expiring. A strike at UPS would demonstrate above all that workers, themselves, can bring one of the largest companies in the country to its knees and extract much-needed concessions. In the U.S., where employers and their representatives in government are attempting to tighten their grip over workers, such an event would serve as an important counterweight.