If a strike is called after the July 31st expiration of the UPS contract, it is vital that we are all prepared to staff the picket line.

Local 89 will be creating picket line schedules for our members in order to ensure full coverage. While creating this schedule, we hope to avoid as much disruption to our members' lives outside of their normal work schedule as possible.

To help us do this, we urge all Local 89 members to fill out our official Picket Line Survey for their work location. Your active participation in this process will help ensure that a Teamsters victory if a strike is ultimately called.

Local 89 UPS Worldport Picket Line Survey

Local 89 UPS LCH Picket Line Survey

Local 89 UPS Ground Picket Line Survey

(Bluegrass, Clarksville, Campbellsville, Bowling Green)

June 28th - This afternoon Teamsters Local 89 reached a Tentative Agreement with UPS for the Louisville Air Rider, which covers all Local 89 members at Worldport.

This new agreement is a tremendous step forward and contains strong language for more Full-Time jobs, improvements to the shuttle system, safety language, additional time off for high senior employees, and much more.

“We believe this is the strongest Air Rider we’ve ever negotiated,” said President Avral Thompson. “Our committee did an excellent job and secured major improvements across the board, and our rank-and-file members drove this home by being active and engaged.”

We will be releasing more specific details in the coming days, so please stay tuned!

We have received an increasing number of questions from our members at UPS Worldport regarding the status of Metro College should a strike become necessary in our fight for a just contract.

After thorough review of the Metro College contract documents participating members are required to sign, as well as knowledge of Federal Labor Law under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), we would like to share our official position on this subject.

Short Answer:

It is Teamsters Local 89’s position that a member’s participation in any potential strike at UPS would not constitute a violation of their Metro College contract. Were UPS to use any such participation in an attempt to nullify any members’ Metro College benefits, we would consider that a gross overreach by the Company and our Union would respond quickly to right the situation with all the resources at our disposal.

Long Answer:

The Metro College program’s contract states that a UPS employee/student must maintain their employment (i.e. cannot resign or be terminated) and must not be ejected from the college they are attending. As a member’s status at their college is not within the Teamsters or UPS control, that has no bearing on any potential strike, so we will focus on the former – that you must maintain your employment through the date specified in your Metro College agreement.

If a strike were to occur at UPS upon the expiration of our current union contract, all UPS members would have the right under the NLRA to participate and join the picket line. Going on strike in this fashion does not constitute a resignation or termination of your employment at UPS, and the goal of any strike at any company is to win a just contract and have all workers return to their jobs when the strike concludes with all seniority, benefits, and job conditions intact.

Further, although it is not widely advertised by UPS, 50% of the funding for Metro College comes from the City of Louisville (25%) and the Commonwealth of Kentucky (25%). Although we cannot say with certainty how the city or state governments would handle such a situation, we find it highly unlikely that they would look favorably on any attempts by UPS to withhold taxpayer funds from any union members who were exercising their legal rights.

It is our hope that UPS management knows better than to imply to our members that they would be in violation of their Metro College contract if they joined any potential picket line, as we would consider such statements to be an act of intimidation. We would further hope that UPS management is wise enough to know that Local 89 will aggressively defend our members should the Company make the decision to issue any disciplinary or punitive action taken against anyone exercising their right to join a legal picket line if that time comes.

Final Thoughts:

We hope this helps to calm the minds of any of our members who are concerned about their Metro College status if a strike were to occur. If you have any further questions, or if you know of any member of management who is stating that anyone participating in a potential strike would be nullifying their Metro College contract, please contact us immediately.

For many years now, the Officers, Agents and Membership of Teamsters Local 89 have been at war with UPS. In 2013 and 2018 our members were forced to accept concessions against their will when their contracts were imposed on them. The word angry does not even begin to describe their emotions.

But much has changed since the 2018 UPS contract was imposed. New leadership at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has brought a wave of reform throughout our union. Thanks to the new leadership of General President Sean O’Brien and General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman, the Teamsters have been re-invigorated. We are once again at the forefront of militant unionism in America and our union is quickly becoming feared by employers across the country.

Teamsters Local 89 proudly stands with GP O’Brien and GST Zuckerman as they prepare to lead us in the coming fight against UPS. The days of concessionary contracts are gone, and in its place is a Teamsters union united and stronger than ever before. We are ready, willing, and prepared to fight.

As we draw ever closer to the expiration on July 31 of 2023, we have a very simple message for UPS.

It’s time to pay up. Tick tock.

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