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"Step back in time and uncover the historical UPS strike of 1997 in this captivating and informative video. Join us as we delve into the details of one of th...
- Part-Timers Hurting
- Democracy Sets The Stage
- Long Contract Campaign
- Internal Foot-Dragging
- Raising Expectations
- The Strike Is on
- The Victory
- Going Along
For years, UPS had been cutting costs by shifting toward low-wage part-time work. In 1962, James Hoffa Sr. allowed UPS to use part-time workers for the first time. In 1982, Hoffa’s successors let UPS cut part-time starting pay to $8 an hour. Before 1982, part-time loaders and package sorters made the same wage as the full-time drivers. By 1997, dri...
The stage for the 1997 showdown was set years earlier, in 1989, when Teamsters for a Democratic Union, the reform movement, won the right to elect top officers in one-member, one-vote elections. The Justice Department had sued the Teamsters for corruption and sought to put the entire union under a government trusteeship. TDU fought for direct elect...
The 1997 strike began on August 4 and was won 15 days later. But the seeds of victory were planted a year earlier when the International launched a contract campaign to get members moving. The IBT Field Services Department pulled 19 rank-and-file members off the job to work full-time for a year to organize rallies and workplace actions. Truck drive...
Locals led by reformers also took members off the job and put them to work full-time organizing members. But not all local officials were enthusiastic. Some foot-draggers were hardened internal political opponents. Others were middle-of-the-road officers who preferred traditional bargaining to a rowdy contract campaign. Carey was blunt, recalls Dav...
UPS Teamsters were accustomed to secret negotiations that kept a lid on members’ expectations. The union would publicize management’s demands for givebacks—and then declare victory when they refused the worst of the concessions. The 1997 campaign did the opposite. It made sure every member knew the union's specific, priority demands, including more...
In response to the union's strategy of raising member expectations, UPS drew a hard line. The day before the contract expired, management made a “final offer” that would increase the percentage of part-time workers, create only 200 new full-time jobs, and move members into a company-controlled pension plan. The union would have none of it. After th...
Out of options and running out of time, management surrendered on every key demand. UPS agreed to create 10,000 new full-time jobs by combining 20,000 part-time ones. Edwin Sanchez, a sorter in Los Angeles who started with the company in 1970, was one of the new full-timers. “I was finally able to buy a home—I didn’t have to rent anymore,” says San...
Today, UPS management has regained the upper hand—and the old go-along, get-along relationship with top Teamster officials has been restored. “The relationship with the Teamsters is better than it’s ever been before,” UPS executive Scott Davis said before the last contract talks. UPS workers felt differently. Seventy percent of them voted against H...
Apr 2, 2013 · It was the first and only nationwide strike in UPS history. It lasted for 15 days and stopped the delivery of 80% of their shipments. UPS lost $780 million and the effects left a lasting concern amongst shippers that it could happen again. It was considered one of the most significant labor disputes in history.
Jun 29, 2023 · In August 1997, the UPS strike that not many thought would happen, did. Not only did it surprise many companies – but worse was its impact: It exposed companies’ reliance on a single carrier for their livelihood. At the time, UPS dominated the ground network and had roughly 75% of the U.S. parcel market.
The strike began August 4, 1997, and was the largest strike in terms of striking workers that the country had seen thus far. Almost 100 percent of UPS workers who were members of the Teamster Union were involved in the strike. During the strike, UPS losses were over $600 million.
