United Parcel Service employees in Bozeman are preparing to strike with a practice picket on Sunday. The Teamsters Union representing the workers says the current contract they want to see changed expires at the end of the month.
The practice picket in Bozeman starts at 11 a.m. on Sunday at the Gallatin Labor Temple and will move to 19th avenue near the UPS facility there.
James Burrows, Communication Director for Montana’s AFL-CIO, which represents unions across the state, says the practice picket is to show UPS that workers in Bozeman are serious about a real strike that’s planned for early August.
“One of the main sticking points left is pay for part-time workers. Across the country, about 100,000 UPS workers make less than $20 dollars an hour, many make as little as $16 dollars an hour for very physical work, very repetitive work,” he said.
Burrows says typically part-time UPS workers load and unload the trucks during the night while full-time employees drive the trucks and deliver packages. He says there are 1,300 UPS workers who are part of the Teamsters Union in Montana.
After negotiations halted on July 5, the teamsters union announced on Wednesday that UPS has reached out to resume negotiations.
In a release UPS says “We are prepared to increase our industry-leading pay and benefits, but need to work quickly to finalize a fair deal that provides certainty for our customers, our employees and businesses across the country.”
NPR reports if the strike happens in August it would be the largest strike against a single employer in US history as the union represents 340,000 UPS workers across the U.S. and Canada.
