The Jacksonville Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America wholeheartedly and unequivocally supports the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in their fight for a fair contract with the United Parcel Service (UPS)!
Despite finding ourselves in a time of ebbing union membership across the country, union militancy has reached a once-in-a-generation peak. Workers at Amazon, Starbucks, UPS, and many other multi-billion dollar companies across the country are organizing against the most powerful corporate interests in the world, risking their livelihoods to improve the standing of their fellow workers. Newer unions, such as the Amazon Labor Union and Starbucks Workers United, are full of extremely driven workers looking to accomplish the daunting task of bargaining for their first contracts with companies who have spared no expense in attempting to illegally crush unionization efforts. Established unions such as the Teamsters, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) have seen unprecedented unity among their rank-and-file, with >97% of each of those three unions voting to authorize their strikes. For WGA and SAG-AFTRA, their strikes have already begun.
The current contract that the Teamsters have with UPS expires on July 31st. Once the clock strikes midnight that night, the largest single-employer strike in U.S. history will commence, with over 340,000 striking workers bringing the U.S. supply chain to a screeching halt and making waves worldwide.