Teamsters file emergency restraining order to prevent UPS from offering driver buyout

The Teamsters Union took emergency action in an attempt to prevent logistics giant United Parcel Service (UPS) from offering a second buyout to drivers.

On Monday, February 9, 2026, Teamsters filed a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts against UPS to try to prevent the rollout of the “Driver Choice Program (DCP)” expected to debut later this week.

Teamsters called the DCP “a second illegal buyout scam.”

UPS announced plans to reduce its workforce in part through buyouts in a January 27 earnings call. The company said it planned to cut as many as 30,000 jobs worldwide and to close more than 20 facilities this year.

Teamsters say that the “DCP would give drivers a one-time lump sum payment in exchange for Teamsters legally committing to never work for UPS again, to waive their rights to union representation, and to sacrifice a career’s worth of strong union wages, employer-paid health care, and guaranteed retirement benefits.”

Teamsters say that the driver buyout violates a 2023 labor contract.

The Teamsters cited “at least six violations of its National Master Agreement by UPS in the rollout of the buyout program, including direct dealing of new contracts with workers, elimination of union jobs when UPS contractually agreed to establish more positions, and erosion of the rights and privileges of union shop stewards, among other charges.”

UPS made a similar buyout offer to drivers in July 2025 called the Driver Voluntary Separation Program (DVSP), offering to provide drivers with $1,800 per year of service at UPS, with a minimum payout of $10,000.

“For the second time in six months, UPS has proven it doesn’t care about the law, has no respect for its contract with the Teamsters, and is determined to try to screw our members out of their hard-earned money,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “If Carol Tomé has buyer’s remorse for the historic, legally binding contract she signed with rank-and-file Teamsters, that’s her problem. Our union will not allow UPS to inflate its earnings reports on the backs of Teamsters families. We’ve given too much to grow and sustain this company, and we will not be sold short. UPS must dismantle its illegal buyout program and resolve its contract violations in the courts, or the Teamsters will see this greedy corporation in the streets.”

“UPS’s latest DCP scam is more than a contract violation — it’s an assault on the rule of law and on every member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters,” said General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. “If UPS is allowed to move forward with this illegal program, it would cause irrevocable harm to our union and a majority of our hardworking members. The Teamsters Union ensured our members rejected UPS’s insulting payoff last year. Unfortunately, UPS continues to reach new levels of greed and corruption that require our fight to continue.”