Punching In: Summer Heat Is a Test of Trump-Era Union Power

Monday morning musings for workplace watchers

Teamsters Try to Flex Might| EEOC’s Demo Data Conundrum

Rebecca Rainey: The Teamsters union is putting the heat on United Parcel Service over landmark protections secured in its 2023 contract with the company.

The union has given UPS until Tuesday to explain when the company will rollout the 28,000 air conditioned vans and cars and the placement of 22,500 full-time jobs, both negotiated in the union contract agreement that covers nearly 340,000 UPS workers.

“We are halfway into our union’s national contract and the Teamsters are gravely concerned that UPS is not living up to its end of the deal,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “In so many ways — from the painfully slow delivery of air-conditioned vehicles to overworking our rank-and-file and failing to provide up-to-date information on new job opportunities — UPS has a lot of catching up to do to honor this agreement.”

According to the union’s estimates, UPS has so far delivered only 10% of the vehicles agreed to in the contract.

UPS said that it’s “in regular contact with the Teamsters” and remains committed to the 2023 agreements, in response to PI’s request for comment on the letter.

While information requests are a common mechanism used by unions to enforce their contract agreements, the public nature of the Teamsters’ inquiry may hold significantly more weight, given O’Brien’s ties to the Trump administration. It’s also a major test for O’Brien, labor observers say, to show that he can hold corporate giants to account as his union attempts to organize monoliths like Amazon.

“Sean O’Brien is a first term president of the Teamsters. His biggest success, which happened not long after he was elected, was using the threat of a nationwide strike to get UPS to agree to some things that UPS may not have otherwise wanted to agree to,” said Seth Harris, a former senior labor adviser to President Joe Biden.

“In order to show that he’s a real worker advocate, worker leader, even though he is friendly to Trump, he has to deliver for his members with UPS,” Harris added.

The request also lands as the Labor Department is considering whether to continue a heat-stress workplace safety standard that would require most employers to take steps to protect workers from heat, an effort that started under the previous administration.

Javier Ramirez of Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations said the request speaks to the types of policy issues unions are throwing their resources behind in the current political climate.

“It’s showing that there is a priority here for the Teamsters for worker safety,” said Ramirez, who is executive manager of ILR’s National Conflict Resolution Service. “And we’re seeing that around the entire country, where unions are taking workplace safety as a priority. It’s not just strictly wages and hours, especially with the climate risks that we’re seeing in the South, this is not a secondary issue for the Teamsters.”

President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Sean O’Brien (R) attends the confirmation hearing for Lori Chavez-DeRemer (L) to be Labor Secretary.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Rebecca Klar: The Trump administration’s move to limit how federal agencies use or disseminate demographic information is muddying the pipeline of that data and their required submission of equal employment opportunity plans to the EEOC.

The Office of Personnel Management’s May 29 memo said agencies should not use statistics on demographics such as race, sex, or the “broader concept of ‘underrepresentation’ of certain groups” in hiring or recruitment decisions. It also called for agencies to not disseminate information about the composition of their workforces based on demographic information.

But the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s MD715 requires agencies to submit data on their workforces by race, ethnicity, and sex, as well as EEO programs that, in part, show a proactive prevention of discrimination.

An EEOC spokesperson said in a statement, “while agencies are still required to report data to the EEOC pursuant to EEOC’s current regulations and guidance, agencies should follow the requirements of OPM’s memo and not publicly or internally disseminate workforce composition demographics.”

The spokesperson added that, “this is consistent with EEOC guidance.”

While the OPM memo doesn’t say agencies can’t send that information to the EEOC, it is “giving the impression that one should be very careful about what one does in terms of fixing disparities” and may lead agencies to be “chilled from being as creative and proactive” as they’ve been before, said Chai Feldblum, a former Democratic EEOC commissioner.

“It is putting the agencies into a tough position,” she added.

Agencies initially had until March 28 to submit their reports, however the EEOC allows agencies to request an extension until May 30. Agencies are able to continue to submit and certify their reports through Aug. 22, but those reports will be considered “untimely submission.”

David Cohen, founder and president of DCI Consulting, said he expects the EEOC under the Trump administration to move away from the requirements.

“Once there’s a quorum at EEOC, MD715 is dead,” he said.

The EEOC can’t move on most policy changes at the moment since President Donald Trump fired two Democratic commissioners in January, leaving the agency without a three-member quorum to vote.

We’re punching out. Daily Labor Report subscribers please check in for updates during the week, and feel free to reach out to us.