UPS meets deadline for retrofitting delivery vans with air conditioning

UPS met its obligation to retrofit 2,000 parcel delivery vans with air conditioning in the hottest parts of the country by June 1 and recently started a pilot program for piping cooled air into the rear cargo area behind the bulkhead door, where drivers can be exposed to sweltering conditions, Teamsters union General President Sean O’Brien said on Saturday.

The progress on heat safety was made possible by vigilant enforcement of the 2023 national contract with UPS (NYSE: UPS), which has also resulted in workers winning many other grievance filings, O’Brien told rank-and-file members in a video message posted on social media.

One of the hard-fought additions in the contract is the requirement for a first-ever standing arbitrator who can quickly rule on worker grievances, such as back pay. The Teamsters chief said the arbitrator has been critical to faster resolution of union grievances and hundreds of millions of dollars in awards to workers.

UPS in October agreed to modify 5,000 delivery vehicles in hot zones with air conditioning systems after the Teamsters publicly called out the company for dragging its feet on commitments to purchase or retrofit 28,000 sprinter vans and package cars with in-cab air conditioning by the summer of 2027 to protect drivers from excessive heat conditions. window.

googletag = window. googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag. cmd. push(function() {googletag. defineSlot('/21776187881/FW-Responsive-Main_Content-Slot1', [[300, 100], [320, 50], [728, 90], [468, 60]], 'div-gpt-ad-1709668545404-0'). defineSizeMapping(gptSizeMaps. banner1). addService(googletag. pubads()); googletag. pubads(). enableSingleRequest(); googletag.

pubads(). collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag. enableServices(); }); googletag. cmd. push(function() {googletag. display('div-gpt-ad-1709668545404-0'); }); The first 2,000 retrofitted vehicles were delivered, as required, by June 1, O’Brien said. The rollout of the remaining 3,000 vehicles is supposed to be finished by June 1, 2027.

The October agreement also requires the freight transportation company to upgrade 100 package cars with air conditioning vented into the cargo compartment. Teamsters officials are currently evaluating the effectiveness of ventilating cargo compartments with retrofitted air ducts.

“Air circulation in the back is key because without air circulation back here, it’s a sauna. We’re pretty damn excited about it. I’ve been around this company for damn near 40 years.

I never thought I would see the day that we had air conditioning in the vehicle,” said Karla Schumann, the Teamsters western region vice president and an officer in Local 104 in Arizona, while standing in a test vehicle.

O’Brien told members that “UPS is being held accountable to make sure they deliver on every single heat protection that we won at the table,” including installation of heat shields between the cab and exhaust vents.

And Teamsters members need to continue enforcing the contract to the letter in all areas, O’Brien argued, because UPS will look for every opportunity to violate the terms and save money. Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien joins a picket of an Amazon fulfillment center in City of Industry, California, on Dec. 20, 2024.

(Photo: Shutterstock/Ringo Chiu) “UPS is still just another giant corporation. At the end of the day, Carol Tomé and UPS executives care more about their stock price than they care about you,” the Teamsters chief said.

In early April, the Teamsters pressure forced UPS to limit voluntary buyouts for drivers to 7,500 positions after the company offered $150,000 severance packages to 105,000 long-haul truck and local delivery drivers as part of a network downsizing and cost initiative. UPS also agreed not to unilaterally make such offers again.

About 3,000 drivers accepted far-less lucrative buyout terms last fall. UPS never publicly stated how many driver positions it hoped to eliminate under the second buyout program, but observers expected a higher target than 7,500 to meet UPS’s financial goals. window. googletag = window. googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag. cmd. push(function() {googletag.

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push(function() {googletag. display('div-gpt-ad-1665767553440-0'); }); The Teamsters failed in court to block this year’s voluntary separation program, but continued to challenge UPS through the national master contract’s grievance procedures.

The union alleged the buyouts violated the contract because UPS directly dealt with workers over job status, something it says must be negotiated, and undermined seniority rights. The union feared UPS would “cherry pick” who might be eligible for early retirement. “It’s a powerful reminder that we must nev