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'So Much for the Golden Age of America': Layoffs Hit 17-Year High Under Trump
The latest job cuts report signals "employers are less-than-optimistic about the outlook for 2026," said one analyst.
Feb 05, 2026
While President Donald Trump continues to falsely claim that the US economy is the hottest in the world, new data released Thursday shows that announced layoffs in January hit a high not seen since the Great Recession of 2009.
The new report by corporate outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas shows that that US employers announced more than 108,000 job cuts last month, more than double the nearly 50,000 job cuts that they announced one year before.
In fact, the announced job cuts were higher than any January since 2009, when the economy was in the middle of a global financial crisis.
Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said that the January 2026 job cuts were "a high number" and a signal that "employers are less-than-optimistic about the outlook for 2026."
The biggest cuts on the month came from UPS, which announced that it would be slashing 30,000 jobs, and Amazon, which announced workforce reductions of 16,000 jobs.
"So much for the 'Golden Age of America'," said Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), as he noted layoffs surging to the highest levels in 17 years.
The healthcare industry, which has been a rare bright spot in terms of job growth in recent months, announced more than 17,000 jobs cuts in January, the highest number in that sector since April 2020 when the US was in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The report also showed that artificial intelligence was only responsible for 7% of layoffs announced last month, although Challenger acknowledged that it's "difficult to say how big an impact AI is having on layoffs specifically."
Additionally, the report found that US employers had announced just over 5,300 hiring plans in January, which it noted was "the lowest total for the month since Challenger began tracking hiring plans in 2009."
Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, pointed to "the worst job numbers since the Great Recession" in a social media post. The union leader noted that the 5,300 hiring plans were "the lowest one record since the early 2000s," while adding that "layoffs are up over 100% since last January, and over 300% since January of 2024."
Mohamed El-Erian, economist at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, described the Challenger report as "sobering," and pointed to a potentially ominous trend regarding wealth inequality in the US.
"These layoffs are occurring while GDP continues to grow at approximately 4%," he observed in a social media post, "accelerating the decoupling of employment from economic growth—a phenomenon that, if it persists, has profound economic, political, and social implications."
Melanie D'Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health, said that the job cuts were yet more evidence that Trump and Republicans' economic policies were a failure.
"'If you give more tax cuts to corporations, those corporations will create more jobs,' is the lie politicians who are funded by corporations tell people to justify giving their corporate donors more tax cuts," she wrote. "Trump’s corporate and billionaire tax cuts create profits—not jobs."
Laura Ullrich, director of economic research in North America at the Indeed Hiring Lab, said during an interview with ABC News published on Tuesday that workers in the current economy are "hugging onto [their current job] more than they normally would" because so few companies are taking on new staff.
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From Amazon to Home Depot and Beyond, Mass Layoffs Continue to Punish Working Class Under Trump
"When taking into account predicted downward revisions, the data says we’re losing jobs," said one economic analyst.
Jan 29, 2026
Although President Donald Trump has given himself glowing marks for his economic record, the US job market has continued showing signs of weakness amid recent layoffs from some major employers.
The Associated Press on Thursday published a roundup of corporate layoffs that have been announced in recent months, highlighted by Amazon, which announced it was cutting an additional 16,000 jobs on Wednesday; United Parcel Service, which on Tuesday revealed plans to slash 30,000 jobs; and chemical maker Dow, which on Thursday said it would be reducing its workforce by 3,000.
And as reported by CNBC, retailer Home Depot announced on Wednesday that it was eliminating 800 positions as it struggles with slower sales that company executives blame on a dampened housing market caused by high interest rates.
The latest layoffs are not merely anecdotal data, but symbolic of a labor market that has been stuck in a rut for several months. As noted by economic analyst Steve Rattner in a Thursday social media post, average monthly employment growth has been "slightly above zero" ever since Trump first announced his market-shaking tariffs in April.
"When taking into account predicted downward revisions," Rattner added, "the data says we’re losing jobs."
This week's announced Amazon layoffs drew the ire of Americans for Tax Fairness, which pointed out that the Jeff Bezos-founded online retail giant has been the beneficiary of several big-ticket tax breaks for more the last several years.
