Washington, DC – On July 1, the bargaining committee of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) announced that three major economic tentative agreements had been reached with UPS in their negotiations over the next contract at UPS. These agreements are the elimination of a two-tier driver system, ending forced overtime on worker’s scheduled days off, and receiving Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday.

Since 2018, UPS has split drivers in a two-tier system by creating a lower classification known as a 22.4 Combination Driver. The 22.4 position was originally envisioned as a strategic compromise between UPS and Teamsters that would create more full-time driver positions while providing UPS increased work scheduling flexibility. The “combination” in the name refers to UPS’s ability to schedule 22.4s for half indoor work and half driving shifts.

However, this scheduling is rarely used by the company. Instead, UPS has used 22.4s as cheaper, disposable second-tier drivers. While Regular Package Car Drivers (RPCD) have access to excessive overtime protection and the ability to schedule a guaranteed eight-hour workday once per week, 22.4 drivers do not. As a result, 22.4s often face 60-hour work weeks while being paid less than their RPCD counterparts. Decades of UPS abusing the classification have made its elimination a key contract demand for Teamsters, and as of the July 1 tentative agreement, the 22.4 position will be no more, with all drivers currently classified under it being upgraded to RPCD.

UPS Teamsters have also faced the continual threat of being forced into work on their scheduled days off. Many UPS workers have worked six days a week for the last several years as UPS raked in billions in profits. Often, a UPS worker will receive no more than a single day's notice before being forced in to work on their scheduled day off. Years of frustration over this policy have made it a key target of the Teamsters and the new tentative agreement ending forced sixth day overtime is a major step forward in improving the lives of hundreds of thousands of UPS Teamsters.

Finally, UPS Teamsters will now receive Martin Luther King Day as a paid holiday. As part of MLK’s civil rights leadership, he was also a steadfast ally of the labor movement. The Teamsters at UPS have long demanded the company recognize this legacy beyond empty words and put MLK day into the contract as a holiday. This demand was driven by years of rank-and-file Teamster mobilization under the motto of making UPS “Deliver on the Dream,” with hundreds of Teamsters rallying for the holiday in previous years.

While these tentative agreements may have been announced from the bargaining table, they were won on the streets and on the shop floors, where thousands of UPS Teamsters held practice picketing actions in recent days. Extensive participation on the shop floor from Teamsters across the country has been a key distinguishing feature of the 2023 contract campaign, and the positive effects are clear as the Teamsters have been able to reach tentative agreements on non-economic, and now the three economic, issues, even as bargaining continues and the strike threat looms on August 1. These tentative agreements show that major union victories are possible when a legitimate strike threat is backed by rank-and-file mobilization.

As bargaining continues to go forward, pay increases for part-time workers remains a major sticking point in negotiations, and if no deal is reached by August 1, then around 350,000 UPS Teamsters will be on strike.

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