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posted by martyb on Friday June 08 2018, @04:22AM   Printer-friendly
from the unhappy-workers dept.

The Center for American Progress reports

The Teamsters union represents the 280,000 UPS employees who voted overwhelmingly in favor of going on strike[paywall] if a deal is not reached before the current labor contract expires on August 1. More than 90 percent voted for a strike.

Issuing a strike authorization vote does not necessarily mean UPS workers will order a work stoppage, but it does give the union leverage over management to win their negotiations.

[...] Since UPS began offering regular Saturday delivery service just a year ago, [demands on its labor force] have increased. While the company hasn't announced plans for Sunday service, the union claims UPS has made several proposals to expand weekend deliveries.

[...] The shipments [which] UPS transports comprise an estimated 6 percent of the United States GDP. A labor strike among the company's workers would have a sizable effect on the economy and would be the largest U.S. labor strike in decades. Three bargaining sessions ago, in 1997, UPS workers went on strike for 16 days, and there were 180,000 Teamsters at UPS at that time. There hasn't been a bigger strike since.

Coverage by the World Socialist Web Site is skeptical about the union's efforts and what will be the outcome. Not surprisingly, that article closes with:

There is no progressive answer to the continual lowering of living standards outside of the transformation of industry, communications, and transportation monopolies into publicly owned utilities under the democratic control of the working class.

Also covered at Fortune in UPS Has 260,000 Union Workers and They've Just Authorized a Strike:

The labor talks are proceeding amid discussions on pay and work schedules, as UPS looks to increase warehouse automation to keep up with surging demand from e-commerce shipments. The union has proposed increasing the part-time starting wage as well as improving the overall pay structure, according to a statement on its website. It's also pushing the courier to increase contributions to health and welfare and pension funds.

A previous "big" thing (39,000 workers): Largest Labor Action in 5 Years Slated for Wednesday, April 13 Against Verizon


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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Phoenix666 on Friday June 08 2018, @05:23AM (4 children)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Friday June 08 2018, @05:23AM (#690216) Journal

    I used to go out and shop for stuff. Salespeople then knew what the products were and could help you find the right one. Now, nobody has the first clue so in the middle of the store you find yourself pulling out your phone and ordering the damn thing online anyway (this has happened to me several times at Home Depot).

    Also, now you have to fight traffic so what used to be a 10-minute drive takes an hour fifteen because retards don't know how to put their phones down and look at the road, such that they get into accidents constantly.

    In the lovely stores where you used to be able to shop quietly and happily, now there are hordes of recent arrivals from third world countries who think pushing, elbowing, and clambering over others is a perfectly acceptable way to interact with strangers.

    So, yes, I happily order what I need online so I can get it done at the speed of thought and use my time to instead go fishing, or draw, or play music, or exercise, or [anything else except run on the endless hamster wheel of retail culture].

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 08 2018, @05:30AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 08 2018, @05:30AM (#690218)

    I'm forced to buy things from a local store, since I can pay cash and preserve my anonymity and privacy to a greater degree. We'll see how long it takes for facial recognition to be ubiquitous. Too bad we don't have real privacy laws in this country.

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 08 2018, @07:00PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 08 2018, @07:00PM (#690448)
      You are doing it wrong. Right now you are red-flagging yourself. In a society of total surveillance you do not want to be anonymous; you want to be uninteresting.
      • (Score: 2) by toddestan on Friday June 08 2018, @09:54PM

        by toddestan (4982) on Friday June 08 2018, @09:54PM (#690537)

        The problem is that kind of information is all logged and stored on a computer somewhere. You have no idea when something that happened ages ago may suddenly become "interesting".

  • (Score: 2) by DavePolaschek on Friday June 08 2018, @03:42PM

    by DavePolaschek (6129) on Friday June 08 2018, @03:42PM (#690363) Homepage Journal

    Also, now you have to fight traffic so what used to be a 10-minute drive takes an hour fifteen because retards don't know how to put their phones down and look at the road, such that they get into accidents constantly.

    They're on their phone ordering the thing they couldn't find at Homer Depot before they got mad and left to drive home.