"We've given Amazon $9.5 BILLION in tax breaks over the last 7 years," the group explained. "And for what? Their CEO made $263 million from 2018-2024. Since 2013, they've spent $857 million on stock buybacks and $161 million on lobbying. And they just announced they're laying off 16,000 workers."
The Washington Post, which is owned by Bezos, is reportedly bracing for layoffs of its own.
A Thursday report from Semafor revealed that the Post's White House reporters wrote a letter to Bezos imploring him to back off a plan to make substantial cuts throughout the paper's staff.
"The effort from the Washington Post’s White House reporters comes as staffers are scrambling to preserve their jobs, with layoffs set to hit the newsroom hard in the coming weeks," Semafor reported. "Unconfirmed rumors have circulated in recent days about the scope of the cuts, which are expected to be as high as 300."
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UPS Cargo Plane Crash at Louisville Airport Sparks Massive Fire
Police announced a shelter-in-place order for "all areas north of the airport to the Ohio River."
Nov 04, 2025
This is a developing story… Please check back for updates…
Aerial footage showed plumes of black smoke and flames around the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky after a UPS plane crashed during its departure on Tuesday evening.
The Federal Aviation Administration said on social media that UPS Flight 2976—a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 bound for Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii—crashed around 5:15 pm local time. The agency added that the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate, with the NTSB providing all updates.
The Louisville Metro Police Department confirmed that the LMPD and multiple other agencies were responding to the scene, where there are "injuries reported."
LMPD initially announced a shelter-in-place order "for all locations within five miles of the airport," which was then expanded to "all areas north of the airport to the Ohio River."
The airport—which confirmed that "the airfield is closed" after the crash—is the UPS global hub. The shipping giant said in a statement that there were three crewmembers onboard and "at this time, we have not confirmed any injuries/casualties."
"UPS will release more facts as they become available, but the National Transportation Safety Board is in charge of the investigation and will be the primary source of information about the official investigation," the company added.
As CNN reported Tuesday:
The McDonnell Douglas MD-11F is a freight transport aircraft manufactured originally by McDonnell Douglas and later by Boeing. The aircraft is primarily flown by FedEx Express, Lufthansa Cargo, and UPS Airlines for cargo.
The plane also served as a popular wide-bodied passenger airplane after it was first flown in 1990. The aircraft involved in Tuesday's crash was built in 1991.
As fuel costs increased for the three engine jets many of them were converted to freighters. The plane can take off weighing in at a maximum 633,000 pounds and carrying more than 38,000 gallons of fuel, according to Boeing, which bought McDonnell Douglass.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said that it "is monitoring this developing tragic event on the ground," and "as this horrific scene is being investigated, prayers on behalf of our entire international union are with those killed, injured, and affected, including their families, co-workers, and loved ones."
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said that he and his wife, Rachel, "are praying for victims of the UPS plane that crashed."
"We have every emergency agency responding to the scene," the Democrat added. "There are multiple injuries and the fire is still burning. There are many road closures in the area—please avoid the scene."
Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who is headed to Louisville for a briefing with the mayor, said, "Please pray for the pilots, crew, and everyone affected."
Republican President Donald Trump's transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, similarly said, "Please join me in prayer for the Louisville community and flight crew impacted by this horrific crash."
During a press conference earlier on Tuesday, Duffy had warned of "mass chaos" if the ongoing government shutdown continues, saying: "You will see mass flight delays. You'll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace, because we just cannot manage it because we don't have the air traffic controllers."
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Blaming Trump Tariffs Alone for 20,000 Laid Off UPS Workers Hides Key Factor: Stock Buybacks and Wall Street Greed
Blaming the Trump tariffs for every sin imaginable may be emotionally satisfying, but while it may end up being a factor, it is not the whole story here.
May 01, 2025
It’s such a tempting storyline: UPS announces that it will lay off 20,000 workers, citing “changes in the global trade policy and new or increased tariffs.”
There you have it. A perfect example of how Trump’s tariffs are screwing working people, many of whom voted for him.
Or is it?
UPS, like every major U.S. corporation, is in business to extract as much wealth as possible and shovel it to its shareholders and top executives in the form of stock buybacks and dividends. And like every major corporation, UPS will pay for that wealth extraction by laying off as many workers as possible. That may reduce the production of goods and services, but so be it, if it generates more money for shareholders and executives. In big business today, wealth extraction always comes first.
