Voting Underway for UPS Employees on Agreement That Prevented Strike

After local leaders of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters backed the union’s accord earlier this week, thousands of UPS employees will begin voting on their tentative contract agreement with the delivery behemoth on Thursday.

A planned strike that could have crippled the American economy by delaying approximately a quarter of the nation’s parcel shipments was avoided thanks to the tentative agreement covering 340,000 Teamsters-represented employees at United Parcel Service.

Local Teamsters executives met in Washington on Monday and approved the agreement 161 to 1. According to the Teamsters, the agreement will increase pay for all UPS employees, add another paid holiday, eliminate a two-tier pay structure for drivers, and add air conditioning to new models of the company’s famous brown trucks.

Teamsters local leaders manage messaging and persuade members to vote through August 22.

Experts who follow UPS anticipate that the agreement will be approved by the workforce, but they warn that anti-corporate sentiment is on the rise and point out that some part-timers are struggling to make ends meet.

Teamsters Mobilize, an employee organization, is waging a “Vote No” campaign to improve terms for part-timers, whose hourly wages are far lower than those of full-timers, according to Peter Lyngso, a group leader in Chicago who started working for UPS more than a year ago.

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The group is looking for at least $25 in base salary for part-time work. The potential agreement would increase it from the current $16.20 to $21.

José Negrete, a Teamsters Mobilize member and 25-year Anaheim, California, part-time employee, is casting a no vote.

Negrete spoke over the phone while waiting for his food at an In-N-Out Burger, which posts jobs with salary that is comparable to UPS’s new part-time base wage. “The contract does not go far enough,” Negrete said.

The group’s ability to organize enough part-timers, who make up nearly half of UPS employees, is still up in the air. They frequently change jobs, and 10% or fewer usually decide on contract agreements, according to Lyngso.

The final ratification vote in 2018 saw a 44% overall turnout.

Out of 176 locals, 14 had representatives present on Monday, according to the union. The reason was not immediately apparent.

One source familiar with the meeting’s outcome told Reuters that Local 89, one of the major unions in Louisville, Kentucky, which represents approximately 10,000 workers, cast the lone opposing vote.

An inquiry for comments was not answered by any of its officials.

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Source: Reuters