Under the new leadership team led by General President Sean M. O’Brien, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters are re-introducing themselves to the bosses and to the world as a fighting union, and they are gearing up for their biggest test yet: the impending negotiations of the IBT’s contract with United Parcel Service (UPS). With UPS employing over 350,000 Teamster members around the country, theirs is the largest collective bargaining agreement in North America—and the current contract is set to expire on July 31. With national negotiations set to begin this month, Teamsters leaders are traveling to union locals around the country, mobilizing their members, and preparing UPS workers for a strike if a new contract is not reached on time. We attended an April 2 rally at Teamsters Local 25 in Boston (O’Brien’s old local) and spoke with folks on the ground about this new era for the Teamsters and what’s at stake in the UPS contract fight.
Episode includes interviews with and speeches from: Thomas Mari (Teamsters), Jane Fallon (Teamsters), Rob Atkinson (Teamsters), JJ Rodriguez (Teamsters), Fred Zuckerman (Teamsters), Julie (Workers United), and Sean M. O’Brien (Teamsters).
Post-production: Jules Taylor
Additional links/info below…
- International Brotherhood of Teamsters website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
- Teamsters for a Democratic Union website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
- Working People, ““If You Can’t Stand the Heat, Keep Working” (w/ Zakk, Gabriela, & Steve)“
- Working People, “(Unlocked) BONUS EPISODE – A Pivotal Moment for the Teamsters (w/ Indigo Olivier)“
- Maximillian Alvarez, Breaking Points, “The Coming UPS WORKER REVOLT Over Heat Exhaustion“
- Alex Press, Jacobin, “Inside the Teamsters’ Preparations for a UPS Strike“
- Elliot Lewis & Matt Leichenger, Labor Notes, “UPS Says No to Air Conditioning, But Here’s a Surveillance Camera“
- Justin Alo, Labor Notes, “‘Strike Force’: Building the UPS Contract Campaign, One Breakfast at a Time“
- The Upsurge: A podcast about UPS, the Teamsters & the future of the American labor movement
- Thomas Black, Bloomberg, “UPS Faces Rising Labor Costs, Strike Risk in Upcoming Union Fight“
Permanent links below…
- Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
- Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
- In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
- The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)
- Jules Taylor, “Working People Theme Song
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Speaker 1:
Much more time. Who are we?
Speaker 2:
Teamsters.
Speaker 1:
Who are we?
Speaker 2:
Teamsters.
Speaker 1:
Who are we?
Speaker 2:
Teamsters.
Speaker 1:
That’s what we write. Awesome job. Brothers and sisters. This is what the Teamsters do. This is who we are. We are united more than ever before. And UPS better wake up and hear our call. Brothers and sisters is one thing that we do in Boston that is the secret formula for the labor movement. It’s called unity, and that’s what we do here. We are united more than ever before and we have a great program here for you today. We have the general president with us, we have the general secretary treasurer with us, and you know why? Because they want to come where it starts. This is where we get shit done is in Boston. That’s what we do.
Before I get into next speaker, I’m going to give you an overview of what’s been going on in New England. We’ve been meeting since January 22nd, I believe was the first day. We’ve met on eight different occasions. And I’ll tell you this, brothers and sisters, it’s actually disgusting. The company wants to come in and take away after you guys have killed yourselves for the last five years, given them the sweat equity is what you exchange for your contract every five years, and we’ve given them our sweat equity like never before through a pandemic that has kicked our along with everybody. So I got one thing to say to UPS. Concessions aren’t happening in New England. No concessions in New England. What do you say brothers and sisters?
Speaker 2:
[inaudible 00:02:17].
Speaker 1:
That’s right. What you got to understand is we put forward tons of proposals. We took every proposal that you put forward and we put it forward to the company. Company looked at those proposals and instead of coming in and saying they want to stick with what they got, they went the opposite direction. They’re going negative now. This company is doing exactly what myself, general President Sean O’Brien, general Secretary Treasurer Zuckerman knew was going in. We expect this. We don’t expect them this to give us what we want. We expect it to be a hard fight, brothers and sisters, but we’ve got your back because we’ve got the best negotiators in the country taking on UPS. We’ve got the best committee in the country taking on UPS in New England, brothers and sisters, I give you one promise, that promise is there’ll be no concessions. The concession stand is closed.
Jane Fallon:
My name is Jane Fallon. I work part-time at the South Boston UPS building. I’m a shop steward and I work the early morning shift. We go in about four in the morning and usually wrap up about eight or nine in the morning.
