The contract for UPS represented staff is set to expire on August 1, and, if negotiations are unfruitful, there is a strong potential for a strike. We are working closely with UC Systemwide Procurement to limit the delay or loss of critical goods.
Limit Purchases
UPS owns approximately 40% of the market share of global delivery services—if there is a strike, vendors and purchasing outlets will be transitioning to other carriers. We expect all shipping sources to experience delays due to capacity challenges.
During this time, limit your purchases to critical items to avoid overtaxing alternate services.
Inbound Delivery & Outbound Shipping
Effective immediately, follow the below recommendations:
Inbound Critical Goods
To avoid delivery issues, order and purchases should be routed through non-UPS delivery services (e.g., FedEx, USPS, DHL).
Vendors normally determine the shipping options. If UPS is the only option available, we suggest finding a different vendor or delaying the purchase.
Outbound Critical Goods
To avoid shipping issues, outbound goods should be routed through:
- FedEx Supplier Site Orders via BruinBuy
- USPS via UCLA Mail, Document & Distribution Services
Greenlighting Vendors
Systemwide Procurement is in the process of identifying systemwide vendors with adequate mitigation plans or no UPS exposure. All other vendors will be flagged for potential risk.
Vendor risk statuses are continually updates and posted on UC's UPS Strike Mitigation Box folder. It contains general information, resources, and real-time updates.
