Peak season delivery is on hold again? Negotiations between UPS and the union broke down, and the strike crisis is re-emerging!

According to foreign media reports, negotiations between the US express delivery giant UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents 340,000 drivers, broke down in the early hours of Wednesday morning, increasing the possibility of one of the largest strikes in US history. The last time UPS workers went on a large-scale strike was in 1997, when a 15-day stoppage cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars.

Despite the thaw, representatives from UPS and the Teamsters union failed to reach a deal in marathon negotiations on July 4, with each side blaming the other for the breakdown.

International Teamsters said: "At approximately 4 a.m., UPS walked away from the bargaining table after presenting the Teamsters with an offer that was unacceptable and did not meet the needs of the Teamsters. The UPS Teamsters National Bargaining Committee unanimously rejected this offer."

The Teamsters voted in late June to strike if the two sides cannot reach an agreement before the current contract expires on July 31. The union insisted last month that they needed to reach a deal by July 1.

“This $100 billion company has so much to give to American workers — they just won’t,” said Teamsters general president Sean M. O’Brien. “UPS had to make a choice, and they clearly chose the wrong one.

UPS denied the claim and said the union had stopped negotiating despite the company's "historic offer" based on industry-leading compensation. "Refusing to negotiate, especially with the finish line so close, will cause significant unrest among employees and customers and has the potential to disrupt the U.S. economy," the delivery giant wrote in a statement provided to Benzinga.

UPS handles nearly 25% of all U.S. parcels, or about 24 million parcels a day. The $154 billion company accounts for about 6% of the U.S. economy, according to shipping and logistics company Pitney Bowes. The strike will inevitably disrupt supply chains across the country and delay package deliveries for millions of Americans.

The Teamsters have won some improvements in working conditions in negotiations last year, including installing heat shields and fans on trucks, and in negotiations earlier this month, UPS agreed to abolish its two-tiered wage system, recognize Martin Luther King Day as a full-day holiday and end mandatory overtime. But negotiations over wage increases have proven more difficult.

It is worth noting that the confrontation comes at a time when labor relations in the United States are extremely tense, especially in the express delivery industry. Last month, the U.S. Secretary of Labor intervened in an agreement between West Coast port and dock workers to avoid an economic slowdown and port strikes. In December last year, the U.S. Congress also intervened in a strike by freight railroad workers.

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