Maximillian Alvarez:
And that’s the side of the job that I think so many people don’t see. I was wondering if you could say a little bit about how long you’ve been doing that work and what that work entails, like that maybe folks don’t get the behind the scenes view.
Jane Fallon:
Right. Okay. So we get up very early in the morning and we head into work and some of the kids unload the trailers that come in with all the big packages and we unload them, put them through the process, and then we load them into the trucks for the drivers to deliver.
Maximillian Alvarez:
And how’d you become a shop steward?
Jane Fallon:
Actually, the union came to me and asked me if I would be interested in doing it. And I said, “I don’t know a whole lot, but I’ll learn.” And I’ve learned a lot and I love it. It’s empowering. It makes you feel like you’re a part of the system and you can help people out because some people don’t… Management will go after the quieter people, the people that really don’t stand up for themselves. And it’s nice to be able to tell them that you can come to me if you have an issue and I’ll try to help you and we can guide you in the right direction.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Well, and that’s so important because as we know, so many people on the job feel like they have nowhere to turn.
Jane Fallon:
Right.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Right. And I’m just kind of blown away by the energy here. We’re obviously standing outside of Teamster’s, local 25 President Sean O’Brien just talked about the upcoming contract fight with UPS.
Jane Fallon:
Right.
Maximillian Alvarez:
I was wondering if you could say a bit more about what you and your coworkers are going through. What are the sort of key issues that are going to be on the table during this contract fight?
Jane Fallon:
Well for us, we’re a part-timers. So we need a pay raise. The part-timers that really don’t get thought of too much and we get up early in the morning and work. It’s a tough shift. And your family has to adjust. You have to adjust. Typically, we go in at four and work till maybe eight or nine, like I said, but Christmas time, our time can be rolled back to midnight and we have to adjust to it. It’s not optional. Sometimes we’re forced to work six days a week and they don’t think of that. They just expect it and we do it. We adjust. We’re flexible. You have to be flexible. And for a company that makes billions and billions of dollars, I think they can afford to pay their part-timers a living wage.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Hell yeah. And I know from experience from talking to so many other workers like that, the bosses try to use those tiers of workers. The part-timers, the new hires, the old timers, they pit us against each other. I was wondering if you could, are you seeing that? Do you feel like at least on the union side, that folks are rallying more together across the different, part-timers, full-timers?
Jane Fallon:
Absolutely. They do try to use the part-timers when they’re cutting back on the full-timers hours. Right now they’re pretty strict with hours. They don’t want anyone getting any overtime, but they’ll kind of trickle a little bit of overtime to a part-timer just to get the full-timers outraged and vice versa do. And they try to separate us even as a steward. They’ll try to divide the full-time stewards and the part-time stewards. They want us to say, “Oh, he’s doing that. You guys should get that,” a grievance or whatever. But our building anyways, and I think all around we stick together. We are all one. We’re one union. We support each other and they’re not going to divide us.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Hell yeah. And I guess what are you hearing from folks as we gear up for the contract fight? We know that negotiations are set to begin later this month. Contract expires in the summer. We heard a great line-
Jane Fallon:
Yeah, 31st.
Maximillian Alvarez:
That if we don’t have the contract members won by August 1st, we ain’t working. Right. So is that the vibe that you’re getting from your members?
Jane Fallon:
Absolutely. And I think everybody’s standing by that. Everyone’s supporting and it’s great. It’s really great. People are trusting the union to do the right thing by them. They know we have to do it. And I don’t know anybody that isn’t willing to if the union makes a decision to strike, I think everyone’s a hundred percent behind them.
Maximillian Alvarez:
And I guess before I let you go, I wanted to ask if you have any messages for listeners out there who don’t work at UPS, maybe they’re not in a union, but what can they do to show solidarity with y’all and why is this fight important, not just for the Teamsters, but for all working people?
Jane Fallon:
You know what Sean was saying, that it sets a precedent for labor unions going forward. And if we get a good contract, we realize that unions can stand up and they can get a living wage and they can get what they need and supported from management. And management can’t play games. They will throw to the new people this market rate adjustment, the MRA. So they’ll put that out there and people start at that rate. I think right now, I’m not sure what it is. And people come in and they’re thinking, “Okay, we’re making this money not so bad.” Then they snatch it away a couple of months later and people are up in arms like, “We were making this. What happened?” And they’re coming to the union and we’re saying, “We need to get that in the contract. It’s not contractual, it’s management. They can take it, they can give it and they can take it and it’s not right.”
