NMB keeps UPS, mechanics at bargaining table

NMB keeps UPS, mechanics at bargaining table    The National Mediation Board has denied a request by an airline mechanics union to be released from negotiations with UPS, the express delivery and logistics services company said Tuesday.
   The NMB steps in to help mediate labor impasses in the airline and railroad industries when a significant disruption to transportation service is possible, or it can get involved at the request of the parties involved. Ending negotiations is a precursor for groups to initiate strikes, lockouts or other steps. Under the law, strikes and other self-help actions can only occur if the NMB determines that further mediation would not be successful and after a cooling-off period of 30 days following release from mediation.
   The International Brotherhood of Teamsters made the request last week on behalf of Local 2727, which represents UPS's airline mechanics, after four years of collective bargaining on a new contract. The union requested the NMB offer binding arbitration as a solution. Rejection of arbitration by either party would trigger the 30-day countdown to a potential strike.
   The NMB denied the request in a notice sent to UPS and the union.
   'UPS’s aircraft mechanics simply want a fair agreement that recognizes we have been without a new contract since 2006,' said Robert Combine, a UPS aircraft mechanic and president of Local 2727 in Louisville, Ky., in a statement. 'Our company has made substantial profits since 2006, even considering the economic downturn last year; yet UPS has been unwilling to make a reasonable settlement offer, especially on the questions of job security for our members against foreign outsourcing and protecting our health benefits.'
   Negotiators for the company and union remain in recess until further notice from the board.
   UPS said it was pleased by the decision and that the contract it has offered would improve industry-leading benefits for its workers. ' Eric Kulisch