UPS Drivers Meet in Ventura, Discuss Impasse

A group of frustrated UPS drivers who said they are tired of striking and want to return to work gathered Thursday morning at the union’s Ventura office to discuss their role in halting the impasse.

The problem, they said, is they have no role.

In a vote taken about two weeks before the strike began, drivers passed a strike authorization giving the Teamsters exclusive permission to control negotiations with UPS.

“It sounded good, but what a lot of people didn’t realize was that it was a power-of-attorney vote,” one driver said.

Members of the group asked to withhold their names because a co-worker said she received threatening phone calls after speaking out against the Teamsters.

At the time of the strike authorization vote, the group of about 15 full-time UPS employees said they trusted the Teamsters to support their best interests.

But now that the strike has entered its 12th day with little progress toward a resolution, many drivers are beginning to regret their action.

They are worried about supporting their families and maintaining the loyalty of their customers. And they are angry that their only options are picket or wait.

“It’s obvious to the whole world that they’re just hitting heads,” said a driver from Goleta. “They should let us go back to work while they hammer it out.”

Still, the drivers said they support the union in general.

“We love our employer and we certainly respect our union, but right now we’re [upset with] both of them,” the Goleta driver said. “If they’re really out there to take care of us, they’re not doing their job.”

Aside from their disapproval of both groups’ unwillingness to back down, union members said the Teamsters have not been keeping them informed.

“We want to be able to see the fine print we’re not seeing from the union,” one group member said. “We want to hear the union’s side.”

The drivers said the lack of information has made them feel helpless. They said one of their customers was in tears because her businesses could not run without the delivery service.

But strikers on the picket lines in Ventura on Thursday argued that supporting the union’s position at all costs is the only way to improve conditions for part-time employees.

“We all want to get back to work,” said Gary Powell, who has been a UPS driver for 20 years. “But the bottom line is whatever [Teamsters President] Ron Carey says, that’s what we’re going to do.”

The union pays strikers $55 a week if they spend a minimum of 24 hours picketing. But many drivers, including Powell, have been picketing around the clock.

He said drivers belong on the picket line to show their support for the Teamsters, and that the lack of communication between union leaders and drivers does not concern him.

“Instead of management coming to the employees, they need to stay at the negotiating tables,” he said. “They’re wasting their time and money doing stuff that isn’t going to resolve any issue.”