(ATLANTA, Ga.) — United Parcel Service (UPS) workers in cities across the country are preparing to strike, just in case the Teamsters and UPS aren’t able to reach a deal by the final day of the current contract, July 31.

Scott Wilkie is the communications director for Teamsters Local 638, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. “We need air conditioning in trucks. We need strong wages and benefits to help uplift the middle class,” he told CBS News.

UPS, based in Atlanta, could see as many as 340,000 mail carriers go on strike on August 1, unless a deal is reached on a new contract. Negotiations fell apart earlier this week when both sides laying the blame at each others’ feet.

“We’re working to get even stronger language and stronger contracts for our people, so we don’t have people dying on the job every year from heat exhaustion,” says Wilkie. As the Earth continues to heat up, hot temperatures and heat exhaustion will only worsen.

The union says that part-time wages and safer working conditions are some of their main sticking points during negotiations.

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