Tuesday, July 2, 2024 | St. Lawrence County, NY
BY JIMMY LAWTON North Country This Week POTSDAM — Potsdam UPS workers are joining their National Teamster allies in a potential strike. On Wednesday union members gathered in front of the Potsdam …
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BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week
POTSDAM — Potsdam UPS workers are joining their National Teamster allies in a potential strike.
On Wednesday union members gathered in front of the Potsdam location for a “practice strike.”
Jeffrey Norman, Teamster Business Agent, spoke on behalf of Local 687 in a brief interview with North Country This Week Wednesday.
“We are putting the company on notice,” he said.
The contract is due July 31, and UPS employees across the nation plan to strike if a “fair” contract isn’t brought forward.
Norman says UPS has the absolute power and authority to avoid the strike by bringing a fair offer forward.
“They are continuing to reward shareholders and forgetting about Main Street,” he said.
Norman claimed UPS made $100 Billion in 2022, $13 Billion of which is sheer profit.
He said many employees make just a bit over $15 per hour, a wage he says doesn’t make ends meet in the current economy.
“These people have worked through the pandemic. They were called heroes. They were called essential workers. Many of them loaded vaccinations on the trucks when they themselves couldn’t get the vaccinations,” he said.
Norman said the company has not provided a kind environment for employees either.
“It’s not hassle free. It’s not an easy job to complete,” he said.
Norman said the current situation is “corporate greed.”
“Shareholders are reaping the benefits off the back of our people,” he said. “Right now we are kind of at a stalemate, but UPS has the power to change that.”
Negotiations between UPS and the Teamsters union came to a halt recently, in part due to conditions for part-time workers.
A nationwide walkout by 340,000 UPS workers would be the largest strike against a single employer in national history, according to media reports.
The last time UPS workers went on strike was in 1997.
The strike could cause major disruptions to package deliveries.
UPS has the largest share of the parcel delivery market, followed by FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service. Amazon has also taken about 10% share of the market.
