John Arthur Brown/Zuma
After weeks of intense negotiations and practice picket lines, the Teamsters union has reached a preliminary five-year contract agreement with UPS, averting a potentially economically devastating work stoppage at the world’s largest package courier company.
The tentative contract includes wage increases, the end of mandatory overtime on drivers’ days off, and the elimination of a two-tier wage system that had certain part-time employees making much less than full-timers doing the same work. The contract raises all workers’ wages by $2.75 per hour in 2023 and by $7.50 over the next five years.
Both the union and the company seem pleased with the outcome. “The overwhelmingly lucrative contract raises wages for all workers, creates more full–time jobs, and includes dozens of workplace protections and improvements,” the Teamsters said in a statement.
“Together we reached a win-win-win agreement on the issues that are important to Teamsters leadership, our employees and to UPS and our customers,” UPS CEO Carol Tomé said in a statement. “This agreement continues to reward UPS’s full- and part-time employees with industry-leading pay and benefits while retaining the flexibility we need to stay competitive, serve our customers and keep our business strong.”
The union will begin voting on the contract on August 3.
