A strike of UPS delivery drivers has been averted at the eleventh hour. With less than seven days before the current contract was set to end, UPS and the Teamsters, the union that represents 340,000 UPS drivers, struck a deal. UPS will guarantee a huge pay increase for all drivers, regardless of whether they are part time or full time, as well as air conditioning in UPS vans and the elimination of a two-tiered worker system.
It's a huge victory, but not just for the UPS drivers. It's a victory for America—and for the American Dream.
In threatening to strike, the Teamsters at UPS, like all workers who make the decision to withhold their labor, were fighting for a better salary, better benefits, and better work conditions. When those requests aren't met at the bargaining table, workers are forced to the last resort of taking the fight to the streets. Striking is the most powerful tool workers have to draw attention to their cause, and in the case of the Teamsters at UPS, the maelstrom would have been felt far and wide, as UPS ships about 24 million packages a day.
The advent of a robust dependency on ecommerce and the COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed how the world turns with regards to package delivery. No longer is it about a dress, a pair of pants, or shoes being delivered on time. Americans depend on delivery services like UPS for medicine, food, and supplies.
The new reality of this industry gave the Teamsters enormous leverage, especially in the court of public opinion. And today's news shows just how strong that leverage was: They won the contract they fought so hard for, striking a blow against corporate greed and in support of the dignity of all workers.
Indeed, the Teamsters aren't alone. A wave of worker discontent is blowing down hard on America, and with good reason. Real wages are not keeping up with inflation, and as the cost of necessities like food, gas and medicine continue to climb, folks are finding it harder and harder to survive. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 has not increased in 14 years. Meanwhile, members of the boardroom bunch are enjoying a platinum lifestyle that rivals the vibe of the Gilded Age in the 19th century, an era teeming with excessive greed and gluttony stoked by the growth of an industrial economy.
As this new economy grew, so did the tensions between burgeoning unionization efforts and the boss class intent on stopping workers from growing their power for the collective good.
This moment is eerily similar. There are far too many corporate interests that care little to nothing about the wellbeing of the workers, whose labor is the cornerstone of the company's success. Instead, corporate bosses obsess over dividends and corporate buybacks at the expense of their workers.
There is no formula for shared prosperity in this business model. Indeed, this is the main argument that the Teamsters were making as they fought for all of their members—full time and part time—to be able to reap the benefits of UPS' prosperity.
Boasting a gross profit of over $73 billion in a 12-month period through March 2023, it was clear that UPS could afford to pay its workers more money. The question wasn't about resources but about an expanded definition of what the company considers a return on investment.
The time has come for UPS and all American corporations to acknowledge that the ultimate measure of a company's success can no longer be rooted in stock buybacks and dividends for boardroom shareholders. It must be measured by the quality of life afforded to its workers.
All across the country, workers are reclaiming their time and fighting for the respect and dignity they deserve. From Starbucks, Amazon, and Apple, to rail workers, writers, and actors, the struggle to secure a good life is raging across the nation. Workers are demanding better wages, work conditions and benefits, as well as the opportunity to spend time with family, take a vacation and retire with economic security. We used to call this the American Dream. We can't give up on it. Anything short of this is unpatriotic and should be unacceptable in America.
Today was a victory for that dream, brought to us by the Teamsters. It should be the first of many.
The Honorable Nina Turner is a former Ohio State Senator. In 2016 and 2020, she served as a national surrogate and national co-chair for Senator Bernie Sanders presidential campaigns. Currently, she is a Senior Fellow at The Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at the New School. She is a contributor to the highly anticipated anthology, Wake Up: Black Women and the Future of Democracy due for release in 2024.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
