The contract for some 340,000 UPS workers, organized by the International
Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), is set to expire at midnight on July 31st. Inpreparation for a possible walkout, Teamsters across the country began castingstrike ballots earlier this week. ---- A strike by UPS Teamsters would be thelargest labor action at a single firm in the history of the U.S. ---- To betterunderstand of how Teamsters are thinking about and preparing for a possiblestrike, we spoke with 'Big Will' Pina, a 30 year veteran of the UPS Teamsterrank-and-file.Black Rose / Rosa Negra (BRRN): Would you describe who you are, where you arebased, how long you have been working at UPS, and what kind of work you do there?Will: My name is Will Pina, a 51 year old out of southeast Los Angeles. I havebeen working for UPS for 30 years come August. I am a full time package cardriver. Worked my way up through the part time ranks.BRRN: What does your average day look like on the job? Given your experience, canyou describe some of the changes that you have seen in your years working at UPS?What have the conditions been like over the last few years?Will: My average day starts at 9 AM and ends anywhere from 7 PM 'til 9 PM. Someof the changes have come through new technology. Drivers had to have knowledge ofthe routes and how they worked, now most of them are lined up by computer routingprograms. They know exactly how many miles it takes, how many packages and stopsper hour you should be doing. The technology does not take into account roadconditions or weight of the packages.Routes used to have larger time allowance so basically now it's hard to break theroute or make scratch. Drivers are usually regularly followed by management whenthese unrealistic expectations are not met. To say we are over supervised andharassed would be a huge understatement. If it were not for my union and theprotections our contract provides I probably wouldn't be working there.Also on a side note; I am very proud to serve my area in a historic brownneighborhood and that's another reason I have chosen to stay a package car driver.Covid has really affected all of us in my local. When the pandemic first brokeout many drivers went on disability fearing catching it because they hadunderlying health conditions or bringing it back home and infecting theirfamilies. For the rest of us that stood behind and worked through it we were metby overloaded routes. All of us were working 12 hour shifts in dangerousconditions. In my case, I serve many clinics and a hospital where I risked myselfand my family on a daily basis. I know of at least 2 co-workers that died and onesupervisor, that really shook me psychologically.UPS was sending us to die for their profits without batting an eye. I also hadfamily members that caught covid and passed away. In spring of 2021 sufferingfrom burnout and depression I suffered from heat exhaustion that put me ondisability for two months. That was my experience during the pandemic. One goodthing to come out of it was our solidarity and new found militancy to fight thebosses after that incredibly abusive time period.BRRN: The last time the UPS-Teamster contract came up for negotiation was 2018.Can you tell us about how that played out?Will: In the 2018 contract negotiations led by Jimmy Hoffa jr. and packagedirector Ken Hall, the union had a really cozy relationship with UPS. Thatrelationship led to a concessionary contract, one that created a second tier oflower paid drivers creating division amongst the rank-and-file. The contract wasvery problematic to say the least.A vote no movement was born after the rank-and-file got wind of the givebacks, Iwas very proud to be part of that. We immediately went into action and startedinforming the members to vote no! The day came to cast our votes once they werecounted we shot down the business friendly agreement. The excitement of what weaccomplished stunned us, it was a great feeling of accomplishment.The following day the IBT announced they were invoking the two thirds rule andramming the contract through anyway. A quick summary of the two thirds rule: whenthere is not a clear majority of votes cast amongst all the members in the union,the IBT can impose the contract even if those that participated voted no. Thedisappointment was felt through our movement but we didn't let them forget aboutour displeasure of what they had just done to sell us out.UPS Teamsters show support for the no vote campaign against the 2018 contract,which will expire on July 31 this year.BRRN: You are a member of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), a reform caucusin the union. Can you tell us a bit about your involvement in the caucus?Will: Yes I am a member of TDU. I joined about two years ago. Even though I havebeen active in the union, I only recently joined. TDU has played a major role inthe union for many years. They spearheaded the 97 strike that's when I firstlearned of them being out in the picket lines and reading Teamster Voice. I feltit was way past