UPS Rank-and-File Focus: Imad Rodriguez
Teamsters have put in the sweat and the struggle to win significant protections from heat-related injury and death at UPS. It took the threat of a nationwide strike to finally force the company's hand on this urgent issue.
This week's tentative agreement on air conditioning, heat shields, air induction vents, and new fans will transform working conditions at UPS for generations to come. But we still have much more ground to cover and another hot summer ahead of us. When it comes to ice machines, water, and other measures, we must continue to make UPS feel the heat.
"Delivering packages in 114-degree weather makes it really hard to focus and do our jobs because it gets so hot and we get drained so fast," said Imad, a package driver and member of Teamsters Local 396 in Palmdale, CA.