Machinists' union keeps 3,400 UPS workers at work despite rejection of a collective agreement

UPS operators: Tell us what your conditions are and what you want in the next contract. All submissions will be treated anonymously.

A UPS driver unloads packages from a truck and prepares them for delivery. [AP Photo/Mark Lennihan]

The contract for 3,400 machinists at UPS expired on July 31. The employees include auto and maintenance mechanics, porters, car washers, gas station attendants and office workers. They are all members of the International Association of Machinists.

The expiration of the contract comes against a backdrop of growing opposition to mass layoffs. UPS has already announced tens of thousands of layoffs and plans to close or automate 200 sites as part of its so-called “network of the future.” The key factor is the bureaucracy of the Teamsters, which last year rammed through a contract with its 340,000 UPS members that contains no protection from the cuts. In an interview, UPS CEO Carol Tomé described the “job security” offered by the five-year contract as crucial to her layoff plans.

IAM workers at UPS have already voted overwhelmingly in favor of a strike. Last month, they also rejected a tentative agreement that did not bring about pay parity with part-time workers in the Teamsters contract, which is currently set at $21 an hour.

The contract that UPS machine workers rejected was a sell-out. Not only did it provide for below-market wages, it would have cut pension and health insurance payments in half and left out basic job guarantees. It would also have allowed the company to hire part-time auto mechanics during the peak period between October and mid-December. UPS has tactically backed down and dropped the proposal.

Even after the workers rejected this proposal, the IAM kept them on the job without a contract for almost a month.

Pensions at risk

Some of the threatened concessions for machinists would not only set a precedent for future agreements, but would also have a direct impact on UPS employees with the Teamsters. The Teamsters' pension fund for Local 804 in New York City is actually a joint fund with that of IAM Local 447. A 50 percent cut in pension payments for IAM 447 mechanics, as proposed in the rejected agreement, would directly damage the fund's financial health.

Major concessions were also made on pensions last year. UPS Chief Financial Officer Brian Newman said: “This is the first contract in over 20 years that does not provide for any contribution increases.”

In 2022, the Biden administration bailed out the troubled Teamsters' Central States Fund for $36 billion. But six of the 20 pension plans UPS contributes to were in red status last year, according to recent SEC filings, including the IAM National Pension Plan.

Workers against bureaucracy

There is enormous potential for UPS machinists to join forces with their colleagues at UPS and workers across the country in a common fight. At Boeing, 33,000 IAM members voted almost unanimously to strike at the aerospace giant when their union contract expires on September 12.

In the auto industry, workers are fighting mass layoffs made possible by the betrayal of union bureaucrats, as at UPS. About 450 striking workers at Chicago's Dakkota auto parts plant have fended off four attempts by United Auto Workers officials to force a sellout and are now fighting to take control of the strike into their own hands.

While there is natural sympathy and support among UPS workers regardless of union affiliation, the IAM and Teamsters bureaucrats are engaged in a bitter factional battle. On May 23, Teamsters President Sean O'Brien sent a memo to his union staff and organizers informing them of a policy to search the IAM for dues-paying members. O'Brien stated, “I informed the general president of the [IAM] that I revoke any existing agreement against raids and that IAM and its local partners are [Teamsters] general 'no raids' policy towards sister unions.”

That the UPS machinists are still on the job is also a serious warning to IAM members at Boeing. While the union bureaucracy has threatened strikes at the giant Everett aircraft plant in Washington and nearby plants, it is no doubt working feverishly behind the scenes to secure a sellout to prevent that. Like the Teamsters did last year, they would then use the hot air about a “strike threat” to claim the deal was a victory brought about by popular pressure.

The IAM is trying to isolate UPS-IAM members by remaining completely silent during negotiations and keeping them on the job without a collective bargaining agreement. UPS-IAM workers must overcome the isolation with the support of rank-and-file Teamsters and push through the strike. This will require a joint movement of rank-and-file committees of both machinists and Teamster members, as well as all other UPS workers, in a rebellion against the pro-corporate bureaucrats.

Machinists' union keeps 3,400 UPS workers at work despite rejection of a collective agreement

You may also like...

Recent Posts

Machinists' union keeps 3,400 UPS workers at work despite rejection of a collective agreement

You may also like...

Release date, downtime, leaks and more – SiegeGG

Gameday Information – UCLA vs. Indiana

Impressive pharaohs destroy blue sharks

Recent Posts