UPS Teamsters Authorize Strike, Rally in Downtown Los Angeles

 

UPS Teamsters rallied and picketed in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, just over a week before their contract with the shipping company is set to expire, raising the specter of a possible strike.

Among those in attendance were AFM Local 47 President Stephanie O’Keefe and Vice President Marc Sazer along with other members. Members of the Screen Actors Guild and the Writers Guild of America, which are both currently on strike, also attended the Teamsters event.

Teamsters Local 396, which represents 340,000 UPS workers, credited the picketing and rallies it’s been holding across the country for getting the delivery company back to the negotiating table before the current contract expires on July 31. UPS has reached out to the union to resume contract negotiations next week. 

If a strike were to occur, it would be the largest walkout at a single private employer in U.S. history, costing the company over $170 million per day.

“What happens to one happens to all. We’re all facing incredibly difficult contract negotiations with employers who appear to have lost their way,” AFM Local 47 President Stephanie O’Keefe told ABC 7 Eyewitness News. (Watch the video here – scroll to 1:17 mark)