Rob Atkinson:
I have a question. Are you all ready to kick some ass for the working class?
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Rob Atkinson:
Hell yeah. As Tom said, my name is Rob Atkinson and I’m the UPS contract campaign coordinator. I started at UPS back in 1988 in the small center in Western Pennsylvania, right outside of Pittsburgh. There’s one guy here from Western Pennsylvania. Good friend of mine. I worked there for 27 years until they fired me back in 2015. In retaliation for union activity, I’ve seen firsthand how this company treats their central workers. What UPS did to me is a perfect example of how they respect Teamsters, who work there. You all worked there through that pandemic. UPS went from making $4 billion a year to $14 billion a year. What has UPS done to show that they respect the sacrifices that you all made working through that pandemic while they increased their profits by 250%? Nothing. Well, I got news for them. We’re here to collect our share.
We demand what we’ve earned and we demand what we deserve. We ain’t asking for nothing that we shouldn’t be getting. We kicked off this contract campaign back in August and we’ve been coordinating actions at the gates in the parking lots with every local in the country since then. And what I’ve seen at every local is a hunger and a desire to do what it takes to force this company to share the wealth that they’ve accumulated from our hard work and sacrifices. Soon you will see contract action team trainings coming to your area near you. I urge you all to sign up and attend these trainings that will be conducted by our training and development team. These trainings are a critical and vital component for us to get the knowledge and skills we are going to need to fight for the wages, the benefits, the working conditions that we’ve earned and deserve.
Speaker 2:
Yeah. Woo.
Rob Atkinson:
For years we said if we only had leadership that would fight for us at the bargaining table. Well, I got news for you. We have that leadership now.
Speaker 2:
Yeah. Woo.
Rob Atkinson:
All that we need to do is stand behind them. Are we going to stand behind them?
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Rob Atkinson:
Damn right, we are. We’re Teamsters. And when we all stand together, there’s nothing, there’s nothing that we can’t achieve. And that is what UPS is about to find out.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Rob Atkinson:
Thank you.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Just start by introducing yourself.
JJ Rodriguez:
JJ Rodriguez from the Franklin Building, Mass.
Maximillian Alvarez:
And you worked at UPS.
JJ Rodriguez:
UPS, yep.
Maximillian Alvarez:
How long you worked there?
JJ Rodriguez:
10 years.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Damn. What do you do?
JJ Rodriguez:
I drive.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Okay. And how are you feeling about today’s rally?
JJ Rodriguez:
Oh, I felt great.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Yeah?
JJ Rodriguez:
I’m pumped. I’m ready to go home with the sweater tomorrow. I’m telling you, I’m pumped.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Well, and I was wondering if you could tell me a little more about what that job entails, because a lot of folks, we get our packages from you guys, but then we don’t see all the shit you go through on a day-to-day basis. So what does a typical day look like for you?
JJ Rodriguez:
It all depends. Every day can be different. Some days you can have a great day and some days just everybody just buying stuff. So it’s just like, it all depends. Other than that it’s tough because it’s like you don’t know what day you’re walking into. Every day is different.
Maximillian Alvarez:
And what sorts of key issues are going to be on the table with these contract negotiations? What are you and your coworkers going through on the job that need to be addressed during the contract fight?
JJ Rodriguez:
There’s the whole thing they call dishonesty, people get fired for, they can lie to us but they don’t get fired. You know what I’m saying? It’s messed up. Because we will tell the truth and they’ll still say we’re lying, but they can actually lie to us when we have proof and nothing happens to them. So hopefully that changes.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Have you noticed any changes in the attitude of management since Sean came in and you got this new energy in the Teamsters over the past year?
JJ Rodriguez:
No.
Maximillian Alvarez:
No.
JJ Rodriguez:
They’re still the same people. They haven’t changed. And some of the time it’s not even from the managers, it’s from up top. The people that you don’t see, the people that tell them what to do, I’m like, you guys never drove ever in your life. So once you come down here and do it for once, you know what I’m saying? Before you tell us how to do our jobs.
Maximillian Alvarez:
And yeah, I guess tell me a little bit about how you’re feeling about the potential for a strike.
