{"id":11131,"date":"2023-09-15T00:08:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-15T04:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tempestmag.org\/v01_2020\/staging\/?p=11131"},"modified":"2023-09-29T23:44:47","modified_gmt":"2023-09-30T03:44:47","slug":"what-happened-to-the-left-in-the-u-s-labor-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/2023\/09\/what-happened-to-the-left-in-the-u-s-labor-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"What happened to the Left in the U.S. labor movement?"},"content":{"rendered":"

T<\/span>The recent contract settlement between the Teamsters and UPS continues to spark debate and reflections on the Left. Sam Gindin’s critique<\/a> published in Jacobin<\/em> was met with a response<\/a> from\u00a0 Barry Eidlin. Gindin responded<\/a> to Eidlin in The Bullet<\/em>. In this article, Tempest\u2019s Joe Allen<\/strong> surveys Gindin’s critique and what it means for Teamster activists.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Many people in the U.S. Left feel disoriented following the end of the UPS contract campaign. For the several hundred members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), other socialist organizations, and independent radicals in the Teamsters, the sudden announcement of a Tentative Agreement<\/a> (TA) between the Teamsters and UPS on July 25 caught many off guard. They expected to be part of the biggest strike<\/a> in modern U.S. history. The foregoing two weeks of \u201cpractice picketing\u201d<\/a> across the country had generated the strong impression that a strike was imminent. Instead, it all ended with a whimper, not a bang.<\/p>\n

The TA was hailed as a historic victory and a game-changer<\/a> by the Teamsters. The Teamsters and UPS<\/a> emphasized that it provided some of the largest pay increases in decades for full-time and part-time workers. For many UPS Teamsters, the 1997 strike<\/a> is a dim memory at best; their experience has largely been that of a weak and moribund union for the past two decades. For the first time in their working lives, the union came alive. This was especially important emerging from the worst years of the pandemic that proved to be a bonanza<\/a> for UPS. It cracked $100 billion in revenue and a clear profit of $13 billion<\/a> in 2022 alone.<\/p>\n

However, some UPS Teamsters dissented and saw major shortcomings in the TA, including a missed opportunity for further gains in part-timer pay, air conditioning, and excessive<\/a> overtime. Calls for a no vote by Teamsters Mobilize, a small network of part-timer activists, and a handful of package car union stewards, failed to win over the overwhelming 86.3 percent of UPS Teamsters who voted to ratify the contract.Voting turnout by UPS Teamsters also climbed to 58 percent from 44 percent in 2018<\/a>.Voting turnout by UPS Teamsters also climbed to 58 percent from 44 percent in 2018<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Teamster officialdom led by General President Sean O\u2019Brien appears to have recouped some lost credibility in the eyes of the UPS membership. At the same time, how this new historic contract will actually change the daily work life of UPS Teamsters remains to be seen. The shocking death, a day after the ratification vote, of Chris Begley, a fifty-seven-year-old UPS package car driver in Texas served as a reality check on how dangerous it is to work at UPS. According<\/a> to a local news source:<\/p>\n

Begley was delivering a package to a business in Farmersville on Aug. 23 \u2013 a day when the highest temperature reached 101 degrees. Heat index values were up to 108 degrees, and a heat advisory was in place.<\/p>\n

Begley collapsed to the floor in the Farmersville business and was attended to by those who worked there. He said a UPS supervisor drove to his location in his personal vehicle, left the company truck at the site, and took Begley home. The 57-year-old was later hospitalized and died four days later.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There is literally nothing in the new UPS contract that would have saved his life.<\/p>\n

For the U.S. Left, an honest accounting of what took place and why is necessary for the future of not only our political work in the Teamsters but also the broader working-class movement. Labor Notes and TDU quickly rallied to endorse the contract settlement with some qualifications. In the past, they would have either critically examined or, in the case of TDU, even campaigned against it because of its severe shortcomings.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to find anyone associated with labor reform politics who has raised any concerns about the UPS contract settlement. Most have publicly embraced it, and the UPS contract campaign appears to be something of a model for the UAW\u2019s current contract campaign against the Big Three automakers. One person who has raised broad-ranging questions is Sam Gindin, and his questions deserve answers.<\/p>\n