UPS meets deadline for retrofitting delivery vans with air conditioning

UPS met its obligation to retrofit 2,000 parcel delivery vans with air conditioning in the hottest parts of the country by June 1 and recently started a pilot program for piping cooled air into the rear cargo area behind the bulkhead door, where drivers can be exposed to sweltering conditions, Teamsters union General President Sean O’Brien said on Saturday.

The progress on heat safety was made possible by vigilant enforcement of the 2023 national contract with UPS (NYSE: UPS), which has also resulted in workers winning many other grievance filings, O’Brien told rank-and-file members in a video message posted on social media. One of the hard-fought additions in the contract is the requirement for a first-ever standing arbitrator who can quickly rule on worker grievances, such as back pay.

The Teamsters chief said the arbitrator has been critical to faster resolution of union grievances and hundreds of millions of dollars in awards to workers.

UPS in October agreed to modify 5,000 delivery vehicles in hot zones with air conditioning systems after the Teamsters publicly called out the company for dragging its feet on commitments to purchase or retrofit 28,000 sprinter vans and package cars with in-cab air conditioning by the summer of 2027 to protect drivers from excessive heat conditions.

The first 2,000 retrofitted vehicles were delivered, as required, by June 1, O’Brien said. The rollout of the remaining 3,000 vehicles is supposed to be finished by June 1, 2027.

The October agreement also requires the freight transportation company to upgrade 100 package cars with air conditioning vented into the cargo compartment. Teamsters officials are currently evaluating the effectiveness of ventilating cargo compartments with retrofitted air ducts.

“Air circulation in the back is key because without air circulation back here, it’s a sauna. We’re pretty damn excited about it. I’ve been around this company for damn near 40 years. I never thought I would see the day that we had air conditioning in the vehicle,” said Karla Schumann, the Teamsters western region vice president and an officer in Local 104 in Arizona, while standing in a test vehicle.

O’Brien told members that “UPS is being held accountable to make sure they deliver on every single heat protection that we won at the table,” including installation of heat shields between the cab and exhaust vents.

And Teamsters members need to continue enforcing the contract to the letter in all areas, O’Brien argued, because UPS will look for every opportunity to violate the terms and save money.

“UPS is still just another giant corporation. At the end of the day, Carol Tomé and UPS executives care more about their stock price than they care about you,” the Teamsters chief said.

In early April, the Teamsters pressure forced UPS to limit voluntary buyouts for drivers to 7,500 positions after the company offered $150,000 severance packages to 105,000 long-haul truck and local delivery drivers as part of a network downsizing and cost initiative. UPS also agreed not to unilaterally make such offers again. About 3,000 drivers accepted far-less lucrative buyout terms last fall. UPS never publicly stated how many driver positions it hoped to eliminate under the second buyout program, but observers expected a higher target than 7,500 to meet UPS’s financial goals.

The Teamsters failed in court to block this year’s voluntary separation program, but continued to challenge UPS through the national master contract’s grievance procedures. The union alleged the buyouts violated the contract because UPS directly dealt with workers over job status, something it says must be negotiated, and undermined seniority rights. The union feared UPS would “cherry pick” who might be eligible for early retirement.

“It’s a powerful reminder that we must never take UPS at face value. We must never trust what UPS is telling us unless they’re showing up and sitting down at the table with our members,” O’Brien said about the success in enforcing the contract.

O’Brien said the Teamsters has shipped more than 100,000 heat thermometers to drivers nationwide to track heat conditions in their vehicles and enable them to report violations of mandatory heat protections.

Members are routinely filing grievances with UPS on a range of workplace issues, such as forced overtime, overtime pay, rest periods, management working regular routes, exhaustion and back pay, the Teamsters president said.

The presence of a permanent arbitrator has resulted in grievances being resolved in weeks rather than dragging on for years and in hundreds of millions of dollars being returned to UPS Teamsters, he said.

“Keep filing grievances. Talk to your stewards. Meet with your business agent. Do not let 9-to-5 violations or paycheck errors fly under the radar. Do your part to hold UPS accountable and continue to enforce our strong contract,” O’Brien urged.

Teamsters convention

O’Brien’s social media post coincides with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters national convention in Las Vegas, which starts on Sunday. The conventions happen every five years. O’Brien plans to run for re-election as president, with voting beginning in October.

The platform for Teamsters Mobilize, which bills itself as a grassroots organization of Teamsters activists that aims to fight corporate power and expose corrupt Teamsters leadership, rejects O’Brien’s characterization of the 2023 UPS contract as a “historic” win for workers.

The hardline group calls the UPS contract, which is widely considered as delivering some of the best benefits for workers anywhere in the country, as weak. After leading a “vote no” campaign, it remains upset that a part-time base wage of $25 per hour was not included in the contract.

Its convention platform includes an end to part-time job classification at UPS and shorter contracts with a three-year maximum.

The activists’ manifesto says, “We reject the myth that workers and employers can exist together harmoniously, and believe that our unions should be fighting tooth and nail for our interests against employers. … We will expose and oppose collaboration between Teamsters leadership and our employers, as well as the rest of the ruling class (including not just the CEOs, but the government, Wall Street, and corporate media), whose riches come dripping from the sweat and blood of the working class.”