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All Things Considered
Tom Crann and Ngoc Bui

'It's going to be life-changing': UPS workers win air-conditioned trucks in new contract

Drivers are becoming involved in theft prevention.
UPS driver Demone Eady leaves his truck while delivering packages in the Highland Park neighborhood in St. Paul.
Tom Baker for MPR News | 2016

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UPS workers will soon vote on a new five-year contract reached this week between their union and the company — averting what could have been one of the biggest strikes in U.S. history.

Among the agreements: air conditioning for those iconic brown trucks.

Scott Wilkie of Teamsters Local 638 drove for UPS for 13 years and said the deal will be “life-changing”.

He recalled working conditions getting “unbearable” during high temperatures, with that backs of trucks reaching up to 140 degrees and some drivers being sent to the hospital. Wilkie said conditions are particularly tough for drivers in rural areas who get little reprieve indoors during their 13-hour shifts.

The deal comes during a week when temperatures hit well into the nineties across Minnesota, and as the southern United States endures an unrelenting heatwave that’s prompted calls from labor rights groups and lawmakers, including Rep. Ilhan Omar, for new federal worker protections from extreme heat. President Joe Biden announced new steps to protect workers Thursday.

Other contract wins include pay raises for full-and part-time workers and the designation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday

While the contract does still need to be ratified, Wilkie said he expects it to pass. “This contract is absolutely incredible,” he said. “We got what we deserved.”

To hear the full conversation with Wilkie on the new UPS contract, click play on the audio player above.