Workforce members approve UPS contract, ending strike menace

Members of the Worldwide Brotherhood of Truckers voted overwhelmingly to ratify a brand new contract with UPS, stopping a strike and ending one of many largest labor standoffs of the yr.

The union mentioned 86.3% of UPS staff voted in favor of the brand new 5-year settlement reached late final month that addresses wage will increase, security measures and different points. The collective bargaining settlement—the biggest of its form within the U.S. personal sector—covers roughly 340,000 UPS workers and helps set requirements within the broader logistics business.

The approval charge was the very best ever for a UPS contract within the certification vote, the Teamsters mentioned in an announcement.

“This contract will enhance the lives of a whole lot of 1000’s of staff,” mentioned Sean O’Brien, union president. “The workforce members have set a brand new normal and raised the bar for wages, advantages and dealing circumstances within the bundle supply business.”

The nationwide contract comes with greater than 40 supplemental agreements negotiated between UPS and the Teamsters’ native associates. The union mentioned that each one however one in all these agreements have been accepted, and the nationwide settlement will enter into power as soon as the remaining settlement is renegotiated and ratified.

Employees have threatened to strike at UPS if the corporate doesn’t supply important raises and deal with different considerations, together with warmth in supply vehicles and a two-tier compensation system that has divided the workforce. Companies giant and small depend upon UPS’s supply companies, so the outage threatens to harm the economic system as a complete.

UPS has agreed to put in air-con in all new vehicles beginning subsequent yr, scrapping the controversial system that paid drivers totally different charges for a similar work. The 2 sides ultimately settled on a wage enhance and the beginning of a minimal wage earlier than the strike deadline.

The union mentioned present part-time staff — a few of whom earn about $16 an hour — can be moved to a charge of at the least $21 an hour instantly, although they may earn extra relying in the marketplace they work in. Wage will increase for full- and part-time staff would attain $7.50 per hour over 5 years, placing the highest charge at $49 per hour.

Many staff mentioned that extreme additional time makes it troublesome for them to spend time with their households. Beneath the brand new settlement, drivers can’t be pressured to work additional time on their scheduled days off. They may even obtain Martin Luther King Jr. Day as paid depart.