Labor talks between UPS and its unionized drivers and warehouse workers broke down Wednesday morning, with both sides accusing each other of walking away from the negotiating table.
why it matters: If no agreement is reached, the strike could throw supply chains into chaos, disrupt the US economy and push customers to rival shipping companies.
- The current contract of the employees expires on July 31. The Teamsters union said no additional talks are scheduled at this time.
big picture: The Teamsters – who represent more than 340,000 UPS employees nationwide – Said UPS “walked away from the bargaining table” after making an “unacceptable” offer that was rejected by the Teamsters.
- UPS denied his claims statementStating that UPS has not walked away from negotiations, the Teamsters have “stopped negotiating despite UPS’s historic offer.”
state of play: Negotiations have stalled due to disagreements over wage and cost-of-living increases.
- The union argues that the pay does not reflect the large profits UPS has enjoyed in recent years, Bloomberg notes.
- Teamsters also called UPS haven’t done enough Rewarding workers who risked their health to deliver packages during the pandemic.
between the lines: UPS distributes 20 million packages With strikes occurring every day in the US, competitors such as FedEx and the Postal Service would likely not be able to absorb all the extra load, disrupting the supply chain.