Last Updated on July 25, 2023, 11:07 PM | Published: July 25, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY – The United Parcel Service (UPS) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters agreed on a tentative contract early on Tuesday. It’s a major win not just for the Teamsters but for organized labor in the U.S.
It’s not over yet, though. The 340,000 union members still need to vote on the agreement.
Local Teamsters react
Free Press spoke with Package Handler and Teamsters Local 886 member Holly Baca after word of the agreement came out.
She thinks Teamsters could have gotten a little more in the agreement.
“I think we could have won better,” said Baca. “I think it is a much better proposal than what we have gotten for part-timers in the past, by leaps and bounds – but it does not close the gap of concessions part-timers have had forced upon them since the 80s.
“The equivalent of $8 in 1982 is $25.29 today, and the only reason we use $8 is because part-time pay actually got chopped down to $12 previously,” Baca said. “Ultimately, after accounting for inflation, we are being asked to accept lower wages than what people were offered in the 80s – and that was back before UPS had even become a billion-dollar company.”
She explained how her compensation has changed.
“If I am doing my math correctly, I would get an immediate raise of $4.25 (possibly $3.75, I’m not sure where the ‘seniority’ catch up raises will be). It sounds like a lot, but keep in mind that these raises, and the fight for fair wages in this type of work environment, are hard-fought wins and most definitely earned”, Baca said.
Here are the concessions the Teamsters won in this most recent tentative agreement:
- Full and part time union workers will start with a $2.75 raise in 2023 and expand to $7.50 by the end of the five-year contract.
- Increased starting pay for part-timers, going from $16.20 an hour to $21.00 an hour, and will advance to $23.00.
- Teamsters union members classified as 22.4s would be reclassified as Regular Package Car Drivers (RPCD) and placed into seniority.
- Improved working conditions such as air conditioning in vehicles and cargo ventilation.
- Martin Luther King Day off for all Teamsters union members.
- Wage increases for full-time union members to an average top rate of $49 an hour.
- Part-time union workers would have their longevity wages increased up to $1.50 an hour on top of their new hourly raises.
- No more forced overtime on Teamsters drivers’ days off.
- The creation of 7,500 full time jobs at UPS, and the fulfillment of 22,500 open positions to give part-timers a chance to transition to full-time positions.
Statement from Teamsters national
In a statement released by The Teamsters Union, Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman said, “UPS came dangerously close to putting itself on strike, but we kept firm on our demands. In my more than 40 years in Louisville, representing members at Worldport – the largest UPS hub in the country – I have never seen a national contract that levels the playing field for workers so dramatically as this one.”
“The agreement puts more money in our members’ pockets and establishes a full range of new protections for them on the job”, Zuckerman explained. “We stayed focused on our members and fought like hell to get everything that full-time and part-time UPS Teamsters deserve.”
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said in the statement, “Rank-and-file UPS Teamsters sacrificed everything to get this country through a pandemic and enabled UPS to reap record-setting profits. Teamster labor moves America.”
“The union went into this fight committed to winning for our members,” said O’Brien. “We demanded the best contract in the history of UPS, and we got it. UPS has put $30 billion in new money on the table as a direct result of these negotiations.”
“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”, he said.
According to the statement, “The UPS Teamsters National Master Agreement is the single largest private-sector collective bargaining agreement in North America. The Teamsters have around 1.2 million members in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico”.
This new tentative agreement has been reached after talks recently broke down, leading to “practice picketing” across the country. We reported the local participation.
Alex Gatley covers labor activities in the state of Oklahoma.