JJ Rodriguez:
I have mixed reviews, but if we go on strike, we go on strike. If we don’t, we don’t. We have to go with the time going, so I’m waiting. Whatever happens, happens. I’m ready for the fight and we can go.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Hell yeah. But I guess, do you have any final messages for folks listening about the importance of this contract fight and the work that you guys do?
JJ Rodriguez:
Just keep doing what you’re doing. Follow the contract, do the right thing and stay strong. Stay united. That’s all left.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Oh, perfect. Thanks so much, man.
JJ Rodriguez:
No problem.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Appreciate it.
JJ Rodriguez:
Appreciate you.
Rob Atkinson:
Good morning.
Speaker 2:
Good morning.
Rob Atkinson:
Good morning. Good to see you, everybody out there and I appreciate you coming out. Want to talk about the UPS contract just a little bit. Five years ago, next month, the general president and I stood in front of this building and announced that we were going to run for office because we saw all the things going bad in our union, particularly with the UPS contract, negotiate a concessionary contract, then implement it when it was turned down, that was just unforgivable. That’s why we ran for office. So we have turned the union around quite differently these days to accomplish different things. One of the things higher on our priority list was unity. We had to unite the union to get together to negotiate good contracts. When we first took office, the general president told everybody in the building that we are not negotiating contracts and we’re going to get the contracts done on time.
That goes for UPS. We started this battle with UPS back in August. We had the rallies, we got out and informed membership. Sean and I have been traveling all around the country talking to everybody we could talk to at UPS. We’ve been visiting pre-loaders at five o’clock in the morning. We’ve been visiting package car guys when they get off their routes. We’ve been visiting feeder guys, mechanics and everybody else to find out from them what’s important in this contract.
And we think that we have gotten enough information to go to the table and negotiate with UPS everything that the members want. It’s very important to us. We got the supplemental negotiations going on right now. We told UPS, there will not be any concessions, you will get done on time. They’re falling behind right now, not getting the supplements done by April 17th because that’s when we want to go into national negotiations. But you know what? They’re going to have to pay a price for that. They are going to have to explain to the general president on April 17th, why the hell they ain’t done with the supplements and they don’t want to be in that position. I have got the distinct pleasure of working with the general president every day. I’m a 44-year Teamster. I have seen six general presidents in my career and I am working with the best general president today that we have ever had.
And everybody of you that knows him ,knows that he’s tough. He’s a tough guy when it comes to negotiations. He’s tough when it’s representing the members. He’s tough when he tells the companies that we will settle for nothing less than a great contract for everybody in the union, particularly UPS because this is our fight coming up. When we first took off as we had a couple contracts come up, we had Carhaul come up. We had about 67 days to negotiate that contract and the general president was very clear, no concessions, on time.
We got the best contract in Carhaul that we have had for a very long time. We had American Red Cross come up, same thing on time, good contract. Got a great contract out of there. Not only is it a great contract, but we are organizing more American Cross Red Cross workers today than we’ve been doing in the past. And we had DHL come up and DHL, the last sticking point in that contract was inward facing cameras. And we all know that story at UPS, right? We don’t want them. Right. And we are going to fight like hell to make sure that we get the same thing DHL gave us that they will not have inward facing cameras.
Speaker 2:
Oh yeah. Hell yeah.
Rob Atkinson:
So this is going to be a long fight. We need everybody to stick together, which is crucially important to us. We are going into negotiation, Sean and I, in two weeks with the company at the national level. Hopefully they will hear our message today getting these supplements done because we have got to get them done before we start negotiating the national contract.
Now we’re going into negotiations and we’re telling UPS very clearly that we want a good contract for our members and we want it done on time. If they don’t get it on time, we’re going to pick a fight with them, August the first. If we don’t have the contract that you guys want by August the first, we’re not working no more. We will continue to negotiate with the company, but there won’t be a UPS person working on August the first if we don’t have what we want. And being general secretary treasurer of the Teamsters Union, I can assure you that we will take care of you guys. We have over $300 million in our strike fund and we will spend every penny of it to make sure that UPS employees get what they want in this contract.
Julie:
Hey, my name is Julie. I currently work for Workers United as a staff rep in Massachusetts for the Starbucks campaign. I’m a former Starbucks partner. Started with the company in 2005 and worked on and off with them until just this past January when I moved over to the union.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Hell yeah, and I was very excited to see you. We’re obviously, and apologies listeners, it’s a little windy, but we are here outside of Teamster’s Local 25. We just watched a rally with Teamster’s president Sean O’Brien talking about the upcoming contract fight with UPS. And I’ve spotted your Starbucks Workers’ United sweater here. I’ve seen you talking to Teamsters. I guess I just wanted to ask you, why was it important for you to come out here and what have you been hearing from folks?
