Commerce City, CO – In the early morning hours of June 21, police were called to the United Parcel Service (UPS) Hub in Commerce City to remove a group of rank-and-file Teamsters who were passing out educational materials to their fellow workers.

These Teamsters, members of Teamsters Local 455 and the Colorado chapter of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), were in the parking lot that day to spread the news of what was happening on their shop floor and to educate their coworkers of their contractual rights, as well as to collect statements for an upcoming grievance hearing. Within an hour of setting up their table, preload manager Edward Cordova ordered these workers to leave, threatening to call the police if they did not comply.

One of the union members tabling that day, Salem Chadwick, was informing workers of her recent termination. She was fired in response to her filing grievances about UPS supervisors taking work from Teamster package-handlers, as well as her winning a sum of over $1400 of back-pay after being laid off from UPS for over a month.

Chadwick was joined by Katherine Draken, a Teamsters union steward representing her in her upcoming termination hearing. After management and company security threatened to call the police on them, Chadwick, Draken, and the growing crowd of workers who had by then left the building, refused to budge. Management then called the Commerce City Police Department to try and remove them from the parking lot.

“Management knew we weren't doing anything wrong,” said Katherine Draken, “they called the cops to intimidate us into leaving, but we know our rights, and I'm not leaving.”

After an hour of back and forth between management, security, the police and Teamsters union representatives, Salem Chadwick agreed to leave the premises to avoid further police interference, while the remaining workers continued passing out information.

Keegan Estrella, a rank-and-file Teamster and TDU member, was among those who refused to leave the table. “We have a right to be out here,” said Estrella, “but it’s not surprising that management would stoop to the level they did. It shows that they're scared of people getting organized.”

Since this incident, Chadwick has won her termination case against management and has returned to work with renewed vigor to continue the fight.

“Management wants to intimidate me,” Chadwick said after she won her job back, “but everything they try just pushes me to fight even harder.”

#CommerceCityCO #CO #Labor #UPS

Commerce City, CO – This March, United Parcel Service laid off 70 employees in the Commerce City Hub. Another 20 from one shift were laid off temporarily as a part of their recent efforts to automate buildings across the country.

This is the next step of UPS’s national “Network of the Future” campaign, which sees the displacement of workers from their jobs, the closure of up to 10% of its buildings in 2025, and, consequently, the elimination of a large section of the workforce to meet its automation goals. The recent layoffs came in a more unpredictable way to workers compared to the layoffs in January, with workers getting informed of their layoff dates with less than a week's notice and no cooperation or meetings with Teamsters beforehand. This has left many workers in the building feeling uncertain about their futures.

Thomas Chaney, a member of the Teamsters for a Democratic Union and one of the workers recently laid off, said, “All of us are feeling very blindsided by this. I might be fine for a bit, but workers have families to worry about and bills to pay. [The company] didn’t go by seniority, and they tried to protect the workers they liked over us.”

Salem Chadwick, another worker laid off from a different shift said, “Not only did I get no notice about this mess, but this comes at a time when my diabetic sister is seeing a massive cut in her hours at her own job. We now have to worry if we’re going to be able to pay bills soon. I haven't been offered work on another shift or even another building; left high and dry by management!”

In addition, the Teamsters Local 455 members were left with little information about this most recent set of layoffs. This has caused stewards to scramble across the different shifts to write grievances and try and get union members back to work as soon as possible. But with management’s plan to finish automation by November 2026, it is uncertain how many workers will be able to return to their work by that time. Some workers were given the option to follow their work to another building, 24 miles away from the Commerce City building, leaving workers displaced and stressed.

#CommerceCityCO #CO #CapitalismAndEconomy #Labor #Teamsters

Commerce City, CO – On November 14, Teamsters Local 455 released an email stating that “approximately half” of the Commerce City UPS facility will be closing and undergoing renovations starting on January 15, 2025.

The renovations would automate a portion of the facility and are planned to take until around November 1, 2026. UPS management gave notice of the change on the evening of November 13, but have since given no further details, including specifically which workers in which areas of the building will be affected by the layoffs. This project is a part of UPS’s “Network of the Future” campaign announced in March of 2024, an attempt to automate jobs as a cost-cutting strategy.

While UPS has plans for their automation future, the announcement has left workers at the roughly 2500-person Commerce City hub feeling uncertain about their own futures, and wondering how the process will affect their lives and livelihoods. This new uncertainty has also led some of the affected workers to begin looking for other jobs, not knowing if they are going to lose their jobs after the holiday season, or “Peak Season,” officially ends on January 15.

Teamsters Local 455 has stated they will continue to gather information, including how to relocate a portion of the workforce to other nearby UPS facilities. Information about the process has been slow to reach union membership.

Union representatives met with UPS management on December 12, but the details of this meeting are currently a mystery to the workers. UPS management has also been unable to answer any further questions, with most of the management being kept in the dark about how this change of operations is going to look.

The Shop Floor Educators, a network of rank-and-file workers seeking to educate and help organize their fellow workers, have launched a campaign for disclosure of information to learn more about which workers, areas and shifts will be affected by the layoffs. The group has stated they will be making information about relevant contract language, unemployment, mental health services, and other topics available to members who may lose their jobs on January 15.

#CommerceCityCO #Labor #UPS #Teamsters #TheShopFloorEducators

Commerce City, CO – On Friday, August 2, a group of Teamsters at the UPS facility in Commerce City, part of the Denver metro area, confronted management to demand immediate action to address the excessive heat inside the building.

Many of these workers are part of the Shop Floor Educators, a group founded earlier this year to educate employees about their legal and contractual rights. They marched to managements’ offices to present a petition with over 800 signatures, calling for measures to address unsafe working conditions caused by high temperatures.

The petition demands the installation of more fans throughout the building to ensure proper ventilation, as well as air conditioning in break rooms during the summer months to provide workers with a space to cool down if they begin to suffer from symptoms of heat-related illness.

This year, 2024, is on track to be the hottest year on record, and stickers with the slogan “Cool zones now!” are visible throughout the Commerce City building, reflecting the urgency and popularity of the demands.

“These unsafe working temperatures are getting worse year after year, and management's ‘just keep drinking water’ advice is not adequate,” said Audrey Pandolfi, a rank-and-file Teamster who participated in the march.

Every year, UPS workers across the country suffer from heat exhaustion, with some incidents resulting in death. The concrete and metal UPS distribution facilities often trap heat inside due to poor ventilation, putting the workers who load trucks and sort and process packages at constant risk of overheating and becoming sick while on the job.

“At UPS, deaths happen every single year due to how hot it becomes,” said Keegan Estrella, a part-time UPS worker and Teamsters representative on the Safety Committee at Commerce City. “We're not asking for the world right now; we're asking for heat safety.”

The demonstration was seen as a success by participants. The UPS preload manager said he would discuss the workers' demands with the human resources department and address them at the upcoming monthly Safety Committee meeting.

Anthony Cole, a rank-and-file Teamster who played a key role in gathering petition signatures, underscored the power of collective action, stating, “Showing solidarity matters. Solidarity always makes the company scared. Solidarity lets other members know that there are those who are fighting. This may inspire other members to do the same – to join the fight or fight a little harder. And with more members comes more power. Change needs workers to come together. These actions let everybody know that, together, workers can make change for the better.”

The next monthly Safety Committee meeting will be in the coming week, and several workers have stated they will be there to show support for the demands.

#CommerceCityCO #Teamsters #UPS #UnitedParcelService #Labor

Commerce City, CO – After the contract negotiation fallout between UPS and the Teamsters a week before, 300 workers marched outside the UPS Commerce City Hub just outside Denver, Colorado, July 9. Teamsters Local 455 is holding practice pickets which have been exploding across the country as the Teamsters keep up their fight for a strong UPS contract August 1.

Teamsters union members marched across the street from the building they work, roaring chants such as “Who are we? Teamsters!” and “No justice, no peace!” as they circled the sidewalk.

Union members were in high spirits and had a lot to say about how the contract negotiations were going. Shop floor steward Kat Draken explained the practice pickets, “To show that UPS can’t walk all over us, to show that we are ready to strike when we need to, and to show that we aren’t going to accept their insulting proposal for poverty wages, two tiers, and forced MRAs.”

