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Book Excerpts

An excerpt from Jeremy Brecher’s book "Strike!":

The UPS Strike

Despite the terrible defeats of the past quarter-century, workers still have power if they choose to use it. That power was rediscovered in the 1997 Teamsters strike at United Parcel Service...

UPS pioneered many of the techniques of labor control and speed-up that have spread through US corporations since the 1970's. ...One result of the ensuing pressure is that UPS has an OSHA recordable injury rate 2.5 times the industry average according to the company’s own health and safety manual.

In 1982, the Teamsters accepted a two-tier wage system in which part-timers earned less than full-timers. In subsequent contracts, the Teamsters negotiated a series of raises for full-timers, but none for part-timers. UPS took advantage of this pattern to expand its part-time workforce from 42 % in 1986 to more than 60 % by 1997. Part-timers were paid less than half the wages of full-time drivers. Starting in 1993, 83% of new jobs created at UPS were part-time- or at least they were classified as part-time. In actuality, at least 10,000 UPS workers classified as part-time actually worked 35 or more hours a week....

Rank and File UPS workers, organized in the dissident groups UPSurge and Teamsters for a Democratic Union, had conducted a two-decade struggle against these conditions. These rank-and-file organizations engaged in job actions, contract rejections, and wildcat strikes, but met determined resistance from the leadership of the Teamsters union. When the Federal government forced a direct election of the Teamsters’ president in 1991, Ron Carey- who had been a UPS driver for twelve years, head of the largest UPS local for 24 years, and a long-standing opponent of the national Teamsters leadership- was elected.

In 1996, the Teamsters began preparing for a strike against UPS. The Teamsters made the centerpiece of their campaign a demand for 10,000 new full-time jobs for current part-timers. The demand received strong support not only from part-timers, but also from full-time workers who felt the growth of part-time work and a two-tiered wage system threatened their own position. Carey old members, " A contract that provides good jobs for working families certainly won’t be won at the bargaining table. The only way you can win that is...on the picket lines and in the community."

On July 3o, 1997, UPS made its "last, best, and final offer," which not only refused to create the full-time jobs the Teamsters demanded, but proposed a company takeover of the union’s pension plan. The company entered the strike in strong financial condition and with a $4.5 billion line of credit. The Teamsters had net assets of $17 million at the start of the year- barely enough to pay its 180,000 striking UPS members $55 weekly strike benefits for a week. ...Nonetheless, the Teamsters walked off the job on August 4-starting the largest strike in the US in 20 years.

Fewer than 5% of Teamsters crossed picket lines. During the strike, managers were able to move less than 5% of the company’s normal 12 million packages a day. UPS lost an estimated $30 million daily in profits.

The Teamsters’ focus on the need for full-time jobs struck a responsive chord in an era in which as much as one-fourth of the workforce is now contingent. It made part-time work a symbol of the entire new system of work organization referred to as "lean production": downsizing, outsourcing, privatization, and use of part-time, temporary, and other contingent workers. A USA Today-CNN-Gallup poll indicated that 55% of those surveyed supported the Teamsters, compared with 27% backing UPS- an extraordinary result in a strike that caused considerable inconvenience to the public. "American people can’t live like that- 4 or 5 hours of work a day- I know I can’t," observed an office worker from New Albany, Indiana. The public’s opinion helped make it less likely that President Clinton would bow to business pressure to intervene against the strike.

AFL-CIO president John Sweeney said, "UPS is leading the way in a dangerous trend which is threatening the living standards of all American working families...The Teamsters’ fight is our fight." In a move with little precedent, Sweeney announced that AFL-CIO affiliates would lent the Teamsters $10 million a week, enough to provide $55 per week in strike benefits "for many, many weeks." The AFL-CIO called a news conference with major women’s groups to discuss how the shift to part-time jobs affected working women. Strikers planned solidarity rallies in 30 cities. The 2000 pilots at UPS , represented by the Independent Pilots Association, refused to cross the picket lines....

According to The Wall Street Journal, the UPS board of directors was preparing to meet and discuss "replacement-worker plans" and a team inside UPS was "developing plans" for replacement workers. Instead, on August 18, after weathering the strike for 15 days, UPS unexpectedly accepted a settlement that included the bulk of the union’s demands.

UPS agreed to create 10,000 new full-time jobs by combining existing part-time positions, as well as promoting a minimum of 10,000 part-timers to full-time jobs. UPS was prohibited from using subcontractors without agreement from local unions. Fill-timers were granted a 15% raise over 5 years , and to reduce the wage differential, part-time workers were granted a 37% raise. In exchange, the Teamsters made some fairly modest concessions, including acceptance of a 5 year contract.

The strike was widely perceived as a historic turning point for the labor movement. "I remember in the 1980s when the air traffic controllers union (PATCO) was wiped out, Ron Carey said. "For 15 years after that, employers all across the country, cut jobs, cut pensions, cut health coverage, and stepped on workers’ rights. Working people were on the run, but not anymore. This strike marks a new era."

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