How a UPS strike may affect you, your packages
Service disruption possible by end of July
The last time UPS workers went on strike in 1997, Fedex and the postal service scrambled to pick up the slack as the nation’s largest package delivery company slowed to a near standstill. Small businesses struggled to restock their shelves and hospitals had a hard time securing supplies, according to New York Times reporting at the time.
Consumers could face that and more if the Teamsters union and management cannot reach a new contract deal by the end of the month.
If a strike does occur, “it will be very disruptive,” said Jason Miller, interim chairperson for the Department of Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University. “The consumer is going to be much more affected getting just everyday products that we buy online.”
While the 1997 strike threw a wrench in the supply chain, a 2023 stoppage could have an even greater effect on consumers now that the U.S. economy is even more reliant on ecommerce.
Census data shows that less than 1% of total retail trade sales came from e-commerce in 1999, the first year the data was reported. At the beginning of this year, it was 15%. The Teamsters Union has also grown since its last work stoppage, from about 185,000 members to 340,000. If a strike does take place, it would be the largest single-employer strike in U.S. history.
Even a short-lived strike could have “huge” consequences for consumers, according to Terry Esper, a logistics professor at the Ohio State University.
“They have a large network,” he said of UPS, which delivers nearly 25 million packages daily. “Taking that kind of capacity out of the market, even for a day, will have significant ripple effects.”
Here’s what consumers can expect during a strike, according to experts:
building in downtown Akron to another building in Akron, and our commitment to the community is as strong as it’s ever been,” said Tierney.
The utility currently has 12,000 employees in its 10 distribution companies in five states.
Tierney will be working out of two offices he’s establishing at the West Akron and downtown Akron buildings. He has no plans to establish an office elsewhere in the company’s territory, though Tierney said he will spend a lot of time in all parts of the utility’s service territory.
Tierney and his wife, who have four grown daughters, last week signed a contract to purchase a house in Akron. He lived in New York and Columbus.
“I’m sending a message by doing that,” Tierney said. “I want people to know that I want to be here. I’m going to be spending my time here. I’m going to be involved in the community; and it seems to me to be a great community to be involved in.”
In Columbus, Tierney said he and his wife were very involved with nonprofit boards and civic activities. Two areas of particular interest for the couple are issues related to hunger and food and education, he said.
Tierney is familiar with Firstenergy
Although Tierney is new to Firstenergy, he said he’s familiar with the utility.
“This is a company that I’ve watched for a number of years. So even though I didn’t grow up in the system here, I’ve watched the company for the 25 years I’ve been in the industry,” he said. “I’ve watched them evolve over that time, and as part of what we (Blackstone) did in the investment of Firstenergy, got to know the company even better.
“And then as I started considering, is this something that I want to pursue as a career opportunity, a leadership opportunity, I studied the company even more. So it’s a company I’m very, very familiar with, after having watched it grow and evolve with the last quarter of a century.”
Tierney said his priority is “focusing on the future.”
“One of the things that drew me back into the industry was the fact that we provide the lifeblood to our communities. I love working with utility employees who feel that vocation and commitment to the service that we provide, and the opportunity we have here is absolutely fantastic,” he said.
“It’s to invest, to improve the customer experience, reliability, the energy transition, and improve people’s lives by doing that.”
Asked if the board of directors has set any priorities for him, Tierney said he’s been asked to look at the company’s investment plans and growth opportunities.
“We’re going to grow earnings. We’re going to improve the customer experience. We’re going to improve reliability operations. All those things are plans and goals and metrics that we’ve laid out, that we’re going to focus on as a management team and employees.”
Tierney said he does not have a setlength contract with the company and is “an employee at will.”
Firstenergy is not looking to be sold, CEO says
The company is “as healthy as it’s ever been at any time that I’ve seen in the last 25 years,” said Tierney. “They don’t have one foot in deregulated, competitive and one foot and regulated. They are entirely focused on the regulated properties that we have.”
The board and management have entered into several transactions before Tierney arrived “to shore up the finances of the company to improve the balance sheet to make sure that we have the money to invest in our utility properties going forward for the benefit of our customers.”
Tierney said he understands there are often questions about whether Firstenergy would be sold, but that is not on his plate.
“The board would not have selected me if their plan was to sell the company, because I don’t have any experience doing that. I don’t think I’d be good at that. It’s not my thing,” he said. “The thing that I am good at is improving a company’s operational and financial performance. And that’s what they hired me to do here. So I’m very much committed to the company, to not selling it, to focusing on improving it in the short, middle and long term. And part of that is being here in Akron and being committed to northern Ohio and the communities that we serve.”
Betty Lin-fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com .