UPS strike impact on non-union workers and you: 'The impact will be felt everywhere'
Since April, UPS and Teamsters, the union representing its workers, have been in contentious negotiations for a new labor contract.
The two sides have departed from the bargaining table, despite tentatively agreeing on points including ending forced overtime on drivers' days off, establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday, and increasing wages for flexible drivers who do not work traditional Monday-Friday shifts through reclassification, along with more than 55 other non-economic agreements.
As of July 5, no additional negotiations between the union and the company have been scheduled and Teamsters said they are ready to strike, having hosted a slew of practice pickets nationwide.
If a UPS Teamsters strike were to unfold on Aug. 1 following the contract expiration, midnight July 31, rank-and-file union members would take to the picket lines and walk off the job, effectively halting the majority of UPS work, which includes sorting, loading and delivering packages to consumers worldwide. The more than 3,000 UPS Airlines pilots who are members of the Independent Pilots Association would support the picket line, just like it did in 1997, the last time UPS experienced a strike.
"(Teamsters) seem to be much more organized and much more prepared to strike and are engaging in activities, like their practice strikes, that really demonstrate their solidarity," Ariana Levinson, a professor of law with an emphasis on labor employment at the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, told the Courier Journal, part of the Paste BN Network.
UPS supports the national and global economy and the company estimates it "transports more than 3% of global (gross domestic product) and about 6% of U.S. GDP daily," including everything from home-ordered Amazon packages to business shipments and medical necessities.
"If ... a nationwide strike does occur, the impact will be felt everywhere and by everyone," said Tim Morris, executive director of the Greater Louisville Central Labor Council, which represents more than 50 labor unions in the Greater Louisville area. "The supply chain, as we have seen through years of a global pandemic, is very delicate and the frontline workers at UPS make up a large portion of the supply chain."
While much of the focus has been on the 340,000 UPS Teamsters nationwide, UPS employs around 160,000 non-union employees in management and other roles, who would likely be expected to not be part of the possible strike. When asked about non-union employees, UPS did not comment on the matter specifically.
If the largest single employer strike in U.S. history were to occur at UPS this August, here's what experts say could happen to the non-unionized workers and how it could impact your life.
Could UPS function without Teamsters?
UPS employs about 25,000 people in Louisville and close to 500,000 nationwide, with roughly 65,000 working as delivery drivers. The Teamsters members represent roughly 70% of all U.S. UPS employees.
In 1997, when roughly 185,000 UPS Teamsters walked out for 15 days, the strike "largely crippled the world's largest package delivery company," according to a New York Times article from August 1997. Any possible UPS strike this August could have nearly twice as many union members picketing than the strike 26 years ago.
Today, with the popularity of online shopping, the world is even more dependent on UPS, with the package delivery company getting more than 11% of consolidated revenue from its customer Amazon alone.
"If a strike does occur, I can say that it would be fairly impossible for management to keep more than maybe a slight portion running, maybe not even that," Morris told the Courier Journal.
What is UPS doing to prepare workers?
Jim Mayer, a spokesperson for UPS said recently the company has started to share information with management employees, who would not be covered under the Teamsters, about "continuity training."
"Over the coming weeks, many of our U.S. employees will participate in training that would help them safely serve our customers if there is a labor disruption," Mayer said. "These activities also will not take away from our ongoing efforts to finalize a new contract that ... allows UPS to remain competitive and provides certainty for our customers and the U.S. economy."
While UPS is taking steps to prepare employees for a change in workload, the company said it remains focused on avoiding a strike and reaching an agreement with Teamsters before Aug. 1.
UPS workers may go on strike: What it would mean for you and your packages
Could non-union UPS workers be forced to work overtime?
"Yes," Levinson, with UofL, said. "To the extent UPS attempts to carry on any business, management and other non-union employees may be expected to cross the picket line and work overtime and/or duties they don’t traditionally perform."
However, if a non-union worker refuses to cross the picket line, they cannot be disciplined unless they are a supervisor, said Paul Clark, a professor of labor and employment relations and criminology at Penn State University.
"UPS will expect (non-union employees) to cross the picket line. And they will expect supervisors to come to work," Clark said. "If UPS does decide to make deliveries, they would likely use their non-union workers and their supervisors to do as many deliveries as they can."
Does a strike benefit non-union UPS workers?
"I think the long-term impact will be favorable," Levinson said. "Non-union employees are likely to ultimately make economic gains similar to their unionized co-workers and to benefit from the non-economic gains the unionized coworkers win."
In 2021, John Deere non-union workers saw 8% wage increases following a five-week strike by the United Auto Workers, UAW union. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, this occurrence with Deere & Co.'s non-union workers is not an outlier.
"Labor unions improve wages and working conditions for all workers, whether they are union members or not," the U.S. Department of Labor website stated.
A report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that non-union workers "had median weekly earnings that were 85% of earnings" made by union members. Aside from the long-term economic benefits non-union UPS employees are likely to receive, they also stand to benefit from some of the non-economic benefits such as a tentative agreement to install air conditioning in vehicles.
Will UPS hire strike replacement workers?
During a strike, UPS could choose to hire strike replacement workers, but Clark speculates this may be challenging in the current economic climate "because of low unemployment at the moment." If UPS were to hire permanent replacements, the strikers would be placed on a preferential hiring list if their employment was not immediately reinstated following the conclusion of the strike.
What are some strike impacts for non-union UPS workers?
Non-union workers are likely to see additional workload expectations in the event of a strike. Management, supervisors and other clerical staff that may not be covered by the Teamsters contract "could be told to keep the packages moving" while the union members walk the picket lines, Morris said.
Clark said UPS could try and lean on the non-union workers to keep the company afloat during a strike.
Typically, non-union workers are employed at will, meaning the company does not have to provide work. If UPS were to shut down some or part of its operations during a strike, the non-union workers "must exhaust vacation or personal days or take unpaid leave, unless their individual contract provides otherwise," Levinson said.
In the event a UPS shutdown was to occur during a strike, Levinson said non-union workers are likely to lose wages and unlike Teamsters, there is no strike fund to financially support non-union employees.
"The reality is that only UPS knows for certain what impacts will be felt by the non-union workforce at UPS as they will decide what work their non-union workforce will do during a strike," Morris said.
Tyler Jett contributed to this report. Contact reporter Olivia Evans at oevans@courier-journal.com or on Twitter at @oliviamevans_.