The U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate each sent a letter to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and UPS this week.
The Teamsters have threatened to strike Aug. 1 if it can't reach an agreement with the shipper. The UPS-Teamsters contract is the largest private collective bargaining agreement in North America, Sen. Bernie Sanders' office said. It covers nearly 350,000 workers.
UPS moves 5.2 billion parcels per year in the U.S.
“A UPS strike is certainly less significant than a rail strike – which would have been economically catastrophic – but will nonetheless be highly disruptive,” Michigan State University professor Jason Miller says. “Key sectors affected will be auto dealers needing spare parts (many of these come from warehouses where parcel carriers handle the transportation), wholesalers of commercial and professional equipment, wholesalers of electrical products and especially electronic components, spare parts for machinery, and wholesaling of apparel.”
UPS announced Wednesday that it will return to negotiations next week.
"We are pleased to be back at the negotiating table next week to resolve the few remaining open issues," UPS says in a statement. "We are prepared to increase our industry-leading pay and benefits, but need to work quickly to finalize a fair deal that provides certainty for our customers, our employees and businesses across the country."
Senators who signed the July 19 letter say it is critical that workers' rights remain intact.
"We are hopeful that both sides can negotiate in good faith and reach a consensus agreement that addresses basic needs and allows workers to do their jobs safely and with dignity," the senators write. "However, in the event a fair and equitable collective bargaining agreement cannot be reached, we commit to respect our constituents' statutory and constitutional rights to withhold their labor and initiate and participate in a strike."
The House signatories said they also supported the principles of fair wages, safe working conditions, affordable health care and dignified retirement of union employees in their districts.
"We understand that Congress has not previously intervened in recent history to implement a collective bargaining agreement between workers and their employer under the National Labor Relations Act, and we commit to not intervening in the collective bargaining process between Teamsters and UPS," the letter reads.
Signers of the letter from the Senate are:
- Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vermont.
- Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.
- Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Massachusetts.
- Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania.
- Sen. Cory A. Booker, D-New Jersey.
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts.
- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island.
- Sen. Gary C. Peters, D-Michigan.
- Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York.
- Sen. Jack Reed. D-Rhode Island.
- Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Marlyand.
- Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin.
- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon.
- Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey.
- Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois.
- Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut.
- Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan.
- Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D. Maryland.
- Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr., D-Pennsylvania.
- Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Illinois.
- Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, D-Connecticut.
- Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minnesota.
- Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii.
- Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont.
- Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California.
- Sen. Jeffrey A. Merkley, D-Oregon.
- Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada.
- Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nevada.
Signers of the U.S. House letter are:
- Rep. Donald Norcross, D-New Jersey.
- Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisconsin.
- Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Michigan.
- Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nevada.
- Rep. Daniel T. Kildee, D-Michigan.
- Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Oregon.
- Rep. Sharice L. Davids, D-Kansas.
- Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-District of Columbia.
- Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Illinois.
- Rep. Katie Porter, D-California.
- Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Delaware.
- Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas.
- Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minnesota.
- Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Michigan.
- Rep. Robin L. Kelly, D-Illinois.
- Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-Rhode Island.
- Rep. Andy Kim, D-New Jersey.
- Rep. Linda T. Sanchez, D-California.
- Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pennsylvania.
- Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-New York.
- Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-California.
- Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pennsylvania.
- Rep. Emilia Strong Sykes, D-Ohio.
- Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Marlyand.
- Rep. Adam Smith, D-Washington.
- Rep. Valerie P. Foushee, D-North Carolina.
- Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, D-Florida.
- Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio.
- Rep. Kathy Manning, D-North Carolina.
- Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas.
- Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-New Mexico.
- Rep. Eric Sorensen, D-Illinois.
- Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Florida.
- Rep. Christopher H. Smith, R-New Jersey.
- Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Kentucky.
- Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota.
- Rep. Jesus G. "Chuy" Garcia, D-Illinois.
- Rep. Brendan F. Boyle, D-Pennsylvania.
- Rep. Jennifer L. McClellan, D-Virginia.
- Rep. Wiley Nickel, D-North Carolina.
- Rep. Sean Casten, D-Illinois.
- Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Massachusetts.
- Rep. Robert Garcia, D-California.
- Rep. Patrick Ryan, D-New York.
- Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pennsylvania.
- Rep. Brian K. Fitzpatrick, R-Pennsylvania.
- Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragan, D-California.
- Rep. Grace F. Napolitano, D-California.
- Rep. David J. Trone, D-Maryland.
- Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine.
- Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas.
- Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-New Jersey.
- Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-California.
- Rep. John Garamendi, D-California.
- Rep. Juan Vargas, D-California.
- Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, D-Massachusetts.
- Rep. Ro Khanna, D-California.
- Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Connecticut.
- Rep. Scott H. Peters, D-California.
- Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nevada.
- Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Maryland.
- Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Connecticut.
- Rep. Mike Levin, D-California.
- Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Maryland.
- Rep. Henry C. "Hank" Johnson Jr., D-Georgia.
- Rep. Haley M. Stevens, D-Michigan.
- Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Illinois.
- Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-California.
- Rep. Paul D. Tonko, D-New York.
- Rep. Mark Takano, D-California.
- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York.
- Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Oregon.
- Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pennsylvania.
- Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Oregon.
- Rep. Dan Goldman, D-New York.
- Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nevada.
- Rep. Abigail Davis Spanberger, D-Virginia.
- Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona.
- Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Massachusetts.
- Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minnesota.
- Rep. Marc A. Veasey, D-Texas.
- Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Oregon.
- Rep. Joseph D. Morelle, D-New York.
- Rep. Danny K. Davis, D-Illinois.
- Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Massachusetts.
- Rep. Raha Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois
- Rep. Ted W. Lieu, D-California
- Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, D-New York.
- Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez, D-New York.
- Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Michigan.
- Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-New York.
- Rep. James A. Himes, D-Connecticut.
- Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-New York.
- Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-California.
- Rep. Julia Brownley, D-California.
- Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-California.
- Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida.
- Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-New Jersey.
- Rep. Bill Foster, D-Illinois.
- Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Pennsylvania.
- Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Michigan.
- Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-New York.
- Rep. Yadira Caraveo, D-Colorado.
- Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas.
- Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-Virginia.
- Rep. Robert J. Menendez, D. New Jersey.
- Rep. Chris Pappas, D-New Hampshire.
- Rep. Brad Sherman, D-California.
- Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-New Jersey.
- Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Illinois.
- Rep. John P. Sarbanes, D-Maryland.
- Rep. Suzan K. DelBene, D-Washington.
- Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee.
- Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington.
- Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vermont.
- Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas.
- Rep. Shontel M. Brown, D-Ohio.
- Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-New Jersey.
- Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-New York.
- Rep. Grace Meng, D-New York.
- Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-California.
- Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Illinois.
- Rep. Brian Higgins, D-New York.
- Rep. Adam B. Schiff, D-California.
- Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut.
- Rep. Al Green, D-Texas.
- Rep. Donald M. Payne Jr., D-New Jersey.
- Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Georgia.
- Rep. Marcus J. Molinaro, R-New York.
- Rep. Hillary J. Scholten, D-Michigan.
- Rep. Judy Chu, D-California.
- Rep. Andre Carson, D-Indiana.
- Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio.
- Rep. Nick LaLota, R-New York.
- Rep. Frank J. Mrvan, D-Indiana.
- Rep. C.A. Cutch Ruppersberger, D-Maryland.
- Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pennsylvania.
- Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pennsylvania.
- Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Florida.
- Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Washington.
- Rep. Jefferson Van Drew, R-New Jersey.
- Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Massachusetts.
- Rep. Jeff Jackson, D-North Carolina.
- Rep. Barbara Lee, D-California.
- Rep. Frederica S. Wilson, D-Florida.
- Rep. Darren Soto, D-Florida.
- Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, D-Arizona.
- Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon.
- Rep. Bradley Scott Schneider, D-Illinois.
- Rep. Doris Matsui, D-California.
- Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas.
- Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minnesota.
- Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, D-New Hampshire.
- Rep. Mary Sattler Peltola, D-Alaska.
- Rep. Thomas H. Kean Jr., R-New Jersey.
- Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-California.
- Rep. Donald G. Davis, D-North Carolina.
- Rep. Terri A. Sewell, D-Alabama.
- Rep. John B. Larson, D-Connecticut.
- Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Colorado.
- Rep. Jill Tokuda, D-Hawaii.
- Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Massachusetts.
- Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Washington.
- Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas.
- Rep. Jared Huffman, D-California.
- Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-California.
- Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pennsylvania.
- Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, D-New Mexico.
- Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Florida.
- Rep. Cori Bush, D-Missouri.
