UPS Rank-and-File Focus: Christina Phoenix
UPS Teamsters regularly face the impossible choice between supporting their families and actually being with their families. Too often, excessive overtime and forced 6th punch keep UPSers like Christina away from their families, missing important life events so that UPS can squeeze more revenue out of its workforce. Christina, a package driver and member of Teamsters Local 533 in Reno, Nevada, explains why Teamsters are fighting so hard in negotiations for stronger 9.5 rights and protections against the grueling hours that hurt workers' bodies and workers' families.
"Forced overtime affects our relationships with our families, and it affects our health," Christina says. "You need time to rest, to take care of your house and your children and your spouse. When you are working six days a week, 12 to 14 hours a day, you're just exhausted. The one day you get off you're just exhausted. It's hurting people."