UPS Contract: Back to the Bargaining Table
The UPS national contract will narrowly pass when the vote count is completed. But Ken Hall and UPS will be returning to the bargaining table because 15 supplements and riders have been rejected—the biggest number in Teamster history.
The master contract passed because of the large Yes majorities in the Southern Region, the Atlantic Supplement and New England. In those three areas Yes votes had an 11,941 vote majority. In the rest of the country, No votes will end up with a strong majority, rejecting the contract by about 7,000 votes.
In the three “Yes“ areas, no full-time Teamsters are affected by the health benefit cuts, and that is the biggest factor in the vote.
What Happens Now?
The national contract cannot be signed at this point, because each rejected supplement and rider needs to be renegotiated and re-voted. Legally, the contract is one integrated agreement, not separate national and regional contracts.
The International Union needs to do more than re-vote the contracts with a new sales pitch. Supplemental issues need to be addressed. So does a major issue which led to many supplemental rejections. The members have said loud and clear: reverse the health benefit cuts!
Hall and UPS can make that happen. Even if members are moved to the Central States Fund, the IBT and UPS can bargain more healthcare money in the national contract to guarantee no reduction in members’ current benefits.
Renegotiating to reverse the healthcare cuts is achievable.
Reversing the healthcare cuts will not address all of the problems that caused many supplements to be rejected, but it will be an important start.
Let’s Team Up To Win a Better Contract
UPS Teamsters rejected a record number of supplements and riders in the contract vote—and have sent Ken Hall and UPS back to the bargaining table. To reverse the healthcare cuts and win contract improvements will take more membership involvement and national coordination.
TDU and the Make UPS Deliver network will be providing information, producing bulletins and taking nationally coordinated action to demand that the International Union and UPS reverse the healthcare cuts and improve the contract.
Contact TDU to find out how you can get involved. Teamster members are stronger when we work together.
Click here for a more detailed report on the voting results and a local-by-local chart of the results.
Ballot Count Results from the IBT
Daily Archives: June 25, 2013
Teamsters Reject New Contract With UPS Freight
Teamster union member employees of the freight operation UPS Freight have overwhelmingly rejected a new contract. The vote of 4,244 to 1,897 follows negotiators from both the union and the company ironing out a tentative five-year deal in April. The decision sends both sides back to the negotiating table. The current pact expires on July 31. The vote is separate from the one covering workers at UPS’ parcel operation. Votes for it are still being counted. However, so far it appears to be headed for approval, though some supplemental agreements have been or are heading toward being rejected. The contact that was voted down is only the second for workers at UPS Freight. The first was ratified in 2008, when workers voted to join the Teamsters after UPS purchased what used to be Overnite Transportation in 2005. Neither side has commented on the results. However, the Teamsters dissident group, Teamsters for a Democratic Union, describes the vote at UPS Freight as “an important step by standing together in solidarity.” It said the contract had “a two-tier deal to create ‘Line Haul’ drivers at essential nonunion wages” and described improvements in wage and pension benefits as “inadequate.” The new contact for UPS Freight offered a $2.50 per hour wage hike over five years, while those at the UPS parcel operations are voting on a $3.90 per hour wage increase over the same time period.)
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