‘We want a piece of that $13 billion they made last year’: UPS delivery driver responds to viewers criticizing his $42-an-hour wage
In a viral video, a UPS worker clapped back at a commenter who said delivery drivers don't "deserve" to make $42 an hour.
"No way you deserve 42 an hour as a delivery guy lol. Takes zero skill," a commenter wrote.
In the video, Juan Trujillo (@juantrujillo027), who is sitting in his UPS truck in full uniform, agrees that delivery workers like him shouldn't make $42 an hour—they should make more.
"Even the company thinks so. That's why we're getting a raise," Trujillo says, adding that every year their hourly pay gets bumped up by about a dollar and some change based on the contract the union negotiated.
He says that he and his fellow full-time workers are going on strike because of how little their part-time colleagues are making, not because of their own pay.
"We're going on strike because the part-timers are only making $16 an hour, and that's unacceptable," Trujillo says. "And I will stand next to my part-time brothers and sisters and make sure they get theirs. And I'll sacrifice two weeks of work if [I have to] because that's what solidarity is. That's what we do, all right."
Trujillo says that full-time workers like him got to $42 by continually demanding it instead of just accepting what the company wanted to pay.
He adds that their pay gradually goes up each year because "their profits go up each year," referring to UPS.
@juantrujillo027 Replying to @mr.fisc #fedex #amazon #strike #ups #sloidarity #teamsters #workers ♬ original sound - Juan Trujillo
About 340,000 UPS workers are planning to go on strike if the delivery company doesn't agree to a new contract by the end of July that increases pay for part-time workers, among other conditions, NPR reported.
According to NPR, on average, UPS delivered a staggering 24.3 million packages daily in 2022. Were the strike to happen, package deliveries nationwide would be affected, given that UPS' competitors can't handle all of the backlog of packages the strike will create.
In total, 97% percent of UPS workers voted in favor of a nationwide strike. Were the strike to happen, it would be one of the costliest in the last century, Reuters reported.
The video has more than 1.7 million views and nearly 20,000 comments as of Friday.
"I think that commenter should have to go work a delivery job for a month and then see if they still say it takes zero skill," a person said.
Several people came to Juan's defense in the comments, pointing out how difficult and laborious delivery jobs are.
"I remember that there was NO such thing as a easy day at ups," a commenter wrote.
"People don't realize the actual stress of being a pkg delivery driver. 10 years in at the purple company, most of us support our UPS bros and sisters," another said.
"This is what all people who have any kinda job that is labor intensive should make!! good job ups," a viewer commented.
The Daily Dot reached out to Trujillo via TikTok comment and to UPS via email.
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