What Does Climate Change Have to Do With the UPS Union Strike?

 What Does Climate Change Have to Do With the UPS Union Strike?

Barkley Wimpee, a UPS driver from Rome, Ga., now prepares for his daily route with the precision of a combat commander. He fills his cooler with ice and sandwiches, as well as a case of water bottles and a couple of sports drinks. He armours himself with a bandana and some plastic bags: around midday, when the sun is at its zenith, he will wet the bandana in ice water and tie it around his head, Rambo style—despite UPS's severe appearance requirements.

Midafternoon, when the heat of the day blasts out of the rear of his non-air conditioned delivery truck like an oven with the door open, he will take off his shoes, slide his feet into plastic bags, and plunge them into the puddling ice of his cooler for a few moments of relief. On particularly awful days, he will also dunk his head in. He has inspected the restaurants along his route and knows which ones will greet him with a blast of air conditioning and a glass of ice water—by the time he arrives, he will have finished all of his drinks and the contents of his cooler will have turned to tepid soup.

Wimpee isn't the only one. UPS drivers throughout the country are dealing with one of the most visible effects of climate change: longer, more extreme heat waves that make spending long hours in wheeled ovens not just uncomfortable, but also deadly. Wimpee died of heat stroke midway through his route last summer. He spent the night in the hospital, where he was diagnosed with serious heat-related renal damage. Esteban Chavez, 24, died of probable heat stroke while delivering parcels in Pasadena, California, on June 25, 2022, on a day when temperatures reached the high 90s. When the temperature reached 110°F a few weeks later, another UPS driver collapsed on a customer's porch in Arizona. More than 143 UPS employees have been hospitalized due to heat exhaustion.

Working all day in this heat is "physically painful," he says from behind the wheel of his truck on a recent 100°F morning. You don't feel right when your body begins to heat up." As weeks of triple-digit heat suffocate the southern United States from California to Florida, Wimpee, 28, is starting to feel normal. And things are just going to get worse. "There is no doubt that the world is heating up," he continues. "The summers are becoming hotter. Our [job] days are becoming increasingly long. I'm grateful for my employment, but we're in an untenable scenario right now with the growing heat."

Wimpee isn't the only one. UPS drivers throughout the country are dealing with one of the most visible effects of climate change: longer, more extreme heat waves that make spending long hours in wheeled ovens not just uncomfortable, but also deadly. Wimpee died of heat stroke midway through his route last summer. He spent the night in the hospital, where he was diagnosed with serious heat-related renal damage. Esteban Chavez, 24, died of probable heat stroke while carrying parcels in Pasadena, California, on June 25, 2022.Temperatures reached the high 90s. When the temperature reached 110°F a few weeks later, another UPS driver collapsed on a customer's porch in Arizona. According to business documents obtained by the Washington Post from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, more than 143 UPS employees were hospitalized for heat-related ailments between 2015 and 2022. Nonetheless, UPS declined to air-condition its well-known dark brown vehicles. According to corporate representatives, doing so was impractical because drivers were continually jumping in and out of vehicles to make deliveries.

UPS's 340,000 Teamsters union members voted on June 16 to go on strike beginning August 1 unless their requests for better working conditions, like as air-conditioned cars and company-provided ice for coolers at cargo centers, were included in a new five-year contract. While climate change was not officially mentioned in the union demands, the campaign's subtext was UPS's refusal to adapt to the new realities of global warming by providing its employees with heat-adaptation measures.

Prior to contract negotiations breaking down on July 5, with both sides accusing the other of walking away from the table, the company had tentatively agreed to equip all new vehicles in its 94,000-strong fleet with air conditioning systems, new heat shields, and additional fans beginning in 2024. While union members continue to demand more breaks and shorter working days during extreme heat months (shifts can run 10-12 hours, six days a week, depriving drivers of critical recuperation time), Wimpee feels it's a good start. "Hopefully, after these negotiations, UPS will take the heat exposure seriously." And deal with it in a different way." However, if negotiations are not reopened soon, the union would almost certainly conduct one of the largest strikes in US history, putting the country at risk.

Whatever happens with the strike, new cars can't come soon enough, according to Larry McBride, a 46-year-old UPS driver from Phoenix, Ariz., who was hospitalized last summer for heat stroke and serious kidney impairment after delivering packages in 100°F weather. The uninsulated cargo compartment can attain temperatures of up to 150°F after absorbing heat from the sun for a day. Drivers spend the majority of their time in the holds, shifting and choosing items for delivery. "Before you know it, you start feeling disoriented, lightheaded, and like you're going to pass out," he says. "When you step outside, even if it's 115° outside, you'll feel as if you've been blasted with AC because it's so hot back there."

UPS is one of the largest employers in the United States, employing over 500,000 full- and part-time employees. While it was poised to be the first large American corporation to include climate-adaptation terms in its employee contract (until discussions fell down), it won't be the last. Companies will have to provide better working conditions for their employees, either via forethought or force, as the dangers of working outside increase, whether due to heat waves, wildfires, or harsh weather. A 2022 heat wave sparked a union effort among Amazon delivery drivers in Palmdale, California. In its most recent contract with the United Farm Workers, California wine industry behemoth E. & J. Gallo agreed to include hazard pay for grape pickers working in climate change-affected areas.Wildfire conditions were fueled. Meanwhile, in Europe, the International Trade Union Confederation is demanding that heat stress be included in collective bargaining agreements, as well as that unemployment benefits cover lost working hours due to heat stress and flooding.