2022 was the 12 months of quiet quitting (which, let’s be actual, was simply individuals taking again work/life stability and not likely “quitting” in any significant sense of the phrase). However in 2023, labor unions are on the rise. Between the writers and actors strikes in Hollywood, a possible United Auto Employees union strike on the horizon, and different strikes across the US, some have dubbed these previous few months “Sizzling Labor Summer season.”
David Mcnew / Getty Pictures
It is not exhausting to see why organized labor is having such a second. Costs on principally every thing have been going up, however for the common individual, wages have not risen accordingly. Plus, low unemployment charges imply that staff have extra leverage on this second to demand higher circumstances and higher pay. And for a lot of staff, this has been a very long time coming.
Considered one of this 12 months’s largest labor tales was the historic contract the Teamsters negotiated for staff at UPS, averting a strike. UPS reportedly stated that this five-year contract will end result within the common driver making about $170k a 12 months, a determine that is led to some on-line chatter from individuals claiming UPS drivers are being overpaid.
Rivernorthphotography / Getty Pictures
However that is not the entire image, and just lately, 33-year-old UPS driver Skyler Stutzman went viral on TikTok for the way in which he defined what this deal really means for drivers. In a video that is been considered over 18 million occasions, Skyler says, “$170,000 a 12 months is a little bit of an exaggeration right here, however let me break it down for you. Now, I do not learn about you, however I really like factual info. So I’ll do my finest to simply be clear concerning the wages that we make.”
Talking earlier than the brand new contract was voted on, Skyler defined, “Underneath present contract, our wage is $41.51 an hour. Now this contract that has been seen over social media, as soon as that contract ratified, which is within the voting course of proper now, we’ll be making $44.26 an hour. Now, should you do some fast math right here, should you had been to take $44.26 an hour occasions 2,080 hours, which is 40 hours per week, that comes out to about $92,000 a 12 months, however that is not together with time beyond regulation, and it is also not the necessary half that we’re lacking right here.”
Skyler continued by explaining how the medical insurance coverage and pension he receives as a driver add as much as this complete. “Now our pension, do not quote me, however it’s roughly someplace between $11 and $13 per hour that is paid into our pension on the 2080 hours, which comes out roughly about $25,000 a 12 months. Now, you’ll be able to determine the medical insurance coverage at no matter you need, however you’ll be able to shortly see that it will really take about $170,000 a 12 months job to interchange this one for me. Now, whereas the media is making it slightly extra profound than it truly is, they’re actually not that far off of how wonderful it’s to work for this firm.”
Principally, the $170k quantity represents complete compensation, which is a vital factor to consider whenever you’re your pay or evaluating salaries. With no robust advantages package deal, you might find yourself in a scenario the place you make extra on paper than you really find yourself holding on to after shelling out for requirements like medical health insurance.
Teera Konakan / Getty Pictures
Watch the entire video right here:
@skylerleestutzman / Through tiktok.com
A lot of the high commenters had been supportive of Skyler’s message and actually appreciated the transparency. One commenter wrote, “Folks, get mad on the firms, hospitals, and companies which are UNDERPAYING, not at an worker who has a residing wage now.”
One other commenter chimed in, “When you’re making much less in one other discipline and upset, do not deliver these staff down, discover out why your discipline is not prepared to give you a livable wage!”
Different commenters referenced the less-publicized indisputable fact that the brand new UPS deal can even make air con in UPS vans a requirement for the primary time after greater than 100 UPS staff have been hospitalized for heat-related sickness in the previous couple of years. (I genuinely cannot consider UPS staff have been driving round within the warmth with out AC within the 12 months 2023).
Some gently roasted UPS drivers, like this one who wrote, “$90k I might anticipate my package deal to be on time and delivered to my door and never the neighbors.”
Some fellow UPS staff additionally identified that the $170k determine would not apply to everybody. One individual wrote, “I am a loader at UPS. I make $19.20 per hour and solely get 4.5 hours a day. There’s a HUGE disparity between drivers and everybody else.”
And others praised the facility of unions and half-jokingly requested slightly little bit of assist. One commenter wrote, “Can the UPS union come assist out instructor unions?”
One other commenter added, “The one purpose why it is wonderful to work for UPS is the union. Which fights towards company executives and towards the shareholders.”
Whereas others rightfully identified that delivering packages is a lot more durable than it seems to be (Most jobs are, TBH). As somebody who frequently misplaced my mood whereas doing a lot lighter meals supply shifts, sure, this positively checks out. Driving all day is tiring and might be harmful at occasions, to not point out the heavy lifting concerned in some UPS deliveries. And to do all that with out air con on this warmth? I would not final an hour.
There have been additionally fairly a number of commenters who favored seeing that Skyler confirmed himself clocking out to make the video, then clocking again in when he was performed. When you’re gonna publish about work on social media, it is a nice strategy to do it.
However some commenters weren’t so joyful to study how a lot UPS drivers make. One commenter wrote, “I am sorry, that is ridiculous. Most RNs [registered nurses] do not make that a lot.” In a video made in response, Skyler stated, “I by no means stated that I ought to make greater than anyone within the medical trade. Now, this could be slightly little bit of an unpopular opinion, however I do not suppose I ought to make much less. I believe they need to make extra.”
@skylerleestutzman / Through tiktok.com
Skyler advised BuzzFeed that he is been working for UPS since 2008, and in one other video he stated, “I’ve really been with the corporate for 15 years now. And to have the ability to say that at such a younger age, I really feel very blessed.”
In an announcement, Teamsters Normal President Sean M. O’Brien stated of the deal, “Teamsters have set a brand new customary and raised the bar for pay, advantages, and dealing circumstances within the package deal supply trade. That is the template for a way staff ought to be paid and guarded nationwide, and nonunion corporations like Amazon higher concentrate.”