IPA calls for strike against UPS

The Independent Pilots Association called on its members to authorize a strike against UPS and said it will announce the voting results Oct. 23.    The Independent Pilots Association (IPA), which represents professional pilots who fly for the United Parcel Service (UPS), has called on its members to authorize a strike against the parcel giant.
   The approval would grant the IPA’s executive board, which is comprised of five elected UPS pilots who each serve three-year terms, authority to request a release from federally mediated negotiations with UPS.
   IPA said in a statement it will announce the voting results Oct. 23.
   A spokesperson from UPS told American Shipper that the company hopes to reach a new labor contract with the IPA that benefits its employees and protects the company’s position as soon as possible. However, such agreements can take several years to complete, which is a result of the complexity of the pacts and the protections of the Railway Labor act, a U.S. law which governs airline contract talks, the spokesperson said.
   UPS’s captains make a minimum compensation of $255,128 annually. The median wage for a U.S. commercial airline pilot is $98,410, according to the most current Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Crewmembers are eligible for two company-funded retirement plans and a traditional 401 (k). In addition, UPS works closely with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ensure safety and apply rest rules that are already more strict than the FAA’s, according to the spokesperson.
   Despite the strike announcement, the spokesperson said UPS is confident these negotiations will be completