UPS, union reach agreement, averting strike - The Washington Post
By: Lauren Kaori Gurley (Washington Post)
Damn sign me up...............even part time.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
By Lauren Kaori GurleyJuly 25, 2023 at 12:06 p.m. EDTA UPS driver puts his seat belt on before driving off during a rally as a strike deadline neared on July 19. The shipping company and the Teamsters union announced a deal on Tuesday for a new contract, averting a strike. (Damian Dovarganes/AP)Listen3 minComment on this storyCommentGift ArticleShare
UPS and the union representing 340,000 delivery drivers reached a deal Tuesday, a crucial step in averting a nationwide strike that could have started on Aug. 1 and hobbled the U.S. economy.
The five-year tentative agreement with the Teamsters union includes $7.50 an hour pay increases for all UPS employees, including part-timers, as well as the elimination of a lower-paid class of worker and installation of air conditioning units in delivery vans.
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UPS workers reach tentative deal to get air conditioning in new trucks
"We demanded the best contract in the history of UPS, and we got it," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien in a statement. "This contract sets a new standard in the labor movement and raises the bar for all workers."
Carol Tome, UPS chief executive officer, praised the deal in a statement calling it a "win-win-win."
"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," Tome said.
Businesses are cutting workers' hours in a warning sign for the economy
A strike at UPS was predicted to have far-reaching implications for the U.S. economy, as well as the country's labor movement. When UPS went on strike in 1997, the company permanently lost a fair bit of its share of the market, and small and large businesses suffered.
Today, far more companies, as well as a bigger chunk of Americans' spending, are reliant on delivery infrastructure to transport packages across the country within days of purchase, and the strike would be the largest for a single- employer in decades. UPS plays a sizable role in the booming delivery industry, handling roughly a quarter of some 59 million packages shipped nationwide daily, according to the Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index.
Labor leaders say that the UPS contract deal is crucial to the union movement, which has shrunk by half over the past four decades and that a strong deal could influence future access to blue-collar jobs with middle-class pay and benefits.
The creator economy was already exploding. Then Hollywood went on strike.
UPS members will now have the opportunity to vote to ratify the deal, a process that takes about three weeks. If members vote down that deal, the union would still strike, labor leaders say.
At the heart of dispute was pay and benefits for the company's more than 150,000 part-time workers today load and sort packages in warehouses. The starting wage for part-timers, is currently $16.20 an hour, which has not kept up with inflation, since their pay structure was separated from that of the more lucrative delivery driver role in the early 1980s.
UPS officials repeatedly rejected the union's claims that part-timers are underpaid, noting that part-time employees at UPS make an average of $20 an hour after their first 30 days on the job. They also receive annual raises, the same health benefits as full-time employees, and pensions that are exceedingly rare for private-sector workers, UPS has said.
The consulting firm AEG estimated that a 10-day strike would have resulted in losses of more than $810 million for UPS.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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$7.50 an hour? Wow. and part timers already make $16.20? I see a part time gig coming up during the Christmas rush.
Bidenomics is the tide lifting all ships...
Had nothing to do with Bidenomics............
The booming US business economy has everything to do with President Biden's Infrastructure Bill and his Inflation Reduction Act, plus whooping Putin's butt in Ukraine. It's called leadership!
This development had NOTHING to do with Bidenomics
When did he do that? He has nothing to do with that either.
Correct as usual JBB!
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That would be Zelenskyy. Or did you forget that there are NO US Troops fighting there?
You mean the Fed increasing interest rates to try and keep rising inflation down. Brandon's rampant spending is the reason inflation is still on the rise. Maybe another interest rate increase or two; another major bank failure or two; and the economy cooling with Americans carrying massive debt will make you see the light on Brandon's economy.
As for "puttin a whoopin on Putin" bullshit. It is endless US tax payer money funneling into Ukraine; and US military advanced weapons and munitions (that will need to be replaced); that is allowing a stalemate in Ukraine. The summer offensive by Ukraine hasn't gained them nearly as much as they expected. But Brandon is sending cluster bombs to Ukraine. Wonder if Putin will respond with chemical/biological weapons or just head straight to tactical nukes? When the world is a charred nuclear husk your bragging will mean nothing.
Brandon cares more about Ukraine's borders than he does our own. States and cities can no longer handle the influx of illegal immigrants. Brandon's solution is to have his DOJ go after anyone trying to stem the flow at the border. Showing his loyalty lies with woke far leftist lunatics.
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You can thank Brandon when the costs of shipping with UPS rise to offset the increase in worker pay.
Maybe that's the "Bidenomics" he's referring to. Increased prices of, well, EVERYTYHING.
I see it's "Tell a Joke Day".
I thought that was global warming.
And the price of shipping with UPS just went up.
The fact that this was even difficult to achieve speaks to how selfish and greedy corporations can be.
In the hot seat: UPS delivery drivers at risk of heat-related illnesses