This company is having record profits, and they're treating our members like shit.
>> 97% of UPS union workers voted to authorize a strike this summer.
We're talking about nearly 350,000 workers.
>> As of yesterday, that strike seems pretty imminent.
That's according to the Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien
who says leaders of the union have quit negotiating with UPS on a new contract.
Thanks to the bad faith nature of the employer in these negotiations.
Let's go to the Teamsters tweet.
Today, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters walked away from
the national bargaining table and officially demanded UPS exchange its last,
best and final offer no later than June 30th.
The Teamsters had initially given the company a week to propose a better offer.
Now, that is off the table and here's why.
Apparently, during the past week,
UPS returned an appalling counterproposal to the union's financial package,
offering minuscule raises and wage cuts to traditional cost-of-living adjustments.
Now, the union explained in a statement that workers have basically had enough.
And by the way, just a reminder.
Earlier this month, I had an interview with a representative with the union and
they talked about what their concerns are,
what they want changed in this new contract.
They don't like the fact that there's different treatment for newer hires.
It creates a rift between the employees at UPS and there's more.
And the union explained in a statement that executives at UPS,
some of whom get tens of millions of dollars a year, do not care about
the hundreds of thousands of American workers who make this company run.
They don't care about our members's families.
UPS doesn't want to pay up.
Now, UPS is doing well profit-wise and the concern here is the working conditions.
The delivery drivers have to work in incredibly hot conditions with no air
conditioning in their trucks, for instance.
They want to reap the benefits of the profits
that the executives are certainly enjoying here.
Their actions and insults at the bargaining table have proven they are just
another corporation that wants to keep all the money at the top.
Working people who bust their asses every single day do not matter, not to UPS and
I've got more for you in just a moment.
But Cenk, what are your thoughts?
>> Okay, here's my thought.
This Sean O'Brien guy is my new favorite guy.
>> Totally.
Yeah, he should run for president.
>> Maybe.
>> Seriously.
>> Okay, so look, the last 20 years at least, I'm used to heads of unions
being like, yeah, we should mainly do whatever corporations want.
And, is there a corporate Democrat that's gonna pretend to be on our side of them,
not give us anything?
I'm gonna give all my money to him, okay?
So here's a guy who that's old school.
He's like, you wanna fight?
Let's brawl, mother, right?
I'm like, yes, finally.
Where have you been hiding?
This is what the head of the Teamster should look like, right?
>> Absolutely.
>> And this is the same guy,
if you remember that got in a fight with the Oklahoma senator.
>> Markwayne Mullin.
>> Yeah, Mark Wayne Grove Mullin and they were gonna go do a cage match or
something.
And O'Brien is like, I'm your huckleberry, okay?
And I wouldn't be surprised if he brings three Teamsters in there with him and
go, are we being unfair?
So yeah, this is how you get power by using power, by using your leverage.
Guys, look, mainstream media and mainstream Democrats
have tried to make you forget how politics actually works.
Sometimes you do carrots, sometimes you do sticks and
sometimes you play hardball and this is what hardball looks like.
So you deliver for your own, okay?
In this case, he's representing all these Teamsters,
all these workers who work their asses off and deserve better wages and benefits.
That's how you do it.
>> Absolutely and just to give you a sense of how well UPS is doing,
they're not struggling.
UPS spent $8.4 billion in stock buybacks this year, yet
not a penny has went to provide better wages, benefits or
working conditions for their drivers.
UPS has 40 days left to reach a deal with Teamsters before these workers strike.
And I do wanna also give you Senator Nina Turner's wonderful tweet here, because I
agree with her completely and this is exactly what I think should happen.
Instead of a Teamster strike, what if just hear me out,
UPS decided to meet their workers's demands?
>> Yeah, look, guys, I don't think stock buybacks are always the wrong thing.
It might depend on the context, but
$8.4 billion that you just gave back to your shareholders saying
the company doesn't need it, we don't need to invest in anything.
We make so much profit that we could just reuse our profit, etc.
I'm just gonna give you all this money back.
Okay, well, that's their right.
But then you don't get to turn around and say, I got no money.
I can't possibly pay my workers.
I mean, golly, gee, where would I get the money from?
I don't know, how about the $8.4 billion you just give away, right?
And so let alone the enormous profits you make every year,
these companies pretending they don't have the money.
It's one thing when it's a small company, a mid-sized company,
a company that isn't public, so we're not sure about their finances.
You're a public company, we know exactly what your finances are.
So of course, you have the money.
You're just choosing not to share it.
That's when workers use their leverage to make them share it.
That's how it works.
>> Exactly.