Last year, two unions representing workers at three large automakers and UPS negotiated new labor contracts that included big raises and other benefits. Union leaders United Automobile Workers and the Teamsters hoped the victory would help organize workers across the industry.
The UAW won one vote to unionize at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee last month and lost one vote at two Mercedes-Benz plants in Alabama this month. The Teamsters have made much less progress on Amazon and FedEx, UPS's larger non-union competitors in the delivery business.
Public opinion polls show that public support for unions is at its highest level in decades. But labor experts say structural factors will make it difficult for labor groups to grow their membership. This is the lowest percentage of the total labor force in decades. Unions also face fierce opposition from many employers and conservative political leaders.
The Teamsters provide an informative case study. Many of the workers who make deliveries for Amazon and FedEx work for contractors, typically small businesses that are difficult to organize. And delivery workers employed directly by FedEx in its Express business are required by labor law to organize all similar workers in the company at once nationwide. These are more stringent standards than those applied to employee organizations at automakers, UPS, and other employers. .
Some labor experts also said the Teamsters did not push as hard as the UAW to organize non-union workers after signing a new contract with UPS.
“There wasn’t the kind of energy I saw from UAW leaders,” said Jake Rosenfeld, a sociologist who studies labor at Washington University in St. Louis.
Teamsters officials said the UPS contract, which raises the average annual compensation of UPS drivers, including benefits, from $145,000 to $170,000, has helped win over members. In the case of DHL, a delivery company where the union has had a large presence for a long time, the number of union members increased by 1,100 last year and the company is seeking to increase the number of union members by an additional 1,500. The Teamsters are also filing legal action against Amazon in a bid to gain ground on the company and its contractors.
“It’s been very helpful for us to mobilize,” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said in an interview, referring to the UPS contract. “We set the industry standard.”
But the union also suffered losses. Yellow, a trucking company that employed 24,000 Teamsters, closed last year and filed for bankruptcy protection.
Amazon and FedEx said they were confident in their approach to worker management and compensation. Amazon said it has made investments to strengthen pay and benefits for its delivery contractors. FedEx said its non-union model allowed it to raise wages quickly, while UPS's unionized employees were locked into five-year contract terms.
“Our culture, built and tested for more than 50 years, is based on the philosophy that if we take care of our employees, they will deliver exceptional service to our customers, which will drive our company’s business performance,” said Tracy Brightman, FedEx Chief Executive Officer. said: the officer said in her statement.
About 310,000 UPS employees belong to the Teamsters. Many of them see FedEx and Amazon drivers on their routes and talk about salaries, benefits and working conditions.
“We make a lot more money than anyone else in the industry,” said Essence Carlisle, who works part-time as a package handler at a UPS hub in Louisville, Kentucky. “I’m definitely considering making a career here.”
The deal with UPS boosted wages for part-time workers, more than half of the company's unionized workers, by 26%, to at least $21 an hour. Mr. Carlisle said he earns about $24 an hour and works about 20 hours a week, giving him time to run the bakery as a side job. She said friends who work as drivers for Amazon make about $19 an hour.
UPS' wage increases were large, but they didn't increase wages much more than inflation. Immediately following this transaction, the highest wage was $44.25 per hour, 22% higher than five years ago. During the same period, consumer prices rose 21%.
And UPS typically hires new union members part-time and stays with them for several years. As a result, some people may be reluctant to work for the company.
Nonetheless, last year's Teamsters contract was widely discussed online and spawned memes of UPS drivers arriving at customers' doors wearing designer clothing.
“Whether it was a joke or not, everyone was saying, ‘Hey, you need a job at UPS,’” said Juan Martinez, a UPS driver in Southern California.
Under the new contract, Mr. Martinez said he expects to earn between $110,000 and $120,000 a year, depending on the amount of overtime he receives. He said his income allowed him to spend more money on his children's education.
Under the Teamsters' contract with UPS, the maximum hourly wage will increase to $49 by the end of the five-year contract. Amazon announced in January that the average wage for delivery workers in the U.S. was $20.50. FedEx declined to provide average wages for its delivery workers.
Despite high wages at UPS over the years, the Teamsters haven't made much inroads at FedEx or Amazon.
The high turnover rates of Amazon and FedEx's delivery and warehouse employees (each part-time position is filled and terminated an average of twice last year) make organizing difficult.
Another challenge is that Amazon's delivery workers and drivers who deliver to FedEx Ground are hired by contractors. Rosenfeld, the labor scholar, said organizing dozens of workers at each contractor can be time-consuming and expensive.
Last year, 84 employees from Amazon contractors near Los Angeles joined the Teamsters. But a few days ago, Amazon said it had terminated its contract with operator Battle-Tested Strategies for failing to follow proper safety procedures.
The Teamsters have asked the National Labor Relations Board to rule that Amazon is the workers' joint employer and order the company to reinstate the contract. The board has not yet made a decision.
A favorable ruling would be a “massive deal” and “an inspiration to thousands of other workers across the country,” Teamsters official Randy Korgan said.
Johnathon Ervin, owner of Battle-Tested Strategies, said he believed Amazon terminated the contract due to unionization efforts, which led to job losses for all employees. Amazon spokeswoman Mary Kate Paradis disputed this.
Ervin said the minimum wage for workers under the Amazon contract is $19.75. “If you’re going to tell people to do this as a career, you have to provide better working conditions and pay drivers more,” said Ervin, a 26-year Air Force veteran.
Amazon did not directly respond to these criticisms. The company said its contractors, which it calls delivery service partners, have created 279,000 driving jobs over the past five years.
“It is important to us to help DSPs create a good overall work experience. That's why we've invested more than $8 billion in cutting-edge technology, safety features, rates, programs, and services for Amazon DSP and its drivers. Mr. Paradis said in his statement:
Labor groups have made some gains at Amazon, including organizing workers at a Staten Island warehouse. But Amazon is contesting elections there and its union is embroiled in infighting.
There is another potential barrier to unionization at FedEx.
FedEx was founded as an airline, and its Express division employees are subject to railroad labor laws. This law means that unions must organize simultaneously across the country and throughout the company. Union officials said it would be easier to hold individual votes at each company location, as permitted under the National Labor Relations Act, which governs workers at UPS and the automaker.
Nonetheless, some FedEx employees are unionized. FedEx Express's approximately 6,000 pilots are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association. The Teamsters are trying to organize mechanics working on company airplanes.
FedEx said its delivery workers benefited from not joining a union because the company significantly increased wages during the delivery boom of 2021 and 2022. At the time, pay increases for UPS employees were determined by agreements reached before the pandemic. A FedEx spokeswoman said the company spent an additional $1.4 billion on labor costs in fiscal 2022.