News / Teamsters union vows UPS will be 'in for a hell of a fight' over jobs cull

“UPS will be in for a hell of a fight” said the Teamsters Union yesterday, following the integrator’s announcement of 20,000 job cuts. 

“United Parcel Service is contractually obligated to create 30,000 Teamsters jobs under our current national master agreement,” it said. 

“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.” 

UPS Q1 earnings statement revealed its strategy to handle a 50% reduction in Amazon fulfilment centre outbound volumes by June 2026, CEO Carol Tome saying: “This volume is not profitable for us, nor a healthy fit for our network. The Amazon volume we plan to keep is profitable and it is healthy volume.

“We are executing the largest network reconfiguration in our history. We will optimise the capacity of our network with expected volume levels, as well as increased productivity through additional automation,” she explained. 

“With this reconfiguration, we will also lessen our dependency on labour … Over the last couple of years, we’ve demonstrated our ability to manage hours and labour in line with changes in volume, all while staying within the confines of our labour agreement.” 

The Teamsters may not agree, as the job cuts indicate UPS has some 50,000 fewer jobs than pledged. 

It could get worse: UPS also noted the potential impacts of US tariffs on its business. Ms Tome explained: “Uncertainty surrounding global trade policies and other matters led to a drop in consumer confidence and muted demand from some enterprise and SMB customers.”

However, she added: “Demand for US inbound services surged as customers pulled forward inventory purchases ahead of expected tariff changes.” 

She explained that volume-wise, US imports accounted for less than 2%, but revenue-wise, China to US represented 11% of total international income, while other tradelanes into the US account for 17%. 

“Our China to US tradelanes are our most profitable trade lanes,” she said. 

Ms Tome said customers were looking at various strategies, adding: “In the US, we’ve talked with our top 100 customers to understand how their business is being impacted, both directly and indirectly by changes in trade policy.  

“These customers have told us that they are exploring various options to address the tariff, from absorbing the cost to pushing them into retail prices to asking suppliers to help defray the expense. At this point, it remains an open question as to what path they will choose and what the potential impact could be on consumer demand and our business.”