Senate Dems Pledge No Interference if Teamsters Strike UPS

Senate Democrats on Wednesday notified the heads of UPS and the Teamsters union that represents more than 340,000 of the delivery company’s workers that it will not interfere in case of a strike.

Negotiations between the union and UPS have been at a standstill for more than a week with a July 31 deadline for a new contract approaching. The Teamsters, which said in a news release Wednesday negotiations are expected to resume next week, threatened to strike if a deal is not reached by the time the collective bargaining agreement expires.

“We are hopeful that both sides can negotiate in good faith and reach a consensus agreement that addresses basic human needs and allows workers to do their jobs safely and with dignity,” according to a letter signed by 28 Senate Democrats sent to UPS CEO Carol Tomé and Teamsters President Sean O’Brien. “However, in the event a fair and equitable collective bargaining agreement cannot be reached, we commit to respect our constituents’ statutory and constitutional rights to withhold their labor and initiate and participate in a strike.”

Among the letter’s signees were Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Neither of Georgia’s Democrat senators — UPS is based in Atlanta — Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, signed the letter.

A similar letter signed by 172 House Democrats was sent to Tomé and O’Brien on Monday.

Last year, the Biden administration stepped in to prevent a national railroad strike, brokering a deal with freight carriers and unionized workers. O’Brien reportedly said Sunday night that he has asked the White House several times not to intervene in case of a strike.

Before contract talks broke down, the sides had reached tentative agreements on installing air conditioning in more trucks and getting rid of a two-tier wage system for drivers who work weekends and earn less money. A sticking point in negotiations is wage increases for part-time workers, who make a minimum of $16.20 an hour, according to UPS.

Last week, UPS said it will temporarily begin training nonunion employees in the U.S. to step in should there be a strike.

“We understand that Congress has not previously intervened in recent history to implement a collective bargaining agreement between workers and their employer under the National Labor Relations Act, and we commit to not intervening in the collective bargaining process between Teamsters and UPS,” the senators wrote.

Newsmax reached out to UPS and the Teamsters for comment.