time, it also helped that fellow trade union radicals had joinedup around the same time. One of our most recent reform victories was in the lastIBT convention the two-thirds rule I mentioned earlier was abolished. That is ahuge win for the rank-and-file.BRRN: The contract covering more than 340,000 UPS workers is set to expire onJuly 31 and IBT officially started collecting ballots for strike authorizationthis week. How are you and your Local preparing for the possibility of a strike?Will: To prepare for a potential strike this past Sunday our Local had contractaction training at the hall. It was open to all Southern California UPSTeamsters. If you've ever been to Labor Notes and taken any of their classes onorganizing, that's what it was like. We are also planning parking lot rallies,passing out educational materials, that sort of thing. All of those things havebeen already happening but they are going to be ramped up.The strike authorization vote, as you already know is under way and it should bean overwhelming yes vote. The vote tally should be done in about a week's time.To prepare themselves, the activists in our union have been visiting local picketlines for workers in other industries like performers at Medieval Times, Writer'sGuild pickets in Hollywood, and Amazon Teamsters in Palmdale.A UPS Teamster casts a vote during 2023 strike authorization balloting.BRRN: Are workers organizing independently of IBT to prepare for the possible strike?Will: Workers are organizing independently of the union, especially the parttimers. To show solidarity they have "red shirt Friday" they all wear red to showthe bosses they are united and not to be messed with. It's also a symbolicgesture over the starvation wages they get paid, most of them are in the redfinancially. I am very proud of these very important workers. They are thebackbone of this multi billion dollar corporation. This contract will be abouttheir issues.BRRN: As a rank-and-filer, what issues are most important to you in the comingcontract fight? Is there anything that you feel could have been included in thedemands, but was not?Will: The issues that are important to me are working conditions, the heat,invasive technology like cameras in the truck cab. In a recent development in ournegotiations the union secured air conditioning in new vehicles across the board,that's a big deal. Unfair production standards and harassment - that's a big onefor me, I have been fighting that my whole career.I can't specifically say what issues have been left out because the union isoperating under a NDA, or a non disclosure agreement. That's another fightactivists in our union are going to take on. Negotiations should be 100% transparent.One thing I would like to see under the economic package is wages be tied toinflation. The cost of living is going up and this job isn't getting any easier,not to mention UPS keeps on breaking record profits year after year.BRRN: In your experience, to what extent has the lead up to a possible strikemobilized rank-and-file members? In other words, have you seen more activeparticipation on the part of the rank-and-file in recent months?Will: The rank and file have been very active, yes. In my time at UPS I wouldhave to go back to the '97 strike to see this much involvement by the members.Our union hall is packed every month. I am also seeing members volunteer in ournew Amazon organizing committee. You will not see an empty seat there either.Really exciting time to be in the labor movement.UPS Teamsters rally in Brooklyn, NY.BRRN: The United Auto Workers (UAW) are also approaching the expiration ofcontracts with the 'Big 3' automakers in September. Are UPS workers watchingthese developments?Will: I would have to answer yes. We are watching what both unions do, as youknow the UAW just elected a reform slate that is also fighting sell out contractsthat were pushed by corrupt union officials. We had a UAW worker join our TDUclass at the Spring Labor Notes Troublemakers School. Also another brother by thename of Sean Orr out of local 705 Chicago invites UAW rank-and-file to "TeamsterThursday" meetings in order to build solidarity. That type of worker cooperationwill be crucial to rebuild militant fighting unions.BRRN: If a strike does happen at UPS, what are some ways that outsiders cansupport it?Will: If a strike does happen people could support us by simply showing up at ourpicket lines and helping us out there. Donations will be crucial, water, donatingto our strike fund is another way once it gets set up. Bringing food will help!Community support will be crucial if we are going to win this fight. This will bea historic strike if it does happen that should motivate allies of the labormovement to show up and be part of history!'Big Will' Pina is a 30 year UPS Teamster veteran and union radical in SoutheastLos Angeles. You can follow him on Twitter @bigwill72.https://blackrosefed.org/ups-teamster-2023-strike/_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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