Trujillo fired back in a viral video, claiming that even $42/hour isn’t enough, which is why full-time UPS workers will be getting a raise of around $1.50 this year. UPS typically adds a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to its wages each year in addition to any other base raises, but the company has yet to confirm a hike for this year.
“We’re not going on strike because the drivers aren’t getting a raise,” Trujillo continues. “We’re going on strike because the part-timers are only making $16 an hour, and that’s unacceptable.”
If UPS and union members don’t reach an agreement by Aug. 1, 97% of union members have voted to authorize a strike — which would be the first in 25 years for the shipping giant.
Why UPS workers may go on strike
The Teamsters union, which represents about 340,000 UPS workers, is calling for better benefits, pay raises and to ax the two-tier wage system for part-time and full-time workers.
Delivering packages can often be a physically demanding job and especially with temperatures this summer hitting record highs, the conditions can range from uncomfortable to unsafe. UPS has reported at least 143 heat-related injuries to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration since 2015. In some cases, workers have been hospitalized, or even died.
A tentative agreement over air conditioning in delivery vehicles was reached in June, but negotiations fell apart last week, with each side accusing the other of walking away from the table.
On the UPS website, it says full-timers make $95,000 a year and part-timers earn $20 an hour on average after 30 days — but union leader Sean O’Brien told ABC News that’s “not telling the true story.”
O’Brien says full-timers work 60 to 65 hours a week, while part-time wages are actually closer to $16 an hour.
“UPS is selective. They pick and choose on who they're going to pay, what area, and they can raise the rates,” he says.
O’Brien says part-time workers are currently “working for poverty wages,” and his goal is to ensure UPS establishes a livable starting wage for these workers. The company reported over $100 billion in revenue last year, and O’Brien believes union members deserve to reap some of those benefits as well.
