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The Milwaukee Area Labor Council stands in solidarity with Teamsters fighting for a fair contract at UPS

By staff

Members of the Young Workers Committee of MALC at a practice picket in Elm Grove

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following resolution passed by the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO executive board in July 2023.

The collective bargaining agreement representing 340,000 Teamsters at UPS across the country, including Wisconsin Teamsters Local 344, expires at midnight, August 1, 2023.

If UPS Teamsters go on strike, it will be the largest strike against a single business in U.S. history, and the largest strike since the last UPS Teamsters strike in 1997. This is a struggle that will impact every working person in the country.

UPS makes over $13 billion in profits every year on the backs of workers who toil for long and difficult hours in extreme heat, cold, and through holidays. UPS Teamsters are demanding a bigger share of the profits they’ve created, and they deserve to have it.

Teamsters are fighting to end part-time poverty at UPS, end an unfair two-tier wage system, stop invasive surveillance, reduce excessive overtime, and create a healthy work/life balance. Teamsters are also fighting to ensure that UPS honor the Black Freedom Struggle by ensuring that Martin Luther King Day and Juneteenth are paid holidays.

A strike authorization vote of 97% to strike against UPS was announced on June 16, and on June 22 the IBT National Negotiating Committee walked out of negotiations over an appalling proposal from UPS. Teamsters International President Sean O'Brien has said the union will not grant any kind of contract extension to UPS.

If the Teamsters find it necessary to go on strike in order to obtain a fair contract from UPS, The Milwaukee Area Labor Council will call on our affiliated unions to support them in their fight, including joining them on the picket line.

We call on all working people to stand in steadfast solidarity with Teamsters at UPS in Milwaukee and across the country in their fight for a fair contract. We know an injury to one is an injury to all, and a victory for UPS Teamsters will benefit the entire working class.

#MilwaukeeWI #Teamsters