Shipping giant United Parcel Service is projecting $100 million in profits in 2022. That profit is made on the backs of the drivers who deliver hundreds of packages every day, to our homes and offices.
But while their stockholders profit mightily, UPS drivers lack something that drivers for other companies already have — air conditioning.
One driver interviewed by More Perfect Union offered the following analogy for the cab of a UPS van: “The best I can describe it is, if you go in a porta potty, on a hot day, and you sit in it for 10 hours.”
That might sound like a funny way to describe it, but this is no joke. Trucks without air conditioning have already led to deadly consequences.
UPS drivers have suffered from heatstroke, heat exhaustion, dehydration, and even death during heat waves this summer.
And heat waves will only become more widespread in the coming years as a consequence of climate change.
UPS saves $185 per truck by removing air conditioning — a virtual rounding error for a company with UPS’s profits.
UPS drivers are organized with the Teamsters Union, and their contract is up in one year. Air conditioning is expected to be a major point of contention.
A petition a few years ago calling for UPS to install air conditioning in its delivery vehicles garnered 1.3 million signatures — but was entirely ignored by management.
Sign this petition here: https://tinyurl.com/ysbcxkaf
EHS Safety News America 