Posted by Stamper_WI on 7/25/08 10:44pm
Msg #256976

UPS Strike?

I heard from a fairly reliable source that they may go on strike next month. Anyone else here this?

Reply by Teresa/FL on 7/25/08 11:17pm
Msg #256986

I haven't heard anything about this,

but I will make sure to ask my UPS driver if there is any truth to this rumor.

And I am stocking up on FedEx supplies...

Reply by Lee/AR on 7/26/08 6:55am
Msg #257002

Did I miss something? Thought UPS was employee-owned. How do you strike against yourself?

Reply by T/IA on 7/26/08 7:52am
Msg #257003

I was married to a UPS driver. The drivers are union workers and re-negotiate their contract every 5 years. I know that August is their contract negotiation month but I wasn't aware their contract was up for negotiation this year. However, maybe the present contract is shorter than the prior 5 year terms. Haven't heard anything about a strike.

Reply by PAW on 7/26/08 8:13am
Msg #257005

Area UPS workers brace for strike over pay, benefits

July 25, 2008

BY FRANCINE KNOWLES [e-mail address]

A strike by United Parcel Service workers could hit the Chicago metropolitan area next week.

Teamsters Local 705 will launch a strike a week from today against the world's biggest package delivery company if the two sides aren't able to reach agreement on a new contract, said the local's Secretary-Treasurer Steve Pocztowski.

Read the article at http://www.suntimes.com/business/1074029,CST-FIN-ups25.article

Reply by BrendaTx on 7/26/08 8:20am
Msg #257006

Will notaries step up to cover the trucks? Just a thought that ran through my head.

That's usually what happens in a serious strike. I'm from the union days of chemical plants gone by.

A set of displaced workers strikes, another set takes its place...tension is created...it rips a community apart.

It's not pretty.

Hopefully, UPS can settle this problem equitably.

Reply by jba/fl on 7/26/08 12:05pm
Msg #257036

Did some research last night on previous strike in 1997, including some updates in 2007. I think that this time it will not be as effective as in 1997, JMO. Unions really do not have the clout they once had and if the company is the least bit prepared this time, there will be scabs ready to fill the gaps and all will be lost.

http://dbacon.igr.orgStrikes/07ups.htm
which says in part:

"Last spring, Teamsters Union strategists and members of its UPS bargaining committee took a look at the problem of part-timers like Cortez. Aware that a major confrontation with the company was in the works, they gambled that the part time issue would resonate with the public. Even more, they recognized that it affected so many Teamster members at UPS, and so seriously, that it would unite the union and keep members on the picketline as long as necessary. "

MO: Since so many in the work force now are parttime, these parttime sympathies would be missing this go around.

Then again, I could be wrong:
http://www.jeremiahproject.com/culture/ups_strike.html
written in 2007
says corporate greed, union greed (wanting to control the pension funds) and employee played the biggest part, along w/discontentment on employee parts too. UPS offered more than what was accepted by the union, and the employees took another couple of years playing catch up due to lost wages. The winner: Union, for short time.

Well, let's see what lessons were learned in 1997

Reply by MW/VA on 7/27/08 11:06am
Msg #257148

It's too bad that this union is still striving for control. I lived most of my life in eastern PA--and saw the demise of the manufacturing industry. Companies finally moved jobs out of the country where labor was cheaper. Sadly, it's the same thing going on in the US auto industry.