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Teamsters call UPS driver buyout offer ‘paltry'
Teamsters call UPS driver buyout offer ‘paltry'

Yahoo

time18 hours ago

  • Business
  • Yahoo

Teamsters call UPS driver buyout offer ‘paltry'

UPS is offering delivery drivers voluntary severance packages worth $1,800 per year of service, with a minimum payout of $10,000, according to a recent statement from the company. Drivers have until Thursday to apply for the program, according to an employee memo visible in a TikTok video posted last week by the Teamsters union, which claims the buyout violates the collective bargaining agreement and is urging members not to accept the offer. The video is accompanied by the Elvis Presley song 'Return to Sender' and shows a man tearing up the offer sheet. FreightWaves was able to magnify the image with software tools to read the text, which is fuzzy to a normal viewer. 'UPS Teamsters want secure retirements with hard-earned pensions, not paltry buyouts,' the union said in an X message on Sunday. A driver who spoke on a YouTube video called $1,800 per year of service 'a slap in the face.' UPS (NYSE: UPS) announced the buyout program on July 3 as a follow-on to the largest network reconfiguration in company history, now underway. The strategy, called Network of the Future, calls for the closing of 200 domestic package sortation centers, investment in more automation and consolidation of volumes in more efficient facilities. The integrated parcel logistics giant earlier this year announced plans to eliminate 20,000 front-line positions to better align the workforce with the smaller footprint and a planned 50% downsizing in business from Amazon, its largest customer. A driver with 27 years of experience would receive a $48,600 buyout, according to the internal communication posted by the Teamsters. Applicants will be considered for separation dates between Aug. 31 and Oct. 31, depending on the local needs, UPS said. If the number of applications exceeds eliminated positions, approvals will be granted in order of seniority. Additional applications may be considered for separation dates between Feb. 1 and March 31. The financial package is in addition to earned retirement benefits, including pension and healthcare. Supply Chain Dive first reported on the specifics of the buyout offer. The Teamsters argue the Driver Voluntary Separation Program violates the union contract because it wasn't negotiated and any program that changes the terms of employment, such as compensation and separation, must be bargained with the union. Seniority order for buyouts also requires union approval. And, the union notes, that UPS offered job security guarantees in 2023, as well as promising to elevate more than 20,000 part-time drivers to full-time status. The Teamsters are urging UPS drivers not to accept the buyout terms, likely because they believe they can negotiate a better deal, and also to maintain control over how these types of scenarios are handled, experts said 'This situation with UPS and the Teamsters is a classic example of how even a company's apparent right to manage its resources is limited by the terms of existing agreements. The 'illegality,' according to the union, lies not in the act of downsizing itself, but in the procedure and conditions that violate the current collective bargaining agreement. This is a struggle over who dictates the rules of engagement in the relationship between the company and its union-represented employees,' wrote Dmitriy Karpov, co-founder and CFO of e-commerce technology provider Split Development LLC, on LinkedIn. Satish Jindel, CEO of ShipMatrix, a parcel shipping consultancy and analytics provider, said in an interview, 'UPS is allowed to offer buyouts. Workers can say no. Nothing says they can't make an offer' when market conditions change. He said the Teamsters is lucky UPS backed down from a looming strike in 2023 because it could have become union-free at half the cost by offering those jobs to FedEx and Amazon drivers, who would have eagerly jumped at a $25/hour rate and good benefits. UPS is scheduled to issue second quarter earnings results on Tuesday. Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch. RELATED READING: UPS to eliminate 20K jobs as Amazon decoupling accelerates UPS drivers to receive buyout offer as company shrinks parcel network The post Teamsters call UPS driver buyout offer 'paltry' appeared first on FreightWaves.

