Tip Sheets

UPS labor contract outcome will set tone for logistics sector workers

July 13, 2023

Economics and Business
Industrial and Labor Relations
Media Inquiries

Media Contact

Adam Allington
aea235@cornell.edu

Contract negotiations between the United Parcel Service (UPS) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters fell apart last week, raising the possibility that 340,000 members could strike when their current contract expires on July 31. 

Patricia Campos-Medina

Executive director of the Worker Institute

Patricia Campos-Medina is an expert on workplace and labor issues and the executive director of the Worker Institute at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Campos-Medina says:  

“What happens on this contract fight sets the tone for what workers expect from other logistics companies like Amazon and FedEx.

“The standards the Teamsters set at the bargaining table are the top tier standards for any worker in the distribution and logistics market. Their accomplishments set the tone for what other workers doing the same job hope to accomplish.

“UPS also represent about 6% market share of the logistics market, impacting the supply chain immediately upon their workers' decision to take concerted action for all workers, including part-time workers, in all their pay scales.”  
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