Atlanta-based UPS begins string of layoffs following Teamsters contract

February 6th, 2024

A UPS e truck is parked on a street in New York on May 11, 2023.
Richard Drew / Richard Drew

Non-union employees at Atlanta-based UPS are worried about their jobs after the company said it would cut 12,000 positions this year.

After posting revenue losses for 2023, CEO Carol Tomé announced that the company plans to reduce the workforce by 3% to save a billion dollars.

“We have about 85,000 UPS [workers] who are management, and this can be full-time and part-time management. The targeted headcount falls really within that group,” said Tomé.

Last summer, UPS Teamsters agreed to a new five-year contract that secured raises and improved benefits for union workers.

“Some people panicked when they saw the headline about the 12,000. They thought, ‘Oh, is it us?'” said Evette Avery, a union steward who has been delivering packages for the iconic brown truck company since 2004.

UPS has confirmed some employees have already been notified and that this workforce reduction does not include union members.

“Once the contract was ratified, then certain supervisors started getting notifications that they had 30 days to find another job within UPS somewhere else, or they wouldn’t have a job at all,” said Avery.

Also, according to the almost 20-year UPS worker, anybody who’s not covered by the contract is fair game.

In an email to WABE, a spokesperson said, “The company will support all affected employees, including severance packages and outplacement assistance.”