UPS & Railroads May Go On Strike

~ UPDATE ~

Update on Railroad Union Negotiations or Strike
 11-22-22, Guardian -- Ole Joe Biden asks US Congress to block railroad strike that could ‘devastate economy’ ... The potential strike comes after long-running negotiations reached an impasse and both sides agreeing to a cooling-off period that ends December 9, 2022. The USA Congress has the power to impose contract terms on the workers. Congress could force the negotiations to continue into the new year. Four rail unions that represent more than half of the 115,000 workers in the industry have rejected the deals that Biden helped broker before the original strike deadline in September. Eight other unions have approved their five-year deals with the railroads and are in the process of getting back pay for their workers for the 24% raises that are retroactive to 2020... More here
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9/16/22. If they do not get more quality-of-life provisions in their contracts The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers also announced that its 4,900 members voted to reject a deal its leaders reached with freight railroad companies.

• A strike would effectively cost the USA an estimated $2 billion a day and send inflation soaring.
• The Biden administration is now scrambling to get the unions to accept a deal ​    More here

9-14-22, Amtrak cancels ALL long-distance trains (except those along the Northern Corridor) — affecting tens of thousands of customers each day. Unions representing engineers and conductors are set to go on strike Friday, Reportedly Biden is working with “other modes of transportation” to try to pick up the slack, but the trucking industry was already short 80,000 drivers before the strike, and the AAR’s analysis found an additional 467,000 long-haul trucks would be required to move the stalled freight. However, Passenger service in northeast corridor from Washington, DC to Boston via New York City, will not be affected.
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9-13-22, IEN.COM -- OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — On 9-11-22, the heads of the nation's two largest rail unions said that the freight railroads' move to begin delaying some shipments ahead of this week's looming strike deadline is only an attempt to get shippers to increase the pressure on Congress to intervene and block a work stoppage by imposing a contract on workers ... The railroad trade group said there's no way trucks can pick up the slack if the railroads stop moving because roughly 467,000 additional trucks a day would be needed to handle all the cargo trains haul and there is already a shortage of truck drivers. More here
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 9-10-22, Hal Turner -- Major freight railroads, in a bid to apply pressure on unions and USA Congress, say a strike that could come after a key deadline passes on 9-15-22; it would cost the economy more than $2 billion a day. [..] Ole Joe Biden's Presidential Emergency Board recommended a five-year deal, retroactive to 2020, that includes 24% raises and $5,000 in bonuses. But it wants unions to take their concerns about attendance policies, paid leave and expenses to arbitration or to negotiate separately with the railroads. Unions say their workloads have become unbearable after railroads eliminated nearly one-third of their work forces over the past six years. [..] Between this railroad strike, and a pending strike by United Parcel Service (UPS) Drivers (Story Here), the nation could find 95% of its Supply Chain crippled.   If you need to buy something which would be shipped by either of these methods, you'd better order it right now to get delivery before any strike begins. More here from CNN

350,000 UPS Workers May Strike

​11-29-22, Update:  Teamsters International president, Sean O’Brien, said in a statement: "UPS union is resolved to win the best contract for UPS members and to reset the standards for wages and benefits in this industry by August 1, 2023. We won’t extend negotiations by a single day. We’ll either have a signed agreement that day or be hitting the pavement.”  teamster.org/2022/08/ups-teamsters-kick-off-contract-fight/

9-6-22, * -- The US faces the biggest strike ever. UPS' contract is set to expire on July 31, 2023; with 350,000 of its 534,000 employees expected to go on strike. If the strike occurs, it'll be the first time since 1997, when employees demanded full-time positions and the union wanted to maintain control over the pension fund. According to Parcel the 1997 strike lasted 15 days and affected eighty percent of shipments loosing UPS $780 million. Labor experts suspect the Teamsters Union workers will go on strike sometime during the spring while the contract is being negotiated and it will it affect the whole country.  [..] According to CNN Business UPS drivers currently receive on average appx $95,000 annually with an additional $50,000 in benefits.  Workers want air conditioning the back of trucks... ​*Excerpted full original report from DailyMail here

8-1-22, With the current contract expiring in exactly one year, members are mobilizing now for the strongest possible contract in 2023. The kick-off of this historic contract fight also coincides with the 25th anniversary of the successful 1997 UPS Teamsters strike, when 185,000 members struck the company. teamster.org/2022/08/ups-teamsters-kick-off-contract-fight/
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Labor Victory in 1997 UPS Strike - UPS agreed to:

•     create 10,000 new full-time jobs by combining 20,000 part-time jobs.
•     raise pensions by as much as 50 percent --
•     drop its demand to take over Teamster pensions.
•     new restrictions on subcontracting feeder work.
•     include the biggest wage increases ever More here: www.tdu.org/how_the_1997_ups_strike_was_won