UPS workers protest firing of Teamsters steward

Chicago, IL – UPS workers represented by Teamsters Local 705 are fired up after Anthony Taylor, a union steward, was terminated this week without just cause. More than 40 drivers and loaders gathered in front of the building entrance at 1400 S Jefferson Street before their shift began on the morning of June 23. 

The context for the firing and the rally is the beginning of negotiations in August for the contract which expires July 31, 2023. After being sold out by the Hoffa leadership in 2018, followed by a victory with the election of a new Teamsters leadership, members are bent on making gains.

After his fellow steward was terminated, Steward Sean Orr spoke out against the company’s forced excessive overtime, ignoring workers’ contractual rights to reduce overtime, as well as more senior drivers being denied the routes they choose. Thursday’s early morning meeting was the first of what will be weekly meetings for the next 57 weeks leading up to their contract expiration in August 2023. 

Teamsters 705 has filed grievances over the termination of their steward, and unfair labor practice (ULP) charges are likely. 

Several members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73 joined today’s meeting in solidarity with the UPS workers. Local 705 members were instrumental in victory for the Local 73 strike at the University of Illinois Chicago in 2020 when UPS drivers honored the Local 73 picket lines and refused to delivery packages to the UIC campus buildings.