While unions across the United States are flexing their striking muscles, from actors and writers to Yellow Corp truck drivers, the UPS Teamsters union just secured a massive victory for its drivers.


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 As reported by CNBC, the deal covers almost 350,000 workers, and “drivers will average $170,000 in pay and benefits such as health care and pensions at the end of a five-year contract.”


While that is amazing for the drivers, plenty of people have expressed anger that what they consider to be an “unskilled labor” position will be paid so handsomely. But that sentiment carries with it a basic misunderstanding of a UPS worker’s job, and the trends of the modern labor market; a misunderstanding that the entrepreneur and angel investor Jason Calacanis blindly demonstrated.




Estimating the average number of packages delivered per hour at 5-10, Jason was quickly schooled by people actually in the know.


“Bless your heart,” @RandyTreibel tweeted. “More like 50-100.”



Not only was his guess plainly false, but the $170,000 mark is derived only from the top-earning employees, with CNBC reporting that the average full-time worker will bump up to about $49 an hour. Not $80. There are also numerous other blue-collar jobs that demand similar salaries.





As usual, it looks like our top 1% overlords have a basic misunderstanding of the money the rest of us are making, and what that means for our daily lives. Until Jason has to start delivering packages for a living, maybe he should keep his mouth shut about how much those people should make.