Julie:
Well, it was important for me to be here because the teamsters were here for us. So last summer, a Starbucks location in Boston went on a 64-day strike, there was no intention or understanding of when the strike would end when they started, it was indefinite and the Teamsters showed up for us every single day, did not cross the picket line and helped that store maintain that strike until they were ready to end it. And so now the Teamsters are out here fighting for their own contract. I want to help show support. The Starbucks workers are here to help show support. And we know that without inter-union solidarity and without worker solidarity all across all industries, we have less of a chance. So when we work together, we fight together, we win together.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Hell yeah, and I have to ask, since we, this past week, we got to see old Howie Schultz on Capitol Hill. I was wondering if I could get your thoughts on that testimony.
Julie:
You mean when he perjured himself under oath by saying-
Maximillian Alvarez:
Which time?
Julie:
Denying, denying, denying that he has done anything wrong, that Starbucks has done anything wrong. They haven’t broken any laws, they’re just… It’s despicable. It’s gross. And when we heard the testimony from those partners, from the workers, you can really see how blatant this company is lying. It’s all about ego with him. It always has been. I drank the Kool-Aid a long time ago when I started working at Starbucks in 2005. I was like, “Man, this company is great. The benefits are great. Howard Schultz is great, when he runs for president, I’m going to vote for him.”
I’ve changed my mind. This company let me down. And it’s let a lot of other workers down. And watching him testify the way he did in front of Congress, the Senate, it really sort of sent that message home for me that he will never be on the worker’s side. He just doesn’t get it. And I think our senator, Ed Markey really, really hit that home that he just does not understand because he’s now in this place of privilege. He’s so disconnected from the experience on the ground and what the workers are going through. He’s never going to get it. And just because he’s not the CEO anymore, he’s still on the board and he’s still pulling strings and this fight isn’t going to end. So we’re just going to keep fighting.
Maximillian Alvarez:
And I constantly tell people, right, you have to stay committed to the Starbucks workers’ struggles because as we saw from those testimonies, as I’ve heard time and time again from workers, people get excited when a new store files for an election, when they win the election. But then after that, that’s when management fucks with your schedules. That’s when people get fired for flimsy reasons or even entire stores get closed down. So I wanted to ask if you had any kind of message for folks out there listening about why they need to stay committed to supporting y’all and what they can do to support you all?
Julie:
I’ll start by answering the second question. What can they do to support? So go to your Starbucks if you know it’s union, let them know that you support them. That energy is contagious. And when they know that they feel supported by their community, by the people who that they see every day, their regular customers, it goes a long way to maintaining that morale and that energy and helping them get across the finish line for this. The first part of your question, I have completely forgotten what you asked.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Just why it’s important for us to support each other. Like you’re out here supporting the UPS folks.
Julie:
Yes, absolutely. So the Starbucks campaign, what’s going on right now with partners, baristas all across the country, is sending a message to corporations that we’re not going to let them get away with treating workers like this, regardless of what industry they’re in, regardless of what job they perform, every worker deserves to have protections, to be protected from people who do not have their best interest at hand. And that is exactly what happens when they’re working for these big corporations. They do not have the worker’s best interest at hand. It’s all about profits for them. So when we show up as Starbucks partners, we’re not only showing up as baristas, we’re showing up as workers. And I think that that’s really inspiring to remind everybody that you deserve a better workplace too.
Speaker 1:
So one more time, who are we?
Speaker 2:
Teamsters.
Speaker 1:
Who are we?
Speaker 2:
Teamsters.
Speaker 1:
All right, let’s hear for our general president, Sean O’Brien.
Sean M. O’Brien:
Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Speaker 1:
Is it working.
Sean M. O’Brien:
Is this working? Yeah. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It’s a great honor and privilege to be back home where it all started. I want to thank you got the best hottest working president, local 25’s history. Tom Murray. Let’s hear for Tom Murray.
Listen, we have 15 days before we go sit across the table from this white collar crime syndicate known as United Postal Service. Okay, 376 days ago, we had the honor and privilege to be elected by you to serve and protect the greatest institution in America. That is the international brotherhood of Teamsters. And because of you putting the fate in us and our leadership team, you have proven that you want change. You have proven that we are not going to take and accept what UPS gives us. We’re going to demand take and punish if they don’t give us what we want moving forward.
