The UPS Workers Rank-and-File Committee is holding an emergency online meeting this Sunday, February 4, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time, “Organize the rank and file to fight the job cuts at UPS! Unite with autoworkers, tech workers and the whole working class against layoffs!” Register for the meeting here.

As the first month of the new year ends, it has become clear that UPS and other major companies intend to carry out a jobs bloodbath in 2024. On Tuesday, UPS announced 12,000 more layoffs, on top of the elimination of sort shifts at several hubs which were already announced. As in other industries, the company intends to use triple its use of automation over the course of this year, threatening the jobs of the company’s roughly 200,000 warehouse workers.

At the same time, thousands of jobs are being cut in the auto industry as it moves towards easier-to-produce electric vehicles. At both UPS and in the auto industry, these cuts are taking place only months after so-called “historic” contracts were rammed through by the union bureaucracies.

The purpose of Sunday’s meeting is to discuss the situation and lay the groundwork for a fight against the layoffs by the rank and file. As the UPSWRFC said in its recent statement, the principles of such a movement must be 1) complete control by the rank and file, not the Teamsters bureaucrats, 2) rejection of UPS’ alleged “right” to make a profit and the fight for public ownership of UPS and other major corporations, and 3) unity with workers across the world who are also facing layoffs.

Sunday’s meeting will be addressed by numerous representatives from other rank-and-file committees across the country and around the world, which are affiliated with the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC). We also urge everyone interested in the fight against the job-cutting campaign, including those who work at other companies, to attend.