Tampa Teamsters organize for better heat safety
Tampa, FL – On Thursday, August 15, Tampa Teamsters spoke to the media and handed out flyers exposing UPS’s ongoing failure to provide heat safety. The workers handed out thermometers to other workers and asked them to fill out heat safety surveys as a way of raising awareness of the intense heat that workers are facing every day during the Florida summer.
UPS has made no efforts to follow the heat safety regulations stated in the recently agreed upon contract. Despite this, workerswere ready to make their voices heard to get better heat safety. One worker submitted the heat safety survey with the comment “Let’s make change now!”
“It’s infuriating to be in the middle of August and hear that UPS has had new fans for months and not taken the effort to install them. I have heard it has reached 88 degrees Fahrenheit in our building. That number is dangerous for the kind of work that we do,” stated Simon Rowe, a UPS pre-loader. Under the 2023-2028 UPS contract, UPS is required to install tens of thousands of fans across the country. Additionally new trucks are supposed to be outfitted with air conditioning after January 1, 2024. None have been purchased yet near the end of the first summer of the contract.
Heat safety became a major issue of contract negotiations after UPS driver Esteban Chavez Jr. died due to heat exhaustion in 2022. Despite the promise of eventual air conditioning in UPS trucks, they still have made no effort to add AC in buildings.
Heat safety is a key issues that has united workers across the board. From drivers to pre-loaders everyone agrees it’s too hot. Workers vow to continue their struggle to demand better from UPS. UPS made almost $10 billion last year, while workers continue to struggle in intense temperatures.