Teamsters president throws down gauntlet to UPS: Strike coming in 2028

It’s two years until the contract between United Parcel Service and its 330,000 unionized drivers and package handlers is due for renewal, normally a time when labor-employer relationships are less contentious. The Teamsters union is ready for war.

In a series of self-produced Teamsters podcasts starting in mid-July, President Sean O’Brien put UPS (NYSE: UPS) on notice that rank-and-file members will go on strike if the company doesn’t acquiesce to demands for even better terms than the rich contract currently in place, which he calls “historic” for its pay and benefits.

Among issues the union is prepared to strike over are expected attempts to roll back health and pension benefits, automation and deployment of autonomous trucks, and alleged outsourcing of last-mile delivery and supply chain functions to non-union subsidiaries.

Perhaps, the most unusual strike trigger is a new demand that all four union regions, which are governed by supplements to the national master agreement, be allowed to go on strike mid-contract if the parties remain deadlocked on how to resolve union grievances. “It’s going to be a battle and we are probably going to strike UPS.

I mean, we have to because they don’t respect us. They don’t do what they’re supposed to do on the obligation of the contract. They fight us on everything,” O’Brien said on a recent episode of the “Better Bad Ideas” podcast.

It’s no secret that the Teamsters and UPS don’t have good relations, but the level of animosity this far ahead of negotiations is striking. Since union leaders lack their most powerful weapon — the strike — in the middle of a contract, tactical posturing and aggressive public rhetoric typically decline.

Contracts are supposed to provide a period of operational stability for the company and workers, with union leaders shifting to enforcing what was already won rather than demanding new concessions. Mid-contract disputes are resolved through highly structured administrative procedures.

O’Brien also continued to disparage CEO Carol Tomé and her management team, saying they are out of touch with workers’ needs. The comments fit his gruff persona — O’Brien eagerly points out that his initials are SOB —but raise questions about whether any trust will be left by the start of negotiations to reach an accommodation.

“She makes $29 or $30 million per year and all she cares about is the bottom line and the balance sheet and the stockholders. She doesn’t care about the employees who have made this company successful for 70 years,” the Teamsters chief said in another episode. (The CEO’s total compensation in 2025, mostly from the value of stock awards, was actually $22.

8 million, according to UPS securities filings.) “This lady is fucking delusional.

And I cannot wait to get to the bargaining table to address our members’ concerns, but also to hold this company accountable,” O’Brien said in taking offense at public statements on earnings calls crediting the company’s completed transformation plan, which involved a glide down in Amazon volume and reconfiguring the network, for enabling a return to profit growth.

“She doesn’t even mention the most important people that work for this company. That’s the rank and file members, the men and women who go there and sacrifice time away from their families, sacrifice their bodies.” he continued. “That is the biggest bunch of bullshit that I’ve ever heard in my life. … The company’s always been profitable.

She didn’t bring it back. Our members are the ones that make this profitable.” UPS van and truck drivers, and package handlers, ratified a five-year contract in August 2023. The Teamsters estimated the contract’s value at $30 billion. The agreement included a $2.

75-an-hour wage increase in the first year for full- and part-time workers, followed by smaller annual bumps, and 60 non-economic changes covering work conditions. By the time the contract ends, senior full-time drivers will earn approximately $170,000 a year in wages and benefits. Part- and full-time workers will get $7.

50 more in hourly wages over the life of the contract. Existing part-time workers saw their wages immediately raised to $21 an hour, while new part-timers start at $21 an hour and advance to $23 an hour. The contract ended a two-tier driver wage system for doing the same work, bringing all junior drivers into seniority status.

The Teamsters plan to launch the next contract campaign in the fall of 2027, but is already drawing battle lines. What follows are extensive podcast excerpts in which O’Brien lays out how he plans to attack UPS, while motivating workers to prepare for a work stoppage.

The podcasts are important because they provide a window into the union leadership’s mindset ahead of contract negotiations that will have national economic and political implications. UPS delivers more than 16 million packages per day, about 17% of total domestic volume, and total global volume represents an estimated 5% to 6% of U. S. GDP. A strike