UPS union negotiated a historic contract. Now workers have the final say

https://www.npr.org/2023/08/11/ [login to see] /ups-union-negotiated-a-historic-contract-now-workers-have-the-final-say
When Luigi Morris reports to the UPS distribution center in Canarsie, Brooklyn at 4 a.m., packages are already overflowing off the conveyor belt.

Morris, a part-time warehouse worker, spends his three-and-a-half hour shift loading heavy items — bed frames, car tires, air conditioning units — on trucks for delivery across New York City. He's typically expected to load a minimum of four trucks with 300 packages each.

"My hands hurt, my knees hurt, my back hurts," Morris said. "And we only have a ten-minute break."

Morris earns $16.60 per hour — up from $15.50 when he was hired last year.

On July 25, the Teamsters union reached a tentative contract agreement with UPS, securing wage increases for the 340,000 workers it represents and narrowly averting a nationwide strike after weeks of stalled negotiations. Teamsters leadership had threatened a disruptive walkout if the company failed to meet their economic demands.