UPS, United Parcel Service, is the largest package-delivery company in the United States and one of the world's biggest logistics operators, instantly recognizable by its brown trucks and uniforms. Founded in Seattle in 1907 and now headquartered in Atlanta, the company moves millions of packages a day across more than 200 countries and territories. About 70 percent of its US workforce is union represented, the large majority by the Teamsters, which makes UPS one of the most heavily unionized large employers in the country and puts labor at the center of its public story.

Quick Take

UPS runs one of the largest corporate political action committees in the country, giving more than $1.7 million to federal candidates in the 2023-2024 cycle. It gives to candidates in both parties but with a Republican tilt, directing about 59 percent of its 2023-2024 candidate contributions to Republicans and about 40 percent to Democrats. In 2025 UPS joined the wave of companies softening their diversity language, renaming its "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" page to "Inclusion and Belonging." The company's defining ongoing conflict is not partisan but industrial: a running fight with the Teamsters over a 2023 contract and the buyouts and job cuts that followed.

Where the Money Goes

UPS maintains an active corporate PAC, the United Parcel Service Inc. PAC, registered with the Federal Election Commission since 1976. In the 2023-2024 election cycle the PAC contributed $1,711,018 directly to federal candidates, according to FEC data compiled by OpenSecrets, placing it among the larger corporate PACs by candidate giving. It split that candidate giving 59.34 percent to Republicans and 40.22 percent to Democrats, with the small remainder going to third-party and independent candidates, a more pronounced Republican tilt than many large corporate PACs show. As a company whose economics are shaped by postal regulation, trade policy, transportation rules, and labor law, UPS directs its political money toward lawmakers on the committees that govern those areas in both parties, while leaning toward the Republican side of the ledger overall.

UPS is also a consistent federal lobbying presence, focused on issues including postal reform, aviation and transportation policy, trade, and tax.

A Quieter Shift on Diversity

UPS spent the 2020s as a visible corporate supporter of diversity programs, and in 2024 it opposed a shareholder proposal from As You Sow that asked the company to disclose more detailed diversity data on hiring, promotion, and retention, with UPS responding that its existing practices and disclosures already gave investors meaningful information. By 2025, amid a federal push against corporate DEI, the company had softened its public language, retitling its "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" web page as "Inclusion and Belonging." A conservative watchdog group characterized the change as cosmetic rather than a true reversal. The move placed UPS alongside many large employers that adjusted DEI branding in 2025 without announcing a full policy change.

The Teamsters Relationship

The single largest force in UPS's public life is its relationship with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents about 340,000 UPS workers. In the summer of 2023, the two sides came to the brink of what would have been one of the largest strikes in US history before reaching a five-year contract a week before the strike deadline. Teamsters President Sean O'Brien called it the best contract in the union's history with UPS; the deal raised pay for full- and part-time workers and committed UPS to creating thousands of full-time jobs. Members ratified it with 86 percent support.

The peace did not last. In 2025, as UPS cut tens of thousands of jobs and announced driver buyouts under CEO Carol Tome's "better not bigger" strategy, the Teamsters accused the company of violating the 2023 contract with its Driver Choice Program buyouts. After national grievances and union pushback, UPS withdrew the program in 13 states in March 2026, and in April 2026 the two sides reached a settlement capping severance at 7,500 drivers, setting $150,000 early-retirement payments, and barring UPS from offering other unilateral buyout programs for the life of the contract, which runs through July 2028.[7] These labor disputes are central to understanding UPS as a company, though they describe its posture toward organized labor rather than a partisan political lean.

Leadership and Finances

UPS is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker UPS. Carol Tome became CEO in June 2020, the first outsider and first woman to lead the company, after serving on its board and as chief financial officer of Home Depot. Under her, UPS shifted toward higher-margin business and deliberately reduced lower-margin volume, including from its largest customer, Amazon. The company remains one of the most profitable logistics operators in the world, though its earnings have fluctuated with shipping demand since the pandemic surge.

Where to Find Them

UPS serves customers through ups.com, thousands of UPS Store locations, drop boxes, and pickup services, reaching businesses and consumers in more than 200 countries and territories. Its core offerings span domestic and international shipping, freight, and logistics services.

Footnotes

[1] OpenSecrets, United Parcel Service PAC Contributions to Federal Candidates (C00064766), 2023-2024 cycle, accessed June 15, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/united-parcel-service/C00064766/candidate-recipients/2024

[2] Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "UPS, Coke and Home Depot shareholders demand changes around DEI initiatives," June 10, 2024. https://www.ajc.com/news/business/ups-coke-and-home-depot-shareholders-try-to-force-dei-changes/YOZYKGO7ZREAJNK3LVFPJAKX54/

[3] Fox Business, "Major companies still engaging in DEI policies under new names, consumer watchdog claims," April 14, 2025. https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/major-companies-still-engaging-dei-policies-under-new-names-consumer-watchdog-claims

[4] Chris Isidore, CNN Business, "Teamster members ratify deal at UPS, putting strike threat to rest," August 22, 2023. https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/22/business/ups-strike-vote-teamsters-union/index.html

[5] International Brotherhood of Teamsters, "UPS Violates Teamsters National Contract With Plan for Buyouts," July 3, 2025. https://teamster.org/2025/07/ups-violates-teamsters-national-contract-with-plan-for-buyouts/

[6] FreightWaves, "UPS, Teamsters and the matter of unintended consequences," November 5, 2023. https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ups-teamsters-and-the-matter-of-unintended-consequences

[7] Reuters, "UPS, Teamsters reach settlement that caps driver severance offers," April 5, 2026. https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/ups-teamsters-reach-settlement-that-caps-driver-severance-offers-4597681

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