Consultant’s Insight: UPS faces Teamsters and cyberattacks

UPS has its hands full as it faces a looming Teamsters contract deadline and a website hack. With 31 days left before a contract expires between the Teamsters and UPS, the union is cranking up the rhetoric by insisting UPS provide its final offer no later than today. [caption id="attachment_76185" align="alignright" width="298"] Cathy Roberson, Cargo Facts Consulting senior consultant and Air Cargo Next columnist[/caption] “The largest single-employer strike in American history now appears inevitable,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement. UPS issued a statement Wednesday saying, “Last week, we provided our initial economic proposal. This week we followed with a significantly amended proposal to address key demands from the Teamsters. Reaching a consensus requires time and serious, detailed discussion, but it also requires give-and-take from both sides. We’re working around the clock to reach an agreement that strengthens our industry-leading pay and benefits ahead of the current contract’s expiration on Aug. 1. We remain at the table, ready to negotiate.” Despite the Teamsters and UPS having reached a consensus on 55 non-economic issues, the two sides hit a brick wall when negotiations on wages, pensions, health care and other economic concerns were placed on the table. Should there be a strike, it will be felt by all. Delays will likely occur; however, concerns about insufficient capacity in the market could prove naught. Carriers such as FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service added capacity during and post-pandemic. Small-package regional carriers such as OnTrac and GLS have expanded their networks, and retailers Target , Walmart and Amazon offer their own last-mile delivery networks. And let’s not forget the crowdsourced platforms such as Instacart and DoorDash , which have partnered with a number of retailers for last-mile deliveries. For larger last-mile deliveries, less-than-truckload carriers will also benefit should there be a strike. Shippers with a plan to mitigate a potential strike will likely fare better than those that do not. UPS hacked The monitoring site Downdetector showed the UPS website was down on June 12. According to the website, about 80% of users reported having problems with the site, while 20% reported problems with tracking their packages and logging into their accounts. Anonymous Sudan, a group of religiously and politically motivated hackers from Sudan, claimed responsibility for the UPS cyberattack and a weeklong attack on Microsoft . Anonymous Sudan claims its hacking efforts are in retaliation to the U.S. government’s support of Ukraine, as well as Secretary of State Antony Blinken ’s recent “interference” in Sudanese affairs, which includes U.S. sanctions against Sudan’s military and other entities. In a separate incident, UPS Canada disclosed an extended data breach involving an oversight in its online package tracking system, which was actively abused from February 2022 to April 2023. The attackers accessed customer shipping information and are believed to have used some of it in an SMS phishing campaign. According to cybersecurity solutions provider Check Point , weekly cyberattacks increased worldwide by 7% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the corresponding period last year, with firms facing an average of 1,248 attacks per week. Join Air Cargo Next for the second Air Cargo Tech Summit on Monday, Sept. 18, and Tuesday, Sept. 19, at the Brussels Marriott Hotel Grand Place in Belgium. For more information on the summit and to register, click here .

Consultant’s Insight: UPS faces Teamsters and cyberattacks

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