Now we have from April 17th until July 31st, we have 12 weeks. 12 weeks to negotiate the largest collective bargaining agreement in the private sector throughout the entire United States. So what does that mean? That means that we are going to set the tone for organized labor. If you are a pipe fitter, if you’re a plumber, if you’re a bus driver, what we do in these negotiations, it’s going to set the tone for the entire country, the entire labor movement moving forward. And you know what? There’s no better organization to set that bar high than the international brotherhood of Teamsters.
So we have been crisscrossing the United States every single week. We’ve hit 30 states and all multiple hundreds of hundreds of UPS facilities. We’ve also hitting freight, we’re hitting construction. We’re hitting every single workplace we can find because our message is clear. UPS’s fight today, may be your fight tomorrow. And if we are not united, one vision, one direction, one mission, it’s a protect, preserve and improve working conditions, then we are going to fail. I am so proud of what I see going on around this country. I am so proud when I talk to people and they have fire in their eyes, they’re got intestinal fortitude. They got burning desire in their stomachs to take on this company. A company that three years ago didn’t care about you, didn’t care about your families, but you were providing goods and services to keep this country moving. And what happened?
They thought you were heroes. They were telling everybody, we have the best employees in the world. They’re providing goods and services, making sure this country keeps going. Well, it’s funny how fast they forget and all they care about is the bottom line of their balance sheet. Our wages stayed the same. In some cases they went down, but their balance sheet kept expanding. They made $100 billion off the pandemic, $100 billion with a B. And what did we get? We got nothing.
Well, that’s going to change April 17th because when we go to the table, we go to table, there is going to be, there is going to be no niceties across the table. We’re going to have rank and file members looking at this company giving true testimonials on how bad this company treats their people, how they don’t appreciate what we do or you do every single day. And we’re going to remind them and we’re going to remind the entire country, because I’ve been going up to Capitol Hill every day. Tell them you got a promise with supply chain solution, July 31st, when Big Brown is shut down, you’re going to see supply chain solution come to a halt.
And you know what? We’re not afraid to do it, we are not afraid to do it. We have a motto at the IBT with our leadership team. We would rather ask for forgiveness than permission. And the good thing about us right now is that because of… I get to work with the greatest general secretary treasurer and the entire Teamster movement and the entire labor movement and what he’s responsible for, he’s responsible for the finances of this great international union. 1.3 million members strong and UPS has to know and every other employee needs to know that we have $300 million in a strike and defense fund, $300 million to take on this fight. And look, I get the greatest job in the world. I get to write the checks. He’s got to find a way to pay for it. So here’s the reality of it.
Prior negotiations before we went to the convention in 2021, we always look for vulnerabilities, right? If you’re fighting in the street or you’re fighting in a ring or you’re in a football field, you’re in a hockey rink, you look at your opponent and you try and find their vulnerabilities, you try and find their weaknesses. We do the same in the labor movement and the companies do the same. Prior to 2021 in June, we were financially compromised, our members. You know why? Because you had to wait eight days before you got paid on strike. Now, I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait. I can’t go eight days without a paycheck. I’ve got bills, I got tuitions, I got boys to pay for, I got homes to pay for. I like everybody else, right?
So we made certain that we changed that. So we are no longer financially compromised. I say we, the strongest link in our chain, that’s our rank and file members. So moving forward, we take UPS out on the street or we take Yellow or we take anybody that wants to take our members on, we will be getting paid from day one. And you will not have to worry about the security of family or anything else.
So look, this is going to be real easy. We have the most amount of leverage we’ve ever had in the labor movement. Think about it. We’ve got 1.3 million members strong with 360,000 deep throughout this entire country. We are unified. We know the issues, we’ve identified them, but most importantly, we have stated our intentions. And when you state your intentions for people and you look them in the eye, I believe they take you serious. And we’ve stated our intentions with the UPS, 22 fours are going, or you’re on strike, PVDs are going, or you’re on strike. Part-time wages need to go, need to go up. And we got to reward the longtime part-timers as well. We need to make certain that we fix subcontract and get these gypsies out of our yards and make sure that team [inaudible 00:32:31] are in these seats. We need to make sure we fight against technology. Technology that has held all of you hostage for the last 10, 15 years. They do not need to be looking at us while we’re doing our jobs. That will be a strike issue.
