For the first time ever, today UPS Teamsters are celebrating Martin Luther King Day as a paid holiday thanks to our historic new contract.

Dr. King dedicated and sacrificed his life in the struggle for civil rights and workers’ rights. He was assassinated in Memphis while supporting sanitation workers on strike and was a major figure in the labor movement. While we honor his legacy with a federal holiday, for many years UPS refused Teamster demands to recognize MLK Day as a paid holiday. But Teamster unity and militancy last year during the contract campaign forced the company to concede, adding MLK Day as a holiday in all supplements, riders, and addenda, per Article 29, Section 4 of the National Master Agreement.

Any UPS Teamster who chooses to work on this holiday should make sure they are getting holiday pay in accordance with their supplement.

It took a long time to make UPS understand Dr. King’s immortal words: “The time is always right to do what is right.” But today we can finally rest and respect the dream.

Happy MLK Day, brothers and sisters!