If there is a UPS strike next month, Brooklyn-based driver Matt Leichenger is prepared for it: He has savings, he said, and can get by for a couple of weeks without his regular paycheck if needed. <\/p>\n
Leichenger, a 27-year-old shop steward for Teamsters Local 804, said that about a year ago, his local encouraged him and his colleagues to save up in case there was a strike, so they started personal strike funds at the local\u2019s credit union.<\/p>\n
\n
Many of the colleagues he has talked with also feel ready to strike, even in a place like New York City with its high cost of living, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA few months ago, some of them were worried,\u201d Leichenger said. But now, \u201cthe vibe in my building is very much like we\u2019re more united than we\u2019ve ever been.\u201d<\/p>\n
If their employment contract expires July 31 with no agreement, more than 340,000 UPS
\n UPS,
\n +0.74%<\/bg-quote>
\n delivery drivers and warehouse workers could walk off their jobs Aug. 1, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has said. Though Leichenger said he and most of his colleagues are prepared for the possible personal financial ramifications of a strike that they really don\u2019t want, other UPS workers on online forums such as Reddit and Facebook have said they\u2019re worried about running out of money.<\/p>\nThe Teamsters have a strike fund with well over $300 million in it, said Kara Deniz, a spokesperson for the union. A worker\u2019s weekly strike benefit is equal to five times their monthly dues, according to the Teamsters website. <\/p>\n
For regular full-time drivers, that would be $520 a week. The top rate for package-delivery drivers who have worked for the company for at least four years is $42 an hour, said UPS spokesperson Mitch Polikoff, adding that drivers work an average of nine hours a day and 46-hour weeks including overtime. Polikoff also said 59,000\u00a0of full-time union employees have been with UPS for more than five years.<\/p>\n
Part-time workers make an average of $20 an hour after 30 days, and average about 20 hours a week, Polikoff added. Part-time workers who make\u00a0$20 an hour and pay $50 a month in dues would be eligible for strike benefits of $250 a week, about half of what one part-timer who spoke with MarketWatch would make in a week. And part-time workers who make $16 or less would receive $200 a week.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n \u201c<\/span>\u2018We\u2019re Teamsters. We have to stick together.\u2019\u201d<\/span>\n <\/p>\n
\n \u2014 Jaime Salazar, a full-time UPS driver in Napa, Calif.<\/span>
\n <\/small><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nAs for other possible sources of financial help for striking workers, \u201cthere\u2019s also some local unions that have strike funds,\u201d Deniz said, as well as \u201ca ton of support from other unions.\u201d In some cases in certain states, she added, workers may be able to draw from unemployment insurance.<\/p>\n
Leichenger\u2019s local is also \u201corganizing as much community support as we can,\u201d such as lining up pizza for the picket lines, he said.<\/p>\n
Asked to comment for this story, Polikoff told MarketWatch on Friday: \u201cUPS supports our employees\u2019 right to express their views.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe agree on the vast majority of the issues the union and our people have raised,\u201d Polikoff said. \u201cWe look forward to returning to the negotiating table next week to come to an agreement by Aug. 1 that represents a win for our customers, our employees, the union and the company.\u201d<\/p>\n
UPS and the Teamsters are scheduled to resume contract negotiations Wednesday for the first time since talks broke down July 5.<\/p>\n
What Teamsters workers want from UPS<\/h2>\n
Noah Jorstad, a 25-year-old part-time warehouse worker in Fargo, N.D., thinks that if there is a strike, it won\u2019t last very long. That\u2019s not what worries him most: He wants negotiations to yield raises for part-timers like himself, he said, as well as the creation of more full-time jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s more than enough work for somebody to get eight hours a day,\u201d said Jorstad, who has a toddler son and receives health benefits through UPS for working there about 27 hours a week. \u201cIt would be better for me if I could have just one full-time job.\u201d He added that the company seems to prefer using part-timers and having them work overtime instead of just creating more full-time jobs.<\/p>\n
Jaime Salazar, a full-time driver for more than 10 years in Napa, Calif., spent more than seven years as a part-time warehouse worker. He said he doesn\u2019t want to strike, but \u201cif we have to, I will stand up for my part-time coworkers,\u201d whom he said do \u201cback-breaking work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re Teamsters,\u201d he added. \u201cWe have to stick together.\u201d<\/p>\n
The union is asking for a new five-year contract that includes higher wages \u2014 especially for part-timers, who comprise half of the UPS hourly workforce \u2014 and improvements in working conditions.<\/p>\n
Jorstad said he also worries about how his workplace might be affected by those who cross the picket line, because he has heard some of his colleagues talking about possibly doing so.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m already asking myself: How am I going to treat these guys after the strike?\u201d Jorstad said.<\/p>\n
\u2018I would prefer not to strike\u2019<\/h2>\n
Thomas Berry, a California-based former UPS driver who retired a few years ago after 30 years with the company, was around for the last strike in 1997, which lasted 15 days. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we went on strike, it basically shut America down,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a disaster\u201d for the company and others who relied on it, and UPS lost loyal customers, he said.<\/p>\n
The 1997 strike ended with a huge victory for the Teamsters and UPS workers, securing raises for part-timers and getting the company to convert 10,000 part-time positions into full-time positions. It was a blow to UPS, which bet that the union would be divided and that the public would turn on the Teamsters. In fact, polling showed a majority of the public was\u00a0on the side of the striking workers.\u00a0The company\u00a0reportedly\u00a0lost more than $600 million in business.<\/p>\n
Because of that, Berry thinks the company is simply \u201cwaiting till the 11th hour to cut a deal\u201d this time around. There is so much more demand for deliveries now, he said: \u201cEverything is delivered. You see these guys at 9 and 10 at night delivering. One Christmas, we were out there at midnight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berry said at the time that he walked off the job, he was \u201cin his 20s and broke,\u201d and the strike fund only provided $50 a week. \u201cI was definitely relieved when it was over,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Salazar and Jorstad both had heard about the possibility of a strike as well, so they, too, have set aside some money. <\/p>\n
Jorstad also said he has another part-time job that he hopes could give him more hours if he needs them, and mentioned possibly doing deliveries for DoorDash
\n DASH,
\n -0.27%<\/bg-quote>
\n if necessary.<\/p>\n\u201cI would prefer not to strike,\u201d Jorstad said. \u201cBut I feel ready.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If there is a UPS strike next month, Brooklyn-based driver Matt Leichenger is prepared for it: He has savings, he said, and can get by for a couple of weeks without his regular paycheck if needed. Leichenger, a 27-year-old shop steward for Teamsters Local 804, said that about a year ago, his local encouraged him […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[236],"tags":[83],"class_list":["post-39789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"yoast_head":"\n
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