We also need to make sure that we protect and create as many jobs as possible for part-timers. We need to create jobs as a result of technology. We need to capture every single thing we can. And look, failure is not an option. Failure is not an option. If you’re not in this fight, you better find another career. Because look what we’re going to do in these negotiations. We are going to make history. We are going to make an example, our Fortune 500 company so that when we go to the table locally, when we go to the table regionally, we go to the table nationally with any employer, they’re going to remember the beating that UPS took and the leverage that we had. And they’re going to say, “I don’t want any part of that.”
Now, in any battle, in any battle, in any fight, we’re going to get bruised up. We’re going to get banged up. But you know what, we’re going to get up and go one more round UPS, one more round. Look, the reality of this, we are going to get the best contract that this company has ever seen before. You and your families, our goal is to make sure that we set this up for the next generation coming in. We’re going to make sure that we leave this organization better than we found it. But we also need to take this contract, right? And I’m telling UPS, again, stating our intentions. We’re going to be able to take this contract and we’re going to go to the non-union Amazon workers and say, “When you’re on Teamster, you’re going to get health and welfare, you’re going to get pensions, you’re going to get guaranteed wages, you’re going to have a path to a long-term career.”
And that’s what’s important about this contract. It’s not just about winning because we’re going to win. There’s no doubt in my mind, right? No doubt in my mind. But it’s about organizing our competition, making certain that we level the playing field and we continue to set the bar as high as we can so that every single labor organization out there has the intestinal fortitude. And we lay the template down where this is achievable. This is going to be a victory for success through the entire labor movement.
And I’ve been up in Capitol Hill telling these politicians, “You don’t come with us. You’re done. No more money. You don’t support our members. No more money.” Fred and I were in South Africa where we got support from 118 countries represented by unions. 118 countries are supporting this fight. They want to make certain that when we make an example out of ups that not even nationwide but globally UPS feels the pain because they need to reward the people that make them the greatest success. And that’s the Teamsters that go to work every single day.
So look, in closing, I got a message for UPS. I got a message for any employer. Number one, watch what’s going to happen. Because if you don’t want this to happen to you, stop behaving accordingly. Right? Two, when you take on 1.3 million Teamsters, 360,000 UPS workers, it’s a full contact sport. Put your helmets on and buckle your chin straps. It’s on. Thank you.
Maximillian Alvarez:
We’re here at Teamster’s Local 25 in Boston, the old local of current president of the International Brotherhood of Teamster, Sean O’Brien. I’m standing here with the man himself. Sean, it’s been about a year exactly since your administration came in. What are you?
Sean M. O’Brien:
I think it’s 376 days.
Maximillian Alvarez:
376 days. So what have you been hearing from the members in that time? What are you seeing?
Sean M. O’Brien:
This tremendous energy, not just in the UPS but in the labor movement general in the Teamsters. Our leadership team, we’ve made certain one thing, biggest priority from day one to make sure that we unify our strongest [inaudible 00:36:45], our strongest leverage is our membership. Make sure they understand that we’re going to fight for them, we’re going to take direction and we’re going to deliver for them. Look, I’m back here at the greatest local union in the entire country. But look, the reality of it is we’re going to fight hard. We’re going to get the best contract and we’re going to make UPS reward the people that make them the success.
Maximillian Alvarez:
And what can people around the country, whether they are unionized or not, whether they work for UPS or not, what can a working people around the country do to support you?
Sean M. O’Brien:
They have to embrace this fight. Because what I said up there, and I meant today’s fight may not be yours, but it could be yours tomorrow. So if you’re not engaging, paying attention, then you’re selling yourself short because this could be you tomorrow. It could be all of us tomorrow. UPS is going to be the most important critical fight that we have in the labor movement. It’s just not a Teamster issue now, it’s a labor movement issue. And if we can do it, which we’re going to do it and we’re going to get the best contract, we are going to set the tone for organized labor for generations to come.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Hell yeah. And well, what’s your message to UPS management right now?
Sean M. O’Brien:
Buckle up.
Maximillian Alvarez:
I’m sure they’re listening.
Sean M. O’Brien:
Buckle up baby. Buckle up.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Thanks so much, brother, appreciate it.
Sean M. O’Brien:
And then after we’re done, I’m going to tell them to ice up.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Beautiful. Thank you so much.
This post was originally published on The Real News Network.
