UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, representing about 330,000 UPS employees in the U.S., have reportedly reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement.
In June, the union said that its UPS members had voted to authorize a walkout after the current agreement’s expiration on August 1, with 97 percent of those who voted to endorse the move.
The union said that the “overwhelmingly lucrative contract” raises wages for all workers, creates more full-time jobs and includes dozens of workplace protections and improvements. The UPS Teamsters National Negotiating Committee unanimously endorsed the five-year tentative agreement.
“Together we reached a win-win-win agreement on the issues that are important to Teamsters leadership, our employees, to UPS, and our customers,” said Carol Tomé, UPS chief executive officer. “This agreement continues to reward UPS’s full- and part-time employees with industry-leading pay and benefits while retaining the flexibility we need to stay competitive, serve our customers and keep our business strong.”
The five-year agreement covers U.S. Teamsters-represented employees in small-package roles and is subject to voting and ratification by union members. Representatives from more than 150 Teamster locals will meet on Monday to review the agreement, and rank-and-file members will vote on it from August 3 to August 22, according to the union.
“UPS has put $30 billion in new money on the table as a direct result of these negotiations,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien in the union statement. “We’ve changed the game, battling it out day and night to make sure our members won an agreement that pays strong wages, rewards their labor, and doesn’t require a single concession. This contract sets a new standard in the labor movement and raises the bar for all workers.”
Rank-and-file members, even part-time workers, served on the committee for the first time.
“In my more than 40 years in Louisville representing members at Worldport—the largest UPS hub in the country—I have never seen a national contract that levels the playing field for workers so dramatically as this one,” said Teamsters General Secretary and Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. “The agreement puts more money in our members’ pockets and establishes a full range of new protections for them on the job. We stayed focused on our members and fought like hell to get everything that full-time and part-time UPS Teamsters deserve.”
The National Retail Federation issued a statement after the deal announcement, focusing on the importance of this deal leading into back-to-school and the holidays.
“UPS is a major partner of the retail industry, and we are grateful it came to an agreement with the Teamsters without disruption to the marketplace,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay in the statement. “The timing of this agreement is critical for consumers and families during the peak back-to-school shopping season. Retailers rely on stability within their supply chains, and this agreement will bring long-term stability, as well as assurance to the millions of businesses and employees who rely on smooth and efficient last-mile delivery.”
UPS reportedly handles about 25 percent of the packages shipped daily in the United States, and the strike prospect has threatened to dent economic activity, particularly the e-commerce industry.
A study from the Anderson Economic Group estimated that a ten-day strike by 340,000 unionized workers at UPS could cost the U.S. economy $7.1 billion, making it the costliest work stoppage in U.S. history. Read SGB Media’s coverage here.
Photo courtesy UPS
