Episode 13: UPS Contract Ratified. What's Next?

The Upsurge

On Tuesday, August 22, the Teamsters union announced that its members voted to ratify the national UPS contract by 86.3% – and with record turnout. Workers won significant raises, the abolition of the two-tier driver system, air conditioning in package cars, thousands of new full-time jobs, and more.

In our previous episode, we discussed the gains of the tentative agreement and the years of Teamsters' organizing it took to make them possible, including the past year's contract campaign which built a credible strike threat. In this episode, we dug deeper into the various layers of members' reactions to the contract, as well as what's required of the membership to enforce it and build on it moving forward.

We invited Greg Kerwood, a UPSer from Local 25 in Somerville, Massachusetts, back on the show to share his point of view. Greg explained what he's heard from the membership, how social media may have distorted members' views, and why it's important to translate the disappointment of some workers – including his own – into productive organizing on the shop floor.

We also share some news on the future of The Upsurge…

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Hosted by Teddy Ostrow

Edited by Teddy Ostrow and Ruby Walsh

Produced by NYGP & Ruby Walsh, in partnership with In These Times & The Real News

Music by Casey Gallagher

Cover art by Devlin Claro Resetar

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Hear Teddy discuss the UPS Teamsters' reaction to the tentative agreement on The Valley Labor Report.