Teamsters approve UPS contract

UPS Teamster s overwhelmingly voted in favor of a five-year contract that includes wage increases for full-time employees and will keep union members the highest-paid delivery drivers in the nation, improving their average top rate to $49 per hour. [caption id="attachment_57136916" align="alignleft" width="300"] UPS workers and Teamsters members during a rally outside a UPS hub in Brooklyn in April. (Photo/Bloomberg)[/caption] The contract will be implemented once a defeated supplement is renegotiated and approved. The contract included 44 supplements. Supplements allow amendments to be added to existing contracts. The agreement passed by an 86.3% majority — the highest vote percentage for a contract in the history of the Teamsters at UPS, according to a Teamsters press release. “All supplemental agreements were ratified as well, except for the Local 769 LAI supplement, which covers 174 members in Florida,” the Teamsters announcement stated. “The national master agreement will go into effect once this supplement is renegotiated and ratified.” The results contrasted with the 2018 vote, when, despite a higher percentage of “no” votes at 54.2%, but a lower total voter turnout at 44.3%, the contract was approved on a technicality: A two-thirds vote of those voting is required to reject a final offer, according to the Teamsters. Wage increases, better conditions In response to 2018’s low voter turnout, the Teamsters ran a robust marketing program that included a ramped-up social media presence and rallies before and during this year’s contract negotiations to engage union members and ensure widescale voting. This year’s voter turnout was 58.1%, according to the Teamsters vote tally report. “This is the richest national contract I’ve seen in my more than 40 years of representing Teamsters at UPS,” General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman said in the Teamsters announcement. “There are more gains in this contract than in any other UPS agreement, and with no givebacks to the company. But the hard work doesn’t end here. We will continue to fight like hell to enforce this contract and make sure UPS lives up to every word of it over the next five years.” The agreement includes: Wage increases for existing employees totaling an additional $7.50 per hour through 2028; Wages for existing part-timers raised to $21 per hour immediately; An end to UPS’ two-tier wage system for drivers; The addition of air conditioning and cargo ventilation in all vehicles; and The creation of 7,500 new full-time Teamster jobs at UPS. Reverting diverted shipments The ratification comes as UPS prepares for the upcoming peak season and aims to win back volumes that shifted from the company to other carriers during the contract negotiations. “We’ll still have a peak even though we’re winning back those volumes that were diverted over time,” UPS Chief Executive Carol Tome told analysts this month. “We are collaborating with the top 100 customers, representing 87% of our peak surge. So, we’re already starting to work with them on their operating plans for peak. Peak will be 21 days this year, the same as last year. So, it’s still going to pick up — it’s just from a different volume level.” UPS Chief Financial Officer Brian Newman said actual and potential diverted volumes were estimated at 1.2 million packages per day during the second quarter of this year. Join Air Cargo Next for its second annual Air Cargo Tech Summit on Sept. 18-19 in Brussels, sponsored by Unisys and Brussels Airport and featuring a fireside chat with Brian Hodges, managing director, American Airlines Cargo. For more details and to register, click here .

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