UPS workers eye strike action as July contract deadline looms

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Storm clouds are brewing over UPS, with workers threatening their first strike in more than two decades. Not only that, but it would likely be one of the largest in US history. The threat comes as their union looks to cement a new labour contract to replace the one expiring at the end of July. Bloomberg reports that 93% of the company’s package workers and 91% from its freight division authorised a strike as they look to up the tension on negotiations. If talks fail and the strike goes ahead, it would be the first since 1997 when around 180,000 workers walked out after failed negotiations. Since then, the number of Teamsters members at UPS has increased to around 300,000.