UPS Freight Makes Final Offer, Membership Vote Set For Nov. 9, 10, 11

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Teamsters National UPS Freight Negotiating Committee has received a Last, Best and Final (LBFO) contract proposal from UPS Freight. Membership voting will take place on November 9, 10 or 11 at local union meetings nationwide.

UPS Freight Teamsters rejected the previous proposed tentative agreement on October 5, 2018. The Teamsters negotiating committee notified the company that the 30-day extension agreement would terminate effective Monday, November 12, 2018, at 12:01 a.m.

Subsequent to the contract rejection, negotiating committee members have reached out to members to identify the issues that led to the rejection of the tentative agreement. On Monday, October 22, the negotiating committee met and formulated a list of issues that were then presented to the company. The negotiating committee demanded: 1) tighter restrictions and limits on subcontracting and rail usage; 2) higher wage increases that are not split; 3) earning protection for city drivers when they perform dock work; 4) elimination of the new qualifiers for pension and vacation benefits; and 5) a week's worth of vacation pay for all classifications based on 1/52 of the prior year's earnings.

The negotiating committee met with the company but has not been able to reach a revised tentative agreement. The negotiating committee did, however, negotiate several changes to the rejected tentative agreement. Those include:

1) In Article 25, Section 6, the 1,800-hour qualifier for a full year of pension credit will be reduced to the prior 1,500-hour level;  
2) In Article 25, Section 5, the 182 reports qualifier for full vacation benefits will be reduced to the prior 156-day level; and  
3) In Article 26, Section 1, pick-up and delivery drivers will receive their applicable driver rate of pay rate when performing dock work; and   
4) In Article 26, Section 2, road drivers will maintain their applicable local/road driver hourly rate when performing dock work if they are not otherwise entitled to the Article 44(d) $37.61 rate.

One additional change is in Article 44(e) where the percentages that subcontracting will be reduced over the life of the agreement will be adjusted so that the overall (4) percentage points remain the same but that the annual reductions will now be reallocated as: .5% by July 31, 2019; .5% by July 31, 2020; 1% by July 31, 2021; 1% by July 31, 2022; and 1% by July 31, 2023. 

The negotiating committee has determined that the LBFO does not sufficiently address the issues raised by the members. Nevertheless, because of the company's insistence that there is no more money to be had and in order to allow the members to make an informed decision on a question that will affect their livelihoods, the negotiating committee decided to submit the LBFO for acceptance or rejection. The negotiating committee is not making a recommendation to the membership for or against the offer.

UPS Freight Teamsters have previously authorized a strike. While a strike is a last resort, if the company's LBFO is rejected by the membership there will be a strike at a time and location(s) determined by the negotiating committee.

The proposal may be viewed at: http://ibt.io/UPSFreightupdate   

Contact: Kara Deniz 
[email protected]                               

SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters

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