MCKINNEY, Texas — After a driver passed out and crashed due to excessive heat in North Texas, dozens of members from the local Teamsters union showed up at the UPS facility in McKinney in protest Wednesday morning, demanding the company abide by their collective bargaining agreement.
The union signed the agreement with UPS last year that required the company to protect drivers from overheating.
That agreement said all new vehicles purchased after Jan. 1 would be equipped with air conditioning and modifications would be made to existing vehicles to improve the airflow and comfort for drivers. UPS said hundreds of vehicles with AC are already on the road and they are on or ahead of schedule for deploying the new vehicles and modifications.
The teamsters pushed back on that, saying they are left in the dark and unaware of how the vehicle rollout is going. Those taking part in Wednesday's rally included some drivers dressed in their brown UPS uniform holding up signs saying "UPS agreed to AC, where is it?" and "Respect the Contract."
Dave Reeves, President Teamsters Local 767, said:
"Specifically on the AC, the agreement was that all brand new trucks purchased would have factory AC in them. Currently, right now in our jurisdiction here in North Texas, we have over 2000 drivers in our area and not one of the trucks to my knowledge has AC in them currently as we sit today."
The Teamsters say there's been three heat related incidents at the facility in McKinney alone this summer. UPS tells they've invested more than $400 million annually on safety training and equipment in their vehicles and at their facilities.
This also comes a week after the death of a Central Texas UPS worker Luis Grimaldo from a heat-related illness, according to his coworkers. Central Texans have donated over $5,000 to help his family pay for funeral expenses.