Hello and welcome to Jacobin Radio. I'm your guest host, Barry Eidlin, filling in today

for your regular host, Susie Wiseman, who will be back soon. Today we're talking about

what is shaping up to be one of the most important labor negotiations in U.S. history,

which might culminate in one of the largest strikes in U.S. history. I'm talking about

the contract involving more than 340,000 workers at UPS, or United Parcel Service, who are

members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters for IBT. Their contract expires on July

31, and Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien has vowed that UPS Teamsters will walk out

on August 1 if there is no deal by them. UPS Teamsters are fighting to address issues that

affect all kinds of workers far beyond UPS, eroding pay, two-tier wages, contingent work, forced

overtime and unpredictable scheduling, management harassment and surveillance, and health and

safety particularly around extreme weather, just to name a few.

Parks broke down on July 5, and Teamsters have been turning up the heat around the country

with practice picket lines and mass rallies. We'll get the latest on what's going on

at UPS, from three UPS Teamsters who have been directly involved in mobilizing around

the contract and preparing for a strike. They will also give us some context about what

has led to this historic contract fight, and the key role that rank and file Teamster

Reformers have played in all of it. All of that and more when our program returns in

just a moment.

Hello again, and welcome back to Jacobin Radio. I'm your guest host, Barry Idlin, filling

in this week for Suzy Weisman. This is my first time guest hosting the show, so I should

tell you a bit about who I am. I'm an associate professor of sociology at McGill University

in Montreal, Quebec. My research focuses on labor, class, politics, and social change. I

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