Georgia Teamsters collect unity pledges
Atlanta, GA – Members, stewards and executive board members from Teamsters Local 728 have been collecting contract unity pledges at UPS barns across the state of Georgia. The statewide effort has been a part of the national campaign started by the International in February. The contract unity pledges are being used as a bargaining tool by the Teamsters in the lead-up to contract negotiations with UPS and as a way to talk to members about a potential strike at UPS later this year.
Teamsters Local 728’s jurisdiction covers the entire state of Georgia. Local 728 has been hitting the gates at UPS barns across the state for a month, talking to members and asking them to stand united against the company if contract negotiations break down and result in a strike.
Teamsters Local 728 covers almost 15,000 members, with a sizable portion of those being members at UPS. Local 728 also represents UPS employees at the SMART (Southeast Metro Area Routing Terminal) hub, the second largest UPS ground hub in the country. The 1.2 million square-foot facility processes 100,000 packages per hour, sorting and routing them to their future destination. In the event of a strike, SMART’s shutting down would effectively stop UPS’s ground operations in the southeast United States.