Drew Dixon
Flanked by local activists and some politicians Monday, leaders of the Teamsters United Local 512 in Jacksonville leveled a list of grievances against the First Coast distribution center for United Parcel Service.
Dave Schneider, UPS delivery driver and elected shop steward of the Jacksonville Teamsters, held a news conference on the steps of City Hall where he blasted working conditions at the shipping company. He said the delivery service has been threatening, intimidating and harassing Jacksonville workers into working 60-hour work weeks and overtime since the outbreak of COVID-19 in March.
“Frankly, we want an end to the abuse for essential workers making critical deliveries during this pandemic,” Schneider said. “UPS package drivers have been forced to work dangerously long overtime hours up to the 60-hour-a-week maximum set by the Department of Transportation.”
Schneider said the conditions are likely present at UPS operations across the country. But he said he’s specifically targeting the UPS distribution center on Pritchard Road in Jacksonville. He said, “We want these eighteenth-century, barbaric working conditions to end.”
That center has been in an ongoing expansion for years and received some tax breaks from the city of Jacksonville.
There are about 2,500 workers at the Jacksonville distribution center where UPS officials have said they would hire another 250 as expansion continues at the Northeast Florida facility in the next five years. It is the third-largest ground hub for the company in the United States.
A UPS spokesperson said in a statement:
“Treating our employees with respect and dignity, and creating and supporting a workplace that is free of harassment, are fundamental values at UPS. We appreciate and value the hard work and commitment of our drivers and other employees, especially during the pandemic. The safety and health of all of our employees is extremely important as we care about each other, our families and the communities where we live and work.
“UPS has put policies and processes in place so our employees can safely meet our service commitments during this challenging time, and it is each employee’s responsibility to follow these protocols and to voice their concerns if their co-workers are not following these protocols. The company provides its employees with multiple ways to ask questions and share their concerns with confidence. If a policy or protocol is not being properly followed, we take swift action to investigate and address the issue.”
In the past few years, the Jacksonville UPS distribution center has received more than $6 million in tax breaks and incentives to expand the facility. Schneider said he held Monday’s press conference outside City Hall with the hope of convincing city leaders to put pressure on UPS to ease up on workers.
Jacksonville City Council Member Garrett Dennis said he supports the Teamsters. Dennis, who was at the news conference, said the city has some leverage.
“We just recently gave UPS some [tax] incentive money. So, if we’re giving companies money, we have to hold those companies accountable,” Dennis said.
“We still have audit ability … We still have things we can do to hold UPS accountable,” Dennis said. “We still have oversight on every single dollar that comes from the city.”
Other political leaders backing the union’s claims included Tammyette Thomas who is the Democratic candidate for House District 15. She’s running against Republican Wyman Duggan.
Jacksonville City Council District 4 candidate Nicole Hamm was also on hand for the Teamsters’ news conference. Hamm is facing Republican Kevin Carrico in the race for that Special Election to be decided in November.
But local civic activists were on hand to lend support to the Teamsters’ cause, too. Ben Frazier, an organizer with the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, said there’ll be more community pressure on Jacksonville’s UPS distribution center if complaints of worker abuse continue.
“Make no mistake about it, we will not stand idly by while UPS mistreats and abuses the American worker … We will march against you. We will demonstrate against you. We will protest against you until you make this right,” said Frazier, who was key in helping to organize several protests against the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office in late spring and early summer.
