I just want to offer a small addition to Joe’s article. I work as a part timer at the Portland, Oregon Swan Island hub, and I started in August 2021 at $26, and now currently make $23 an hour. For some extra context on the abysmal contractual starting rate and UPS’s desperation to keep PT workers, we kept that wage during peak season all the way through February 2022.
The O’Brien Zuckerman campaign prominently offered a $20 starting wage for the NMA in their leaflets and flyers back in summer 2021. Now, many of us make far more than that and want our higher wages enshrined in our contract. It was pretty painful to take a $3 wage cut in February 2022 while inflationary forces started to squeeze everyone. It would be quite a disappointment to see our wages stay the same (or potentially drop if UPS gets rid of their ‘Market Rate Adjustment’) after the contract is settled.