UPS Push For Electric Trucks Leaves Drivers Sweating — And Unions Furious

In 2023, the Teamsters signed a massive deal with UPS to guarantee a fleet of air-conditioned trucks.

“Our members just ratified the most lucrative agreement the Teamsters have ever negotiated at UPS. This contract will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien boasted at the time. “Teamsters have set a new standard and raised the bar for pay, benefits, and working conditions in the package delivery industry.”

He may have started celebrating too early.

As temperatures climbed last month, the Teamsters sent a furious letter to UPS demanding information on the whereabouts of the air-conditioned vehicles.

“How does UPS expect to actually deliver 20,000 or more air-conditioned package cars and vans over the next two years, when the delivery giant is already so far behind?” O’Brien demanded. “The summer heat beating down on our members is no joke. UPS is playing a dangerous game with the lives of thousands of essential American workers.”

UPS, meanwhile, seems to have different concerns.

For years, the company has been focused on replacing its fleet with so-called green vehicles. A few years ago, UPS pledged to make 40% of its vehicles use “alternative fuel” by 2025. So far, UPS says it uses more than 1,000 electric or hybrid vehicles.

Drivers blasting their air conditioning in the sweltering Texas heat probably doesn’t help the shipping giant’s goal of reaching “carbon neutrality by 2050.”

But that doesn’t matter to the Teamsters.

The 2023 deal pledges at least 28,000 package vans and cars with air conditioning, prioritizing workers in the country’s blisteringly hot areas. The Teamsters’ contract covers nearly 340,000 of the union’s 1.3 million workers.

“With oppressive summer heat already affecting major parts of the country, exceeding 100 degrees as far north as New York, Zone 1 workers in the hottest southern states like Texas, Arizona, and Nevada are still waiting for UPS to honor its legal and contractual obligations on heat protections,” the union said in a press release last week.

This is not the first time unions have found themselves at odds with green energy policies. The United Auto Workers — another major labor union — opposed President Joe Biden’s electric vehicle mandate, saying a rapid shift to electric vehicles would cost union jobs. At the time, UAW President Shawn Fain withheld the union’s endorsement from Biden until it could extract concessions from the administration.

Now, a major Democratic policy has once again alienated one of the party’s biggest constituent groups.

The Teamsters are demanding “all available data” on the status of the new air-conditioned vehicles. So far, UPS has only delivered 10%, the union claims.

The deal also promised 22,500 full-time jobs, another pain point for the Teamsters. Yet another issue is UPS’s slow response to grievances about overtime violations, according to the union.

“We are halfway into our union’s national contract and the Teamsters are gravely concerned that UPS is not living up to its end of the deal,” O’Brien said.

“In so many ways — from the painfully slow delivery of air-conditioned vehicles to overworking our rank-and-file and failing to provide up-to-date information on new job opportunities — UPS has a lot of catching up to do to honor this agreement,” the union boss said. “The weather is getting worse, but still our members show up every single day to ensure this company remains the best in the business. The Teamsters’ patience with UPS mismanagement is wearing thin.”

Quite a different tone than two years ago. Best of luck to the sweaty drivers stuck between their woke company and blustering union!