The Package King: A Rank-and-File History of UPS
Ebook
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Overview
“An incisive history” of how a bicycle messenger service in Seattle became a global behemoth, and the labor battles along the way (Dissent).
We may see their trademark brown trucks everywhere today, but few people know the behind-the-scenes story of United Parcel Service and how it became one of America’s most admired companies. This book reveals how UPS managed to displace General Motors—the very symbol of American capitalism—to become the largest private-sector unionized employer in the United States; its long, tumultuous history with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters; and its effects on its workers and surrounding communities. It also explores the question of its future in the age of Amazon—as it battles to hold on to the throne of the Package King.
“Get a copy of Allen’s book for yourself and then pass it on to a UPS driver the next time you get a delivery. She is part of the most organized section of what is possibly the most important industry in 21st-century capitalism, and the outcome of her story will have a lot to do with what our world looks like on the other side of this pandemic.” —Indypendent
“Get a copy of Allen’s book for yourself and then pass it on to a UPS driver the next time you get a delivery. She is part of the most organized section of what is possibly the most important industry in 21st-century capitalism, and the outcome of her story will have a lot to do with what our world looks like on the other side of this pandemic.“ —Indypendent
”Excellent book!! If you’re the least bit interested in the lengthy and nefarious relationship between the Teamsters and UPS, this book covers it all. I’m embarrassed that I’ve worked for more than a quarter century for UPS and been a Teamster for just as long and didn’t know half of the stuff that’s uncovered, exposed, and revealed in The Package King!" —Rob Atkinson, veteran UPS and Teamster activist
"The Package King’s step by step narrative of how major changes in the Teamsters and in labor history can and did happen, should serve as an example to any young militants entering the trade union movement today. Anyone interested in taking on the rich and powerful on the shop floors of the 21st century should download and read this book." —Guy Miller, In These Times
“His new book The Package King: A Rank and File History of United Parcel Service which was revelatory to me on a number of levels. “Oh, hell, you may say, I know what United Parcel Service is”—and that’s what I thought, and know you don’t is the answer!" —Rick Kogan, “After Hours with Rick Kogan,” WGN Radio
"The Package King is a wonderful look at over a century of capitalism, its transformations, and the rank and file militancy, and peaks and troughs that have characterized the U.S. labour movement of the last 100 years. It is also a call to activists to get serious about analyzing the modern logistics system and how to think about how to build worker power within it." —Gerard Di Trolio, rankandfile.ca
- Title: The Package King: A Rank-and-File History of UPS
- Author: Joe Allen
- Publisher: Haymarket Books
- Print Publication Date: 2020
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Pages: 312
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781642592177, 9781642591644, 1642591645, 164259217X
- Resource ID: LLS:9781642592177
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-21T11:37:15Z
Joe Allen worked for nearly a decade at UPS between its Watertown, Massachusetts and Chicago, Illinois Jefferson Street hubs. Starting out as a part-time loader he worked his way through a series of part-time sorting and driving jobs until his final year at UPS where he was a package car driver in Chicago's Loop. Allen's work life has largely revolved different sections of the freight and logistics including for such major employers as A.P.A Transport (Canton, Mass.), Yellow Freight (Maspeth, NY), and UPS. He has been a member of several Teamster local unions and a member of Teamsters for a Democratic Union. He campaigned for Ron Carey's reelection in 1996, and for Tom Leedham in the two following Teamster elections.