High-stakes negotiations between UPS and the Teamsters started this week. Catch up on the issues union leaders have vowed to strike over.

• UPS has around 330,000 unionized employees who handle packages and drive delivery trucks.
• Their contract expires July 31 and negotiations started this week in Washington, D.C.

Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien and his team met with UPS negotiators this week for the first of many sessions that will take place in the next three months. It's off to a rocky start as O'Brien has declared that not enough progress has been made on the supplemental contracts — local agreements which have been under negotiation for most of the year.

UPS said that the parties have traditionally worked on the national and supplemental contracts simultaneously and are ready to negotiate.

The coming months will likely be rife with more friction back and forth. In order to avoid a promised strike, O'Brien has said he wants better pay for part-time workers, an end to a lower-paid classification of weekend drivers, and a list of other demands. He also won't accept a contract that is "cost-neutral" for UPS — meaning it keeps the expense to the company the same, he said.

This is UPS CEO Carol Tomé's first union negotiation and she has said that the parties are not as opposed as they seem.

"I would submit that a win-win-win is very achievable because we are not far apart on the issues," Tomé said on the company's February earnings call.

She will address investors again on Tuesday to share the company's first-quarter results. Parcel volume is down across the market, but so far Tomé has been able to keep profits buoyed by focusing on packages with strong margins and eschewing those without.

Her juggling skills will be tested Tuesday and in the months ahead. Bone up on the issues the Teamsters have threatened to strike over with the stories below.

Set the scene

The Teamsters' new chief is readying UPS drivers for a strike as he heads toward contract negotiations — and key moves show he's not bluffing

UPS plans to lay off some of its controversial weekend drivers, union reps say, as delivery companies downsize for post-pandemic life

Go deep on the issues

UPS' drivers union is threatening to strike over 6 key issues

UPS is facing down a fight with its drivers' union over the weekend delivery it needs to compete with Amazon and FedEx

UPS CEO addresses dangerous heat inside trucks and contentious weekend deliveries as a driver strike threatens to upend millions of deliveries

UPS plans to lay off some of its controversial weekend drivers, union reps say, as delivery companies downsize for post-pandemic life

Tensions at UPS are brewing between leadership and unionized drivers as the new CEO doubles down on drivers who make deliveries in their own cars

Zoom out to the big picture

UPS soared through the pandemic — but its biggest challenge in 25 years is still to come

FedEx warns it won't bail out UPS customers at the last minute if drivers strike

UPS and FedEx are clawing back ground from smaller package-delivery firms. Here's how the little guys plan to defend their share.

Gig labor could have challenged FedEx and UPS. Now it's making them stronger.

Carol Tomé was hired to whip UPS into shape, but some insiders worry she's killing what made the company great in the first place