This is not a company struggling to make ends meet.
Let’s look at some of UPS’s numbers. In 2023, the company authorized $5 billion in stock buybacks, starting in 2024 with $500 million and another $5.5 billion in dividends. In 2025, UPS plans to spend another $1 billion on stock buybacks, as well as $5.5 billion more in dividends. In 2024, not incidentally, UPS posted $8.5 billion in profits. This is not a company struggling to make ends meet.
(Stock buybacks are when a corporation uses its own funds to repurchase shares and thereby raise the price of those shares, which greatly pleases its largest shareholders. Before deregulation in 1982, a company buying its own shares was considered illegal stock manipulation.)
To maintain this wealth pump for its investors and top officers, who are primarily compensated with stock incentives, cash needs to be generated and replenished. The simplest way to do that without acquiring more debt is to lay off workers.
Before the deregulation of Wall Street that came with the Reagan and Clinton administrations, no corporate manager would dare to lay off workers during profitable periods. To do so was a sign of poor management, a blemish on the CEO and his/her team. Workers and their communities were considered corporate stakeholders, right along with shareholders.
But after deregulation, the only stakeholder that mattered was the shareholder. The hell with workers and their communities. Companies began moving corporate headquarters to the sites of the highest governmental bidders, and in short order layoffs during good times became a symbol of smart management. Greed is good reigned supreme. (Please see Wall Street’s War on Workers for the gory details.)
Do not lend any credibility to corporate PR announcements. Their job is to do all they can to obscure how much they are shoveling to Wall Street.
The Teamsters union, which represents 300,000 UPS hourly workers, will fight these recently announced layoffs. Sean O’Brian, who spoke at the Republican national convention in 2024, sees any Teamsters layoffs as a violation of the contract:
United Parcel Service is contractually obligated to create 30,000 Teamsters jobs under our current national master agreement. If UPS wants to continue to downsize corporate management, the Teamsters won’t stand in its way. But if the company intends to violate our contract or makes any attempt to go after hard-fought, good-paying Teamsters jobs, UPS will be in for a hell of a fight.
We can be sure that the Teamsters will be looking closely at UPS’s finances, especially the large amounts going to stock buybacks and dividends. They will not sacrifice their members’ jobs on the altar of obscene wealth extraction.
Will the Trump tariffs have a major impact on UPS jobs?
We just don’t know that yet. But one thing we know for sure: Do not lend any credibility to corporate PR announcements. Their job is to do all they can to obscure how much they are shoveling to Wall Street. Their credo: The extent and consequences of the wealth extraction machine must never be revealed.
Blaming the Trump tariffs for every sin imaginable may be emotionally satisfying. But letting larger corporations and their Wall Street handlers off the hook when it comes to job destruction, which the Democrats have done for more than a generation, is in large part why we have Trump in the first place.
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A Hot Labor Summer, Literally
As heat records continue to be broken, the dangers are overwhelmingly borne by workers whose jobs directly expose them to heat, like farmworkers, construction workers, landscapers, and maintenance workers.
Aug 24, 2023
This summer has been a hot one for labor as strikes and other worker actions have swept the country. At the same time, workers have been toiling in one of the hottest summers ever recorded due to the ongoing climate emergency. This has put millions at greater risk of heat-related illness and death.
The 340,000 UPS workers, represented by the Teamsters union, made excessive heat in the workplace a top priority in their recent contract negotiations with the company. Between 2015 and 2022, at least 143 UPS employees had been hospitalized for heat injuries, according to company records obtained by The Washington Post.
To protect their health, workers demanded that UPS provide air conditioning in their signature delivery trucks. For the first time, the company agreed to equip them in all new delivery vehicles. But it’s outrageous that UPS workers had to bargain over the basic human right to a safe workplace while their CEO took home $19 million last year.
No federal laws currently impose heat safety standards for workplaces.
Federal and state governments, meanwhile, have largely taken a hands-off approach to protecting workers facing such dangerous conditions.
In the midst of an unprecedented heatwave, Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently signed a bill that will rescind mandatory rest and water breaks for construction workers. “It’s inhumane and cruel,” remarked Eva Marroquin, who cleans up construction sites in the Austin area.
