Queens, NY – Teamster members at UPS in New York City rallied at the company’s Maspeth, Queens warehouse on August 2, 2022, to demand raises and job protections. The demonstration organized by Teamsters Local 804 coincides with events across the country taking place as Teamsters prepare for negotiations with UPS. Teamsters Local 804 is holding demonstrations at 14 UPS facilities in New York City and Long Island this week.
“UPS Teamsters are united and ready to mobilize in the fight for the best contract ever negotiated at UPS,” said Sean M. O’Brien, Teamsters General President. “UPS would not have its billion-dollar profits without hardworking Teamsters. Our message to UPS is that its time our contract reflects the essential work of our members. The Teamsters are resolved to win a strong contract by August 1, 2023, and we won’t extend negotiations by a single day. We’ll either have a signed agreement that day or be hitting the pavement.”
The campaign launch comes one year before the UPS National Master Agreement — the largest collective bargaining agreement in the U.S. — is set to expire on July 31, 2023. UPS Teamsters are united in the fight to end excessive overtime, eliminate the two-tier classification, increase part-time pay and the number of full-time jobs, improve job security for employees, address safety and health concerns, and provide stronger protection against company harassment. The kick-off of this historic contract fight also coincides with the 25th anniversary of the successful 1997 UPS Teamsters strike, when 185,000 members struck the company.
“I was proud to stand in solidarity with the UPS drivers of Teamsters Local 804 who rallied on August 2nd in New York City,” said Congressman Jamaal Bowman Ed.D (NY-16). “The work that UPS drivers do is essential to the functioning and well-being of our society. UPS made $10 billion in after-tax profits last year and needs to do right by their workers. There’s no excuse for the company to have a two-tier system of workers, to force drivers to work excessive overtime, and to fail to protect workers from extreme heat. UPS must be held accountable to its workers at the bargaining table.”
“The essential workers of UPS are ready to fight for the pay and working conditions that we deserve,” said Vinnie Perrone, President of New York’s Teamsters Local 804, International Union Trustee, and Eastern Region Package Director. “UPS is making record profits on our backs, but instead of putting that money into more full-time jobs and safety improvements, they are investing in worker surveillance and stock buybacks. We are united — drivers and inside workers, full-time and part-time — and we are going to win good jobs for the working class in this country.”