Summer of stink: Inside America's garbage labour dispute
Summer of stink: Inside America's garbage labour dispute

BBC News

time3 days ago

  • Business
  • BBC News

Summer of stink: Inside America's garbage labour dispute

Garbage bags overflowing in dumpsters. Flies buzzing in the air. Malodorous fumes wafting in the summer sun – an unsightly mess is plaguing American cities from coast to coast this employees of Republic Services – a Fortune 500 private waste-management company with municipal contracts across America - have been refusing to take out the trash since going on strike over three weeks Teamsters union, which represents the company's workers, say they are being paid far below other sanitation workers and receive worse benefits. But the company says the union isn't willing to compromise, and while relations rot, so does the garbage. The strike began on 1 July with Local 25, which serves 14 communities in the Greater Boston area, and spread to several other cities in the US: Manteca, California; Ottawa, Illinois; Cumming, Georgia; and Lacey, Washington. More employees stopped work in solidarity. "The cost of living is high – what they're offering, I wouldn't be able to live on that in a month," said Mike Ortiz, a truck driver from Malden, Massachusetts who's worked in the industry for 17 peak, effectively over 2,000 garbage collectors across the country weren't on the job, impacting millions of Americans. While Republic and the union have resolved some local disputes, there's plenty of workers still holding out. Waste strikes hit a nerve In the ocean-side city of Gloucester, about an hour north of Boston, the sharp smell of salt air has been undercut by the lingering funk of rotting garbage, and squawking seagulls circle overhead."I mean, if this were going on in, you know, November, December, it wouldn't be as noticeable, the smell of it," Greg Vargas, the city's mayor, told the become a major nuisance for the mayor, who has joined forces with five other towns to sue Republic over breach of contract."When they were talking to us before the strike, they said, don't worry about it, we're a national company. We'll have people in place and take care of everything," he recalled. "That has not been delivered on since day one."Meanwhile, Republic Services has sued the Teamsters, accusing it of engaging in illegal behaviour."The Teamsters' pattern of criminal behaviour -including truck theft, tire slashing, spraying chemicals on drivers and hate speech - demonstrates the union's preference for chaos over compromise," the company said in a union denies the accusations. Garbage collectors in major cities like New York and Philadelphia are public employees, but smaller metropolises have long outsourced to private companies, like Republic. Founded over 40 years ago, the company took in $16bn in revenue in 2024, and frequently appears on the Fortune 500 list. At the heart of its success story has been a promise to customers: we'll whisk your trash out of sight, and you won't have to think about when the trash piles up, things can get ugly. "We have these negative associations with waste, particularly smellier waste, that is associated with poverty and disease – other things we don't like to see or think about," said Sarah A Moore, a professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Wisconsin, can give striking workers leverage, she said. In Philadelphia, where a separate garbage strike made headlines this summer, it took just eight days for the city to reach a deal with public workers, after trash overflowed into the streets and residents complained of rats running Lacey, Washington, which is outside the capital city of Olympia, the union representing the workers there reached an agreement with Republic Services after about a week, ending the strike. It has also reached a deal with the union in Manteca, California, near bedraggled residents who spoke to the BBC near Lacey last week said they felt the workers' absence during the strike. They described dirty diapers piling up at home, and striking sanitation workers described working under dangerous and filthy conditions. Workers on the picket line complained that Republic has not maintained equipment since taking over the Thurston County dump around two years ago."Things are constantly breaking down," says Eric Fiel, a veteran sanitation worker whose team moves 1.5 million lbs of rubbish every day."We have a pump system that keeps breaking. Basically it just pools up. You're wading through this water. It's full of faeces, diapers, animal faeces, whatever comes through."Will Zekas, in Lacey, told the BBC he appreciated the national effort that happened around the US, and attributed it to his union's ability to negotiate a better contract."Power lies in the solidarity," he said. Talks break down and trash piles up In the parts of Massachusetts affected by the Teamsters Local 25 strike, there appears to be no sign of a quick resolution. Mr Ortiz said the union and the company were farther away then ever on pay and health-care accuses the other of misrepresenting the conflict."Republic Services is focused on facts and reaching an agreement that provides our employees with market-leading pay and benefits, while Teamsters leadership is focused on disinformation and disruption," the company said in a towns and cities are having to get creative - and dig into their own pockets - to keep the trash under towns have created dump sites where residents can bring their own refuse. Gloucester has diverted some municipal workers to pickup duty, while other cities have had to outsource to different private contractors. The additional cost has been cited in the lawsuit against even cities that don't work with Republic are struggling to deal with the stalemate. In Boston, where many local businesses rely on the company for private collection, Mayor Michelle Wu said she would start fining Republic for failure to clear trash: "Your inability to collect trash from your customers due to the ongoing labor dispute at Republic Services is taking an unacceptable toll on Boston's residents, businesses, and neighborhoods."At a coffee shop in Malden, a few miles north of Boston, a garbage dumpster was overflowing on Wednesday, attracting a cloud of buzzing insects."It's been horrible, terrible, really. I don't know how to explain how frustrating it is," said business-owner Glaicy Santos. "We need the trash to be picked up every week because we have a lot of trash. When that doesn't happen, then that creates a big problem for us. And then it also becomes mosquitoes out there, or other rodents could be out there."She's not sure how much more she can take, but she may have a while to wait. Negotiations broke off last Friday, and the two parties have no date scheduled to head back to the bargaining table.

