International Brotherhood of Teamsters negotiators completed a deal with UPS that reportedly puts $30 billion in the pockets of 340,000 drivers and warehouse workers. The game-changing win comes on the heels of a stinging loss that saw Yellow Corp file for bankruptcy, send 22,000 truckers to the unemployment line and a Teamsters’ pension fund missing a $50 million payment.
The Teamsters have been in the spotlight for high-profile, sometimes controversial wins and losses as of late. In California, the union backed the AB5 that effectively bans owner-operators and independent trucking. The organization also needed the White House to bail out its Central States Pension Fund to the tune of $36 billion. But with 86.3 percent of UPS workers ratifying a five-year contract that significantly raises their hourly wages, Teamsters bosses are taking a victory lap.
“The union went into this fight committed to winning for our members. We demanded the best contract in the history of UPS, and we got it,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien reportedly said. “We’ve changed the game, battling it out day and night to make sure our members won an agreement that pays strong wages, rewards their labor, and doesn’t require a single concession. This contract sets a new standard in the labor movement and raises the bar for all workers.”
UPS reportedly moves $3.8 billion in goods on a daily basis, the equivalent of 5 percent of the country’s GDP. Union truck drivers are expected to earn upwards of $170,000 annually between salaries and benefits by the end of the contract. Part-timers will receive a minimum of $21 per hour, a $5.50 raise for many. Admittedly, Teamsters officials played a dangerous game of chicken with UPS that nearly resulted in a massive strike.
Other labor-union contracts appear to be following a similar trend. At American Airlines, pilots signed off on a four-year deal that raises their salaries by 46 percent, when including 401(k) benefits. At Delta Air Lines, pilots penned an agreement that includes 30-percent pay raises. Teamsters workers gain a 48 percent average total wage increase over the life of the UPS deal.
Fleet drivers and warehouse personnel servicing regions such as Houston expect their non-union companies to voluntarily increase salaries. The conventional wisdom is that they don’t want to lose their most experienced and safety-conscious drivers to UPS.
Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/22/ups-workers-approve-new-labor-contract.html
https://teamster.org/2023/07/weve-changed-the-game-teamsters-win-historic-ups-contract/
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