Abbott’s egregious move grabbed national headlines, but it’s not just Texas workers who are vulnerable.
Regulations protecting outdoor workers from heat have only been implemented in a handful of states, including California, Washington, Oregon, and Colorado. Indoor workers, such as those employed at warehouses without air conditioning systems, also lack heat safety regulations in most states.
No federal laws currently impose heat safety standards for workplaces. In 2021, President Joe Biden ordered the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to produce heat safety standards, but the agency still hasn’t issued them.
Anticipating that workers would face life-or-death summer heat, attorneys general from seven states petitioned OSHA to issue an emergency temporary order earlier this year that would require employers to provide water, rest breaks, and shade when temperatures top 80°F. The agency refused.
As heat records continue to be broken, the dangers are overwhelmingly borne by workers whose jobs directly expose them to heat, like farmworkers, construction workers, landscapers, and maintenance workers, among others. These jobs are predominantly low-income and more often held by people of color.
In San Antonio, a 24-year-old construction worker, Gabriel Infante, died this July from severe heat stroke. A 29-year-old farmworker in South Florida, Efraín López García, died that same month after experiencing symptoms consistent with heat illness. Extreme heat killed another young farmworker in Florida earlier this year after his employer failed to provide water breaks and shade.
Sadly, these and many more worker deaths across the U.S. could have been avoided.
President Biden has taken small steps to address this health threat. His Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su issued the first heat hazard alert reminding employers of their responsibility “not to assign work in high heat conditions without protections in place for workers.”
But for workers and their families, an “alert” is no replacement for a nationwide, legally enforceable heat standard that must be issued as quickly as possible. Absent an OSHA standard, Congress and states can still act to protect workers.
Workers’ lives are on the line. Until they are safe on the job, there will be many more “hot labor summers” in the forecast.
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UPS Teamsters Overwhelmingly Approve 'Historic' New Contract, Averting Strike
"This is the template for how workers should be paid and protected nationwide, and nonunion companies like Amazon better pay attention," said Teamsters president Sean O'Brien.
Aug 22, 2023
United Parcel Service workers in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Tuesday overwhelmingly ratified what the union called "the most historic collective bargaining agreement in the history of UPS," avoiding what experts said would have been a crippling strike.
Teamsters members voted by 86.3% to approve the new tentative contract, which raises wages for full- and part-time workers, creates more full-time jobs, and secures "important workplace protections, including air conditioning."
Both rank-and-file members and leaders of the 340,000-member union overwhelmingly approved the deal, with Teamsters leadership voting 161-1 in favor of the package.
"Our members just ratified the most lucrative agreement the Teamsters have ever negotiated at UPS. This contract will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers," Teamsters general president Sean O'Brien said in a statement. "Teamsters have set a new standard and raised the bar for pay, benefits, and working conditions in the package delivery industry."
"This is the template for how workers should be paid and protected nationwide, and nonunion companies like Amazon better pay attention," he added.
Under the terms of the agreement, current full- and part-time UPS Teamsters will get $2.75 more per hour in 2023, with wage increases totaling $7.50 per hour over the length of the agreement. New part-time UPS employees will receive $21 per hour to start.
The contract includes new health and safety protections, including vehicle air conditioning and cargo ventilation. The deal also ends forced overtime on scheduled days off, makes Martin Luther King Day a full holiday for the first time, and commits to the hiring of 7,500 new full-time UPS employees.
"This is the richest national contract I've seen in my more than 40 years of representing Teamsters at UPS," Teamsters general secretary-treasurer Fred Zuckerman said. "There are more gains in this contract than in any other UPS agreement and with no givebacks to the company. But the hard work doesn't end here. We will continue to fight like hell to enforce this contract and make sure UPS lives up to every word of it over the next five years."
The final contract vote means a massive strike—an action 97% of Teamsters voted in June to take absent an agreement—will be avoided.
UPS CEO Carol Tomé said in a statement that "together we reached a win-win-win agreement on the issues that are important to Teamsters leadership, our employees, and to UPS and our customers."
"This agreement continues to reward UPS' full- and part-time employees with industry-leading pay and benefits while retaining the flexibility we need to stay competitive, serve our customers, and keep our business strong," she added.
Progressives and labor advocates cheered the new contract.
