Today, for the first time, UPS Teamsters are celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid union holiday.

Although MLK Day was established as a federal holiday in 1983, UPS refused to respect the holiday for 41 years–until Teamster members took action.

Organizing for Teamster employers to recognize MLK Day has been a long-time TDU campaign.

We launched the “Deliver on the Dream” campaign to demand that UPS honor the holiday as part of the national campaign for a strong contract.

In 2021, we supported a resolution at the Teamsters Convention to fight to win Martin Luther King Day as a paid holiday in all Teamster contracts.

In 2022, Sean O’Brien and Fred Zuckerman made the demand an official part of our union’s contract campaign at UPS.

Members and their local unions leafleted, collected petition signatures, and held parking lot meetings.

After years of organizing, UPS Teamsters won a contract establishing MLK Day as a paid union holiday.

The foremost leader of the civil rights movement, Dr. King said that in American history, “The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress.”

He was assassinated while standing with striking sanitation workers in Memphis, TN in 1968.

Standing together, UPS Teamsters have made the company respect Dr. King’s legacy.