Teamsters May Call Strike Authorization Vote
May 4, 2018
UPS believes the Teamsters are beginning the process to call for a strike authorization vote.
Here are some facts UPS would like you to be aware of:
- This is an expected action taken by most unions during contract negotiation.
- The next message will likely say that members overwhelmingly voted in support of the UPS strike authorization — an action taken by most unions during contract negotiations designed to sensationalize the issues, gain media attention, and put pressure on a company during the negotiations.
- Regardless of the authorization to strike, the reality is that a Teamsters strike authorization vote does not give the IBT the ability to call a strike while the current national master agreement is in effect through July 31, 2018.
- Business continues as usual at UPS, and we continue to negotiate with the Teamsters about two weeks every month.
- We have reached tentative agreements on a wide variety of non-economic issues.
UPS is confident in our ability to reach an agreement that meets the needs of our employees and the business.
This website will remain a source for factual, timely information about negotiations so please check back regularly for updates.
UPS and Teamsters Discuss Two-Tier Wages, Sunday Deliveries
Proposal for lower-paid ‘hybrid’ drivers to work weekends divides labor union during contract discussions
Under the current UPS contract, most Teamsters drivers work Monday to Friday shifts and earn higher wages on weekends. PHOTO: VICTOR J. BLUE/BLOOMBERG NEWS
United Parcel Service Inc. UPS 2.32% and the Teamsters union are discussing a two-tier wage system that would allow the company to hire lower-paid workers to deliver packages on weekends, including Sundays, as the parcel giant tries to manage the surge in e-commerce.
The proposal, raised in recent contract negotiations, calls for creating a “hybrid driver” position that would pay a minimum of $15 an hour and top out at a rate of $30. These employees would work Sunday to Thursday or Tuesday to Saturday, avoiding costly overtime to provide weekend service.
Under the current contract, most package-truck drivers work Monday-to-Friday shifts and earn higher wages on weekends. The union says they are entitled to double-time wages in some areas for working on a Sunday, amounting to nearly $74 an hour.
The hybrid driver role would allow UPS to start regular Sunday delivery of packages, a service the U.S. Postal Service provides for customers such as Amazon.com Inc. UPS started Saturday package delivery in some markets in 2017 but hasn’t disclosed any plans to start delivering on Sundays.
A Teamsters spokeswoman said the wage proposal for UPS was part of the negotiating process and the two sides hadn’t come to any agreement about hybrid drivers. A UPS spokesman on Tuesday declined to comment on contract talks.
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The two sides are negotiating one of the largest collective bargaining agreements in the U.S., covering about 280,000 UPS employees. UPS, which has about 454,000 workers world-wide, is trying to complete a new contract before a five-year agreement expires on July 31. UPS Chief Executive Officer David Abney said recently he was confident an agreement would be reached in time.
The hybrid-driver idea has inflamed divisions within the Teamsters, including a faction opposed to the current union leadership of President James P. Hoffa.
Last week, Denis Taylor, director of the Teamsters package division, removed three members from the negotiating committee, of which he is co-chairman, according to Teamsters United, a group that opposes Mr. Hoffa’s leadership. The dismissed committee members opposed the hybrid-driver proposal and said they were removed for revealing the contract proposals to union members.
“The key to negotiations of this scope is educating and mobilizing members,” said Matt Taibi, an official at Teamsters Local 251 in Rhode Island, who was removed from the negotiating committee. “Members need to know what it is they’re fighting for.”
The rift between the Teamsters United and Mr. Hoffa’s team runs deep. Mr. Hoffa, the son of the famous labor leader with the same name, narrowly won re-election as the Teamsters general president in 2016 over Fred Zuckerman, who led the Teamsters United ticket. Mr. Zuckerman and other union leaders, such as Sean O’Brien, president of Teamsters Local 25 in Boston, have called for more transparency.
“It’s unfortunate that these negotiations are some of the most important and it seems like this leadership is focused on adversaries,” Mr. O’Brien said in an interview.
The current contract already has ‘hybrid’ positions wherein workers can attain a full-time role by cobbling together multiple part-time shifts—from loading trucks and sorting packages to clerical work and washing cars. Such positions are paid a premium to the starting part-time wage of $10 an hour.
Those jobs don’t allow workers to deliver packages on the company’s traditional brown boxcars. That function is viewed as a premium position in the Teamster ranks, with annual pay typically above $80,000 with generous benefits.
Other issues being negotiated include raising starting wages for part-time workers and reining in excessive overtime. UPS executives last month expressed confidence they would reach an agreement, avoiding the first strike at the company since 1997.
The Atlanta-based company, which has been spending heavily to automate its network to handle the surge in e-commerce parcels, has also been taking steps to curb employee costs. Last month it offered early buyouts to managers and in 2017 froze pension plans for 70,000 nonunion staffers.
Write to Paul Ziobro at Paul.Ziobro@wsj.com
