GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Time is running out for UPS to avoid a major strike.
Back in June, an overwhelming majority of the company's union members voted in favor a taking to the picket lines if their terms were not met.
The deadline to iron out a deal is at the end of July. Now, whether or not the two side will be able to iron out a deal is up in the air.
The main union at UPS is the "International Brotherhood of Teamsters," and according to their website, they represent over 1.2 million workers across the United States and Canada.
UPS says that about 70-percent of it's employees in the U.S. are Teamsters members.
With over seven-thousand members in 200 different locations, the influence of the local chapter of Teamsters isn't limited to just West Michigan.
"Local 406 represents a wide variety of industries in West Michigan all the way the entire upper peninsula to all the way down to St. Joe and into Niles as well," says Joshua Graham, a shop steward for the Teamsters. He is also a package car driver for UPS for the facility in Wyoming.
Although strikes are uncommon between the Teamsters and UPS, they are not totally unheard of. The company saw its last large scale strike almost 30-years ago.
Then, 185-thousand workers walked off the job for more than 2 weeks.
Now, a potential strike could be nearly twice that size.
"I started in May of 97. And we ended up striking August of 97. So I was two I was to three months and part time and then the struct and then the strike came and lasted about two weeks. It was it was mostly over the creation of more full time jobs."
The differences between part-time and full-time workers at UPS is a big deal for the Teamster. In fact, it's one of the main sticking points between them and UPS in their negotiations. In recent years, UPS has shown signs of emphasizing hiring more part-time workers over full-time. Many teamsters believe the current system is taking advantage of those part-timers.
"the reality is, is that the part time, the part time workers are getting paid far too far to last they the they need to race raise the wages of part time work. Now, do they need to expand the opportunities for more full time positions, of course, and I do believe that they're going to address that issue and negotiations."
Despite the deadline to finalize a new contract is getting closer, the Teamsters insist a strike is their last option. Some still hold on signs of hope that one will be reached before the August 1st deadline. Many base that hope in a recent deal reached between the Teamsters and UPS over air conditioning in package trucks; a deal which many believed would never happen. Despite how long negotiations are taking, Graham is still optimistic.
"I would say that overall, it we do remain hopeful, I'm more hopeful today, there is a shift in, in, in my enthusiasm or my outlook towards this contract when, when they had it, they made a tentative agreement for air conditioning. So that was a point within which I never thought we'd ever see air conditioning and packaged cars."
"If they can do that, I'm going to be amazed at some of the other things that they're going to be capable of getting."
In a prepared statement, UPS told FOX 17:
"We continue to make progress on key issues and remain confident that we will reach an agreement that provides wins for our employees, the Teamsters, our company, and our customers"
Also, in a recent update to their website, they also say they're prepared to be a the table every day until they reach a deal with the Teamsters.
Until a deal is officially reached, many remain uncertain how avoidable a strike of this magnitude is. If negotiations fail to result in a deal by August 1st, the approximate 6-percent of the U.S. GDP which is shipped by UPS will not be leaving the warehouse. It would cause that slice of the economy to come to a halt and almost certainly undermine one of the world's largest players in international shipping.
