SAN FRANCISCO — Hundreds of UPS workers converged on the company’s headquarters here Feb. 23 to protest pay cuts bosses imposed on part-time workers’ wages. They came from San Jose, Richmond, Sunnyvale, and beyond. Similar protests took place in Philadelphia and elsewhere.
“I was making $21 and now it’s $16. It’s a question of whether I’ll be able to pay the rent,” Richmond part-timer Stefanie Delgado told the Militant. “They gave us no warning,” added Jose Hernandez, also from Richmond.
Trying to soften the blow, UPS is giving bonuses to workers who have perfect attendance. “This won’t make up for what we lost,” Hernandez said. “And they’ve taken away sick and other days off. Now, in order to get the bonus, workers are going to come in sick.”
The action was sponsored by Nor Cal Teamster UPS Committee and Teamsters Joint Council 7. “The $6 an hour pay cut comes to about $5,500 a year,” Peter Nuñez, committee chair, told protesters. “It probably doesn’t sound like much to the UPS CEO Carol Tomé, who makes millions, but it’s pulling the rug out from under thousands of families.”
A group of full-time drivers from Sunnyvale were there to support the part-timers. “Most of us can’t afford to live there,” driver Gabe Ghazanfari said. “Workers drive an hour or two hours to the job. With gas prices going up, and the cut in pay, it becomes impossible.”