‘Recycling is piling up': Residents, officials frustrated as trash strike enters fourth week
‘Recycling is piling up': Residents, officials frustrated as trash strike enters fourth week

Boston Globe

time5 days ago

  • Business
  • Boston Globe

‘Recycling is piling up': Residents, officials frustrated as trash strike enters fourth week

The Teamsters union's strike against Republic Services — now entering its fourth week — has meant hassles for residents in the 14 Massachusetts municipalities where service has been disrupted. In Malden, residents say they haven't had their recycling picked up since June. Advertisement For Monte and her family, the strike has provided a double-whammy. They have second home in Gloucester, another community affected the labor dispute. They've had to ferry their recyclables back to Malden because drop-off sites in Gloucester aren't open during their weekend visits. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'It's been inconvenient,' said Monte, 'but I understand that things like this happen, so we just have to go with the flow.' When it all might end remains uncertain. Tensions between Republic and the Teamsters appear as high as ever even as public officials, including The two sides remain far apart on wages and benefits, and haven't met since July 18. No additional negotiation sessions have been scheduled, according to a Republic spokesperson. Advertisement Malden and five other affected towns have asked a judge to intervene with an emergency order requiring Republic to immediately resume all waste collection as required by its contracts obligations. Mayor Michelle Wu announced Wednesday the At the Ferryway School, Jenny Tan, 43, dropped off several brown paper bags filled with her own recyclables and then left to do the same for her parents, who do not have a car. 'Her recycling is actually piling up, and she doesn't have any more recycling space,' she said of her mother. Weihua Liu, 57, said he spent almost two hours on Saturday waiting in line to drop off yard waste, which isn't getting picked up either. Overflowing recycling bins sat on the curb of Pearl Street in Malden. Ben Pennington/for The Boston Globe Republic's trash pickup in Malden stopped for about a week when workers walked off the job July 1. Replacement workers resumed collection after the Fourth of July weekend and have continued since, with some delays. Residents can also drop off their trash during designated times at Malden's DPW yard on Commercial Street. Donna Smith, 70, said she brought her trash to the drop off point Tuesday evening because she did not want Republic's replacement workers picking it up. Smith, who belonged to a union when she worked as a spray painter for the MBTA, said she hopes Republic will 'share the wealth' with the union workers, who 'do the bulk of the work for everyone.' 'I hate the inconvenience,' she said, 'but I'm in their corner.' Advertisement Some residents said minimizing waste and taking advantage of the city's drop-off sites have kept burdens to a minimum. Dropping off all his recyclables for the month, Palani Nadarajah, 69, said the strike has not posed an issue at all. 'If you reduce the trash that you are creating, it's easier,' he said. 'What the city is doing is fantastic, no issues.' As the strike drags on, it's straining the Malden Public Works Department, director Bob Knox said. Workers who otherwise might be cutting grass, pouring concrete sidewalks, or providing other services are instead handling the waste drop-off sites. For Knox, who has worked at the Malden Public Works Department for 32 years, the challenges posed by the Republic strike ranks up there with the 'snowmageddon' snowstorms of 2015 and the COVID-19 pandemic. 'If I was writing a book,' he said. 'This would definitely have its own chapter.' Stella Tannenbaum can be reached at

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