Life has been "hell" for UPS workers since pandemic: report

Photo taken on June 14, 2017 shows a UPS facility in San Francisco, the United States. (Xinhua/Ma Dan)

"Once COVID-19 happened, things turned around and it was peak season all year long," says Jared Hamil.

NEW YORK, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- As the holiday season approaches in the United States, United Parcel Service (UPS) staffers are once again forced to work six-day, 60-hour weeks -- for two straight months -- making sure Amazon-addicted Americans receive their presents on time, reported The New Republic on Monday.

"Drivers know peak season sucks. You're gonna get that overtime, whether you like it or not," Jared Hamil, a UPS package driver in Los Angeles, was quoted as saying.

The year of "2020 was especially tough. Pandemic death, disease, and capitalism increased package volumes while taking huge numbers of people out of the workforce, crushing workers across the already pinched logistics industry," said the report.

But after the peak of 2020 ended, something strange happened. In many UPS hubs, the grind never slowed. "Once COVID-19 happened, things turned around and it was peak season all year long," Hamil said.

UPS workers across the country have said the same thing. When the new year turned, the six-day weeks dragged on, taking a physical and mental toll on workers, who struggled to have a life outside of work, the report noted.

"Without sufficient staffing, the barely tolerable seasonal crunch at UPS transformed into an intolerable chronic squeeze," it added.