UPS proposes 'significant' wage increase to truckers amid strike threat from

Faced with a strike threat by the UPS truckers union in the United States, the Global Transportation and Logistics Services company recently announced that it is proposing a significant wage increase.

The Teamsters had declared weeks ago that if they did not reach an agreement by the end of June, they would start the strike, so they were waiting for UPS to present its “last and best offer,” they highlighted in a released Friday.

Teamsters general president Sean O’Brien said that with the negotiations “we got some changes that will improve the lives of our members, but more importantly , they will take care of their families”, he said.

O’Brien also added that “I am proud to say that every change that has been made, now has zero concessions and all profits for our members and we plan to continue like this until July 5,” he said.

In mid-June 97% of UPS Teamsters voted to authorize a strike. Although this does not mean that it will happen, these votes are taking place in the midst of ongoing negotiations, which is why both parties announced an agreement on security measures.

For its part, the company stated that “we are encouraged that the Teamsters are ready to continue negotiations and discuss our most recent proposal. Productive discussions are critical at this stage of the process. We look forward to the union's contribution so that we can reach a timely agreement and provide certainty for our employees, our customers and the American economy,” UPS said in a statement.

UPS ships approximately 24 million packages a day and handles about a quarter of all the country's package volume, which the company says represents about 6% of the gross domestic product of the U.S. this Such significant growth is due to the rise of e-commerce and the increase in deliveries during the covid-19 pandemic.