During the presentation of its first-quarter results for 2025, Ups revealed plans to reduce its workforce by 20,000 by the end of the year. The announcement drew an immediate and forceful reaction from the Teamsters union, which represents around 300,000 of the courier’s employees. Union president Sean O’Brien pointed out that the current national agreement requires Ups to create 30,000 jobs. He stated that while the union would not oppose reductions in corporate management, any attempt by the company to cut unionised roles or violate the contract would will be “in for a hell of a fight”.
The union hinted that, should the cuts affect workers protected by the collective agreement, Teamsters could resort to legal action or other forms of industrial mobilisation to defend jobs and uphold contractual obligations. The five-year deal currently in force, the outcome of a tough negotiation in 2023, stipulates the creation of 30,000 unionised positions, 7,500 of which must be full-time. The issue of redundancies comes against a backdrop of significant Ups investment in automation and the restructuring of its logistics network — changes that, according to the union, must be managed with adequate training and protections for affected staff.
Ups has justified the cuts by citing the need to boost efficiency through automation and the closure of dozens of branches, along with a decrease in shipping volumes caused by the company’s gradual withdrawal from business operations with Amazon. These structural changes, the company argued, are necessary to maintain competitiveness in a volatile market, further strained by trade tensions and import tariffs on goods from China.
