Episode 2: 1997: The Last Strike of a Generation
In 1997, Rand Wilson was in the war room. Though his opponent didn't really know that a war was afoot.
In the Parcel and Small Package division of the Teamsters union, Rand was strategizing to prepare 185,000 UPSers to strike, if they needed to, when their labor contract expired that summer. By August, they were prepared, and they did strike. And in the end, they won.
In this episode of The Upsurge, we speak with Rand Wilson, who was a communications coordinator of UPS Teamsters' contract campaign in 1997. Now an organizer with Teamsters for a Democratic Union, Rand takes us through the history of the national UPS strike that year, and its implications for the 2023 contract campaign.
UPSers Antoine Andrews and Tony Rosario also return to share their experiences on the picket line of the last "strike of a generation."
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Hosted by Teddy Ostrow
Edited by Sabrina Kessler, Ruby Walsh & Teddy Ostrow
Produced by NYGP & Ruby Walsh
Music by Casey Gallagher
Cover art by Devlin Claro Resetar
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M.I.B (Men in Brown), UPS Song, YouTube