"Congratulations to the more than 340,000 UPS Teamsters on this historic contract!" Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) wrote on the social platform formerly called Twitter. "You have demonstrated the power of solidarity and collective action in the fight for livable wages and better working conditions for workers across our country."
Democratic Socialists of America posted: "As the result of a historic contract campaign, UPS Teamsters got a taste of how it felt to flex their power as workers. A working class with high expectations is a good thing for the union, for our labor movement, and for the struggle for workplace democracy and socialism."
The AFL-CIO said that "this historic win creates new jobs, secures crucial protections, and raises wages for all workers."
"Let's be clear: Teamsters won this through relentless organizing and a credible strike threat that showed UPS the power of collective action!" the union added. "Workers united will never be defeated!"
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The Teamsters Show There’s (Still) Power in a Union
Never forget this: Working people outnumber the billionaires and CEOs. If workers stand together, they will win.
Jul 28, 2023
Good and important news on the labor front (from your former labor secretary).
What would have been one of the biggest labor strikes in U.S. history has likely been averted, as Teamsters reps agreed to a tentative contract with UPS. The contract must now be voted on by the 340,000 unionized UPS workers.
The tentative deal reportedly includes $30 billion in wage increases for all UPS employees (including part-timers), elimination of the two-tier wage system, the establishment of MLK Day as a paid holiday for all workers, and a ban on driver-facing cameras in truck cabs as well as forced overtime on drivers’ scheduled days off.
Oh, and the installation of air conditioning and fans in delivery trucks.
As a result of the tentative agreement, air conditioning will be equipped in new delivery trucks, while existing trucks will receive additional fans and air induction vents to protect drivers.
Temperatures in the back of delivery trucks have reportedly reached 120 degrees, which has resulted in over 140 UPS employees suffering severe heat and dehydration-related injuries since 2015. One California driver died while delivering packages last June.
As a result of the tentative agreement, air conditioning will be equipped in new delivery trucks, while existing trucks will receive additional fans and air induction vents to protect drivers.
Folks, never underestimate the power and importance of labor unions.
UPS is one of the most profitable delivery companies in the world. In the past two years, its profits grew close to THREE TIMES what they were before the pandemic.
The company also spent $8.6 billion on stock buybacks and dividends in 2022, while paying its CEO $19 million — a figure 364 times higher than the earnings of the company’s median employee.
UPS workers rightfully wanted a bigger piece of the pie they helped create, and better safety protections while on the job.
As we’ve seen across so many industries, major corporations are making big bucks off the backs of their workers—many of whom were quick to be labeled “essential” as they risked their lives throughout the pandemic.
But working people everywhere have seen their hard work result in stagnant wages while CEOs, other top executives, and major investors do gangbusters.
Forty years of union-busting and trickle-down economics has made the rich richer, while eviscerating the American working class.
That’s why UPS workers fought back. And why over 320,000 other unionized workers across various industries have gone on strike so far this year. They are organizing to rebuild worker power and demand the pay and dignity they deserve.
Never forget this: Working people outnumber the billionaires and CEOs.
If workers stand together, they will win.
It’s an old-fashioned idea that’s as true today as ever. It’s called Solidarity.
Unfortunately, after decades of union-busting and so-called “right-to-work” states, only 6% of private-sector workers are unionized today. When I was a kid in the 1950s, a third of all private-sector workers were unionized.
Which goes a long way to explaining why in the three decades after World War II, America created the largest middle class the world had ever seen. And why, starting in the 1980s, that middle class has hollowed out—creating anger and anxiety that’s been channeled by cynical, power-hungry politicians into racism, xenophobia, and rage.
Does this summer of labor discontent signal that the pendulum is about to swing back?
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UPS Strike Likely Averted as Teamsters Celebrate 'Historic' Contract Victory
"This contract sets a new standard in the labor movement and raises the bar for all workers," said Teamsters president Sean O'Brien.
Jul 25, 2023
The Teamsters and UPS on Tuesday reached a tentative five-year contract agreement that union negotiators hailed as a "historic" victory, likely averting what would have been the largest single-employer strike in U.S. history.
In a statement, Teamsters president Sean O'Brien said that "we demanded the best contract in the history of UPS, and we got it."
"UPS has put $30 billion in new money on the table as a direct result of these negotiations," said O'Brien. "We've changed the game, battling it out day and night to make sure our members won an agreement that pays strong wages, rewards their labor, and doesn't require a single concession. This contract sets a new standard in the labor movement and raises the bar for all workers."
According to the union, which represents roughly 340,000 workers, the tentative contract includes "historic wage increases" for full- and part-time UPS Teamsters, new health and safety protections such as in-cab air conditioning for larger delivery vehicles, an end to forced overtime on scheduled days off, and the creation of 7,500 new union jobs.
Under the new agreement, full- and part-time UPS workers would receive a $2.75-per-hour wage boost this year and a $7.50-per-hour raise over the course of the contract.
UPS CEO Carol Tomé described the contract agreement as "a win-win-win."
Rank-and-file union members still must approve the deal. If they don't, there will be a strike following the voting period, Teamsters leaders said.
Voting is set to begin on August 3 and end on August 22.
"UPS came dangerously close to putting itself on strike, but we kept firm on our demands," said Teamsters general secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. "In my more than 40 years in Louisville representing members at Worldport—the largest UPS hub in the country—I have never seen a national contract that levels the playing field for workers so dramatically as this one."
"The agreement puts more money in our members' pockets and establishes a full range of new protections for them on the job," Zuckerman added. "We stayed focused on our members and fought like hell to get everything that full-time and part-time UPS Teamsters deserve."
The tentative bargaining agreement was reached less than a week before the current contract was set to expire.
Last month, 97% of UPS workers represented by the Teamsters voted to authorize a strike if there was no acceptable deal with management by the end of July.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, applauded the Teamsters for "negotiating a strong pro-worker contract with UPS."
"This is what progressive, grassroots union leadership is all about," the senator wrote. "This is a major victory for the American working class. Let's keep going."
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200 Members of Congress Vow Not to Interfere If UPS Workers Strike
"All workers, including UPS Teamsters, deserve fair wages, safe conditions, and decent benefits," said Sen. Bernie Sanders. "If a bargaining agreement can't be reached, we will not intervene if UPS workers strike."
Jul 19, 2023
Two hundred members of the United States Congress have committed not to step in if United Parcel Service workers represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters go on strike next month.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who caucuses with the Democratic Party, and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) led 28 Senate Democrats in sending a letter to Teamsters president Sean O'Brien and UPS chief executive officer Carol Tomé on Wednesday. An identical letter signed by 164 House Democrats and eight House Republicans was addressed to the union leader and corporate executive on Monday.
"We are writing to strongly affirm support of our constituents' right to collectively bargain with their employer," the letter states.
The Teamsters union represents more than 340,000 UPS warehouse workers and delivery drivers nationwide. Last month, 97% of them voted to authorize a strike beginning on August 1 if a deal is not reached before their current five-year contract expires on July 31. It would be the second-largest work stoppage at a single employer in U.S. history, trailing only a 1970 strike of 400,000 General Motors workers.
"The Teamsters-UPS contract is the largest private collective bargaining agreement in North America, and given the recent increase in attacks on employees' collective bargaining rights, it is critical that these rights are in no way undermined in the current contract negotiations between Teamsters and UPS," wrote the 200 members of Congress. "Furthermore, we support the principles of fair wages, safe working conditions, affordable healthcare, and dignified retirement."
"UPS Teamsters play an essential role every day in delivering critical products across the country and keeping the American economy afloat," the lawmakers continued. "In addition to continuing to work throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, these workers moved a record amount of goods during this period to keep American families safe, healthy, and fed."
"We are hopeful that both sides can negotiate in good faith and reach a consensus agreement that addresses basic human needs and allows workers to do their jobs safely and with dignity," they added. "However, in the event a fair and equitable collective bargaining agreement cannot be reached, we commit to respect our constituents' statutory and constitutional rights to withhold their labor and initiate and participate in a strike."
The letter notes that "Congress has not previously intervened in recent history to implement a collective bargaining agreement between workers and their employer under the National Labor Relations Act, and we commit to not intervening in the collective bargaining process between Teamsters and UPS."
Because the signatories constitute a minority of Congress, the letter amounts to a symbolic gesture of solidarity. While the Teamsters welcomed it, the risk remains that federal lawmakers could impose a contract against the will of UPS workers.
If Congress stays out of the way and a strike occurs, President Joe Biden could invoke emergency provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act to end a UPS work stoppage, as former President Jimmy Carter did to break a coal miners' strike in 1978 and former President Ronald Reagan did to force striking air traffic controllers back to work in 1981.
On Sunday, during a UPS Teamsters members update webinar, O'Brien made clear that he has asked the White House on multiple occasions to stay away.
"My neighborhood where I grew up in Boston, if two people had a disagreement and you had nothing to do with it, you just kept walking," said O'Brien. "We don't need anybody getting involved in this fight."
In early December, Biden—the self-proclaimed "most pro-union president" in U.S. history—joined Congress to thwart a pending railroad worker strike using the Railway Labor Act, which covers the rail and airline industries but isn't applicable to UPS workers.
It remains unclear whether a UPS strike will happen. Negotiations have been at a standstill for weeks, with the Teamsters holding practice pickets around the country and the company, which raked in more than $100 billion in 2022, training scabs.
The practice rallies appear to have had an impact, as UPS contacted the Teamsters on Wednesday to restart contract talks.
"UPS bowed today to the overwhelming show of Teamster unity and reached out to the union to resume negotiations," the union announced. "The Teamsters National Negotiating Committee and the company will set dates soon to resume negotiations next week."
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Ocasio-Cortez Rallies With Teamsters and Rips UPS Greed as Historic Strike Looms
"Let's remind them who's actually the boss in this, and that's the workers."
Jul 16, 2023
With hundreds of thousands of UPS workers preparing to strike as soon as August 1, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined other New York lawmakers at a rally with members of the Teamsters union on Saturday to push the ultra-profitable shipping giant to agree to a just contract.
"This is about making sure that we not just demand better wages, equal wages for our part-timers, making sure that we're getting the dignified conditions, A/C in trucks. But this is also about demanding respect," Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said during the rally at Teamsters Local 282 union hall in New Hyde Park.
"This shouldn't even be a fight," Ocasio-Cortez added, noting that UPS raked in record profits last year and could easily afford to meet the union's demands.
UPS CEO Carol Tomé, a donor to anti-union Republicans, took home close to $19 million in total compensation in 2022.
"Let's remind them who's actually the boss in this, and that's the workers," said Ocasio-Cortez.
Saturday's rally came days after negotiations between UPS management and Teamsters leaders fell apart for the second time in recent weeks, with the Teamsters accusing the company of presenting an "unacceptable offer" that "did not address members' needs."
UPS has since announced that it will be training nonunion delivery drivers in preparation for a strike. If the work stoppage moves forward, it would mark the largest single-employer strike in U.S. history.
Last month, 97% of UPS workers represented by the Teamsters voted to authorize a strike if there's no acceptable deal with management by July 31, when the current contract expires.
If the working class doesn’t stand up for itself, no one else will.
UPS has made record profits during the pandemic. That’s because of UPS workers, who are prepared to strike Aug 1st without a fair contract.
This morning we rallied in support w/ @TeamsterSOB & @UAW Shawn Fein💪🏽 pic.twitter.com/U11ZqTxcZ3
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 15, 2023
The Teamsters have won significant tentative victories in recent negotiations, including an agreement from UPS to add in-cab air conditioning systems to newly purchased delivery vehicles and end the two-tiered wage system under which part-time workers earn significantly less per hour than full-time employees.
But the union said earlier this month that the company's contract offers haven't gone far enough to justly compensate employees, a message that Teamsters leaders echoed during Saturday's rally.
"Our members bust their ass every day for this greedy company, keeping supply chains moving and generating historic, multibillion-dollar profits for UPS," said Teamsters Local 804 President Vinnie Perrone. "Those record profits are unpaid wages. UPS Teamsters are done with the company's disrespect."
Sean O'Brien, general president of the Teamsters, said Saturday that the union "will take on this corporate bully for as long as it takes to get what we've earned."
"UPS has a choice," said O'Brien. "They can respect and do right by working people, they can pay the wages that part-time and full-time workers deserve, and they can agree to terms on a strong new contract. Or UPS can wait until August 1 and regret turning its back on the hardworking people who make it a success. We are not backing down."
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