New Teamsters Leadership
By 
James P. Hoffa retired recently. An era of Teamsters leadership is over. Really two eras considering his father. So where will the Teamsters go? This is an interesting profile of the new Teamsters head, Sean O’Brien. At the very least, he’s claiming a new era of militancy in the still quite powerful union.
O’Brien, a self-described “militant,” is vowing to take a much harsher line with employers than his predecessor did. And that could lead to a strike at the nation’s largest union employer when the Teamsters’ UPS contract expires on July 31 2023.
If that happens, it would be the nation’s largest and most disruptive strike in several decades.
The Teamsters union no longer has a chokehold on the nation’s trucking system, as it did in the 1960s when Hoffa’s father ran it. But it still represents 327,000 employees at UPS, by far the nation’s largest trucking and supply management company.
O’Brien seems to be spoiling for a fight. “You don’t go into any situation wanting a strike,” he told CNN Business this week. “But these employers have to understand we’re not going to be afraid to pull that trigger if necessary.”
He points to UPS’s record profits and the union’s $350 million strike fund in discussing the dynamics of upcoming talks, negotiations that he intends to lead himself, something his predecessors never did.
“UPS has been successful. We’re going to capitalize on that success,” O’Brien said. “People are sick of seeing these corporations making billions in profits and not sharing the wealth.”
Taking on UPS would be a heck of a test for the current state of unions in the United States. And let’s be clear about the potential of Teamsters power:
A strike at UPS would be big enough to take a bite out of the overall US economy. UPS estimates its trucks carry more than 6% of the US gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation’s economic activity. The company also handles 2% of global GDP.
UPS has grown significantly since its last strike, a 16-day walkout in 1997, when the union represented 180,000 employees. It was the largest US work stoppage in 30 years, according to Labor Department statistics.
A UPS strike now would be the largest in decades— and perhaps the largest US strike ever against a single corporation.
To say the least, this is going to be well worth watching and following.