Vernon, CA – At a UPS hub in Vernon, California, members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) union held their weekly Teamster Thursdays on June 29. The workers were loud and militant and demanded better pay and a fair contract.

“I was a new hire here during the pandemic and I saw my coworkers drop left and right. They were calling us heroes; they even have a banner in there that says, ‘Heroes work here’. Our hard work made UPS billions in profit. The least they could do is pay us a living wage,” said Alejandro Orellana, a Teamster and an unloader at UPS Grande Vista.

The scene turned tense when three supervisors walked out of the hub to harass the workers who were making use of their protected right to conduct union activity in a public space, telling them they could not park in the employee parking lot because it’s “company property.” The workers called them out and accused them of union busting. They threatened to file an Unfair Labor Practice charge against them, and the supervisors left.

“From what I saw was that we were doing our thing and they just came up to us saying if we worked there, if we were on the clock while doing this, asked us where we parked, and then told us that we couldn’t do what we were doing because it looked like we’re protesting but we told them it’s practice, even says so on the sign. Then they said they were gonna talk to our shop steward about this then they left. I still kept supporting Teamsters,” said Juan Garribo, another Teamster at Grande Vista.

Teamsters at UPS Grande Vista have their work cut out for them in dealing with harassment, unsanitary work conditions, bad air quality and faulty equipment, among many other grievances posed by the workers.

UPS and the IBT continue contract negotiations as the August 1 deadline draws closer. For UPS things are heating up and they feel the pressure.

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