The chances of possible UPS strike action in the United States, that we reported last month, do appear to be diminishing because it looks like the company and the relevant trade unions have reached an outline agreement. The deal needs to be ratified by union members, but is expected to come into force at the beginning of August.
With agreements now reached for both the freight and small package national master contracts, discussions continue for small package supplements and local agreements. Strong progress has been made on many local small package agreements and supplements, including a handshake agreement covering more than 100,000 Teamster-represented UPS employees located in the Central Conference, the Southern Conference, and Oregon / Idaho, among others. Other local agreements and supplements continue to be negotiated. The new agreements will go into effect August 1, 2018, once they are ratified by employees.
– UPS
UPS says the tentative agreement for a new Master UPS Freight Agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (that’s the union) is a five-year agreement and covers about 11,000 Teamsters-represented UPS Freight employees.
UPS says its goal for the freight and small package agreements has been to reward the company’s employees for their contributions to its success while enabling the business to remain flexible to meet its customers’ needs.