MRAs, or market rate adjustments, allow the boss to control the wage of workers at a whim by increasing or decreasing pay as they see fit. “Their offer was absolute garbage, and we deserve more than that,” said Draken.

“UPS came to the table and essentially spit in our faces,” said union member Keegan Estrella, adding, “We are the ones who make UPS all of their money, and if we show we have the power to stop our work then we show that we have the power to make their wallets hurt.” One of the signs at the picket said “Workers create all wealth.”

The incredible turnout by Teamsters Local 455 during the practice pickets was in no small part because of the high level of support from the community.  Groups like the Freedom Road Socialist Organization mobilized their members. Also, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) stood on the other side of the road with a banner declaring, “From classroom to picket line, students and Teamsters are aligned.”

The Teamsters deadline on the contract is July 31. International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien is putting pressure on UPS to have an acceptable contract on the table by then, or else the Teamsters will strike.

#CommerceCityCO #Teamsters

Commerce City, CO – On June 24, rank-and-file Teamsters stood out in front of the gate of the Commerce City UPS hub outside Denver to speak out against the economic proposals UPS submitted during negotiations. These proposals include wildly unpopular ideas, such as the creation of a two-tier wage system for preloaders and a $17 per hour starting wage. As people were walking out of the gate, many workers flocked to the table, insulted by these proposals and ready for further action.

“They think we're worth $17 an hour; this is what UPS thinks of their preloaders,” Kat Draken, a Teamster shop steward, furiously stated, “they must think we're joking about striking.”

This economic proposal comes just as the Teamsters called for practice pickets in the coming weeks. During the speakout, around 50 workers signed up for updates regarding the next steps, ready to show UPS that they are ready to fight for what they are worth.

Some workers stated how depressing it was that UPS was trying to lowball them in this way, but most spoke with optimism.

Keegan Estrella, a rank-and-file member of the Teamsters, stated, “We are living through a historic contract fight before our very eyes, and that is due to the work of the rank-and-file workers like you and me standing up and saying enough is enough. People are starting to recognize that we are the ones who make UPS all their money, and we can stop that at any time.”

There are fewer than five weeks until the Teamsters vote on this historic contract. In the meantime, many locals will be out practice-picketing, trying to organize as many members as possible for the upcoming fight.

#CommerceCityCO #Teamsters

Commerce City, CO – On Friday, May 19, rank-and-file Teamsters working at the UPS hub in Commerce City, a part of the Denver metro area, organized a parking lot meeting early in the morning before the sunrise shift. This event comes just 11 weeks before the expiration of the Teamsters contract with UPS, and it is especially significant as it was the first event at the Commerce City hub, one of the largest UPS buildings in the United States, led exclusively by rank-and-file workers.

Keegan Estrella, a Teamster present at the event states, “I think this is the first event that has been focused primarily on the preload shift. When there is not enough activity surrounding an important issue such as a potential strike, at some point, as rank-and-file workers, we just have to say that we are going to do it ourselves and see what happens.”

The organizers had a table set up with literature from both their local and Teamsters United, the current slate in power led by General President Sean O’Brien. In the hour they were out, organizers estimated that about 100 leaflets were passed out and many interested workers went up to the table to see how they could get involved with contract negotiations.

Some of the main contract issues that were being brought by workers coming to the table was the fight for a wage increase to $25 per hour as well as how the contract will address the overwhelming harassment that people have faced in the building.

Some Teamsters were concerned about their vote not mattering because of the two-thirds loophole, which allowed the last contract to get passed even though a majority of Teamsters voted it down. This rule, however, was taken out of the constitution since the last negotiations, this largely due to the efforts of the Teamsters United slate.

The organizers spoke very positively on how their first event went and have expressed a readiness to keep up the momentum.

Dahla Welchman, a Teamster and one of the organizers of the event, states, “The contract vote is coming soon, and we can’t drag our feet any longer. The people in our building have a right to know what the issues are and we don’t have much time left to get united.”

As of writing, most of the supplemental agreements have been worked out, leaving the Teamsters and UPS about two months to negotiate the national contract. The current contract expires July 31. The Teamsters could potentially strike the next day.

#CommerceCityCO #PeoplesStruggles #Teamsters #UPS