United Parcel Service (UPS) workers going on strike became more of a possibility Wednesday as talks between the company and the Teamsters union representing workers broke down, which threatens to disrupt national supply chains and stymie millions of Americans’ package deliveries if the two sides can’t agree on a deal by the end of the month.
A UPS delivery person carries a package from a truck in Fort Worth, Texas, on Jan. 26.
The Teamsters union, which represents approximately 330,000 UPS workers, said UPS walked away from the bargaining table at around 4:00 a.m. Wednesday, after the company presented an “unacceptable offer” during negotiations for workers’ new contract.
UPS “refused to give the Teamsters a last, best, and final offer, telling the union the company had nothing more to give,” the union said, adding it has “repeatedly made clear that UPS members will not work beyond the expiration of the current contract.”
The workers’ contract will expire on July 31, and 97% of members have voted to authorize a strike if warranted.
It’s still possible a deal could be reached by then, though the Teamsters said Wednesday that no additional negotiations have yet been scheduled.
UPS has not yet responded to a request for comment.
“This multibillion-dollar corporation has plenty to give American workers — they just don’t want to,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement Wednesday. “UPS had a choice to make, and they have clearly chosen to go down the wrong road.”
UPS has said in updates on its website that the company is “focused on reaching agreements that provide wins for our employees, the union, UPS and our customers.” “UPS is prepared to be at the table every day until we reach an agreement that allows us to continue rewarding our people with the best pay and benefits package in the industry while providing the flexibility our business needs to deliver for our customers and consumers,” the company said in an update on June 22.
24%. That’s UPS’ market share in the U.S. parcel shipping market as of 2022 based on parcel volume, according to the Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index. That makes it second only to the U.S. Postal Service with 32% and just ahead of Amazon (23%). UPS delivered 5.2 billion packages in 2022—out of 21.2 billion packages across all companies—with 162 packages shipped per U.S. household on average.
UPS’ agreement with the Teamsters is the largest private-sector union agreement in the U.S., according to Bloomberg, and the company is the single largest employer of Teamsters in the country.