Sunnyvale, CA – On July 6, members of the Teamsters union at the UPS Hub in Sunnyvale, in the San Francisco Bay area, held a picket in the lead-up to their contract expiring and a potential nationwide strike.

The picket included both UPS drivers and part-time workers who work inside the hub. The union members picketed from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the intersection of Elko Drive and Hammerwood Avenue. The time of the pickets was set to allow both drivers and the part-timers to participate, before and after their shifts.

As the picketing began, and drivers were there with Teamsters Local 853 representatives. They held picket signs visible to traffic, mainly FedEx drivers from their nearby Sunnyvale building, who honked in support. Around 8 a.m. workers from inside the hub started coming off of the pre-load shift and joining the picket as they punched out. A few DHL drivers and members of the community were there to support the picketing workers.

When asked how he felt about striking, 35-year-old Emmanuell Otieno, a part-timer of three years said, “I’m entirely for it, the fact that 97% of us voted yes for it or have some issue that they feel is strong enough to want one and the issues are so far entrenched that it’s not going to go away from any type of smaller action.”

“I think it’s great to see everyone coming together for the common cause and just trying to get what we deserve in my opinion. I think since peak season we have kind of seen the problems from a day-to-day basis. Management never seems to want to change anything. Even like today we had 10k more packages than yesterday, yet we started an hour later today. I think that the more people finally stand up and argue on our behalf. Like look what’s happening! We need change and I think the time for that is now, clearly,” said Steven Leeve, a pre loader in the hub.

Asked about the strike, Levee said, “I’m excited for a brighter future because I think that’s what’s coming. At least people are here and united. That’s kind of a rare thing now days!”

Levee continued, “We aren’t really able to use our voices even though were such a big part of this operation, were looked at as if were nothing and that needs to change, absolutely.”

The practice picket came just after UPS walked away from the bargaining table July 5 when the union refused to agree to an offer they found unacceptable, saying it did not improve wages for part-time workers.

As of now, with no further bargaining scheduled, a nationwide UPS strike will begin on August 1 unless a deal is reached before then. Part-time and full-time Teamsters across the country continue to stand in unity as they organize and participate in practice picketing.

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