Interview: UPS Teamster on the Possibility of Huge 2023 Strike

Black Rose / Rosa Negra Anarchist Federation.

The contract for some 340,000 UPS workers, organized by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), is set to expire at midnight on July 31st. In preparation for a possible walkout, Teamsters across the country began casting strike ballots earlier this week.

A strike by UPS Teamsters would be the largest labor action at a single firm in the history of the U.S.

To better understand of how Teamsters are thinking about and preparing for a possible strike, we spoke with ‘Big Will’ Pina, a 30 year veteran of the UPS Teamster rank-and-file.

Black Rose / Rosa Negra (BRRN): Would you describe who you are, where you are based, how long you have been working at UPS, and what kind of work you do there?

Will: My name is Will Pina, a 51 year old out of southeast Los Angeles. I have been working for UPS for 30 years come August. I am a full time package car driver. Worked my way up through the part time ranks.

Read More.

Amazon workers strike

Anarchist Communist Group.

Amazon workers at the Coventry warehouse strike voted for a further 6 months of strike action recently. This came on the 19^th day of strike action already taken. 99% of workers taking part in the ballot favoured strike action. However, strike ballots at two other Amazon warehouses at Mansfield and Rugeley failed to meet the required threshold, thwarting the chances of united strike action.

The GMB union of which the Amazon workers are members, withdrew an application for trade union recognition after Amazon bosses took on an extra 1,000 workers in a dirty tricks ploy. This was to sabotage the GMB’s efforts to show it had majority support among Amazon workers at Coventry, with 800 members. The Central Arbitration Committee(CAC) which grants union recognition, accepted Amazon’s claims that 2,700 workers were employed at Coventry.

Despite this, the strike is having an effect on Amazon. It was forced to offer £11 an hour for workers, as well as enhanced employment rights for parents. Amazon workers at Amazon tuned this down, calling for £15 an hour.

These strikes show the  courage and determination of an increasing number of precarious and gig workers to stand up to appalling treatment  where every second worked is monitored using cameras and devices that workers must carry at all times. And where bullying by managers is widespread. As Amazon fails to recognise the GMB for bargaining purposes,  strikes are recorded as unauthorised absence, so that disciplinary procedures could be used by Amazon bosses. Despite this, the 800 workers at Coventry have remained determined.