Shipping strike
On Friday, the Teamsters union, representing 340,000 UPS workers, voted overwhelmingly to strike if no agreement is reached with the company before the contracts expire at the end of July. That's a major deal, as a walkout at UPS could become the largest work stoppage in the US since the steelworkers strike in 1959, when ~500,000 workers walked out for nearly four months.
The union achieved a significant breakthrough last week when the company tentatively agreed to include air conditioning in vehicles, following incidents of UPS drivers suffering from heatstroke. However, the Teamsters see this as just the beginning — pushing for higher wages, more full-time work opportunities, the removal of surveillance cameras in delivery trucks, and improved working conditions.
Package deal
UPS plays a crucial role in the US delivery market, handling roughly 1-in-4 parcels shipped in the country, processing an astonishing 19 million parcels per day during the first quarter of this year. But in recent years it's faced increasing competition from tech giant Amazon.
Over the past decade, the tech behemoth has rapidly expanded its logistics division, going from a market share of less than 1% a decade ago to a substantial 23% in 2022, per data from Pitney Bowes. Currently, Amazon sits just 1% behind UPS, having surpassed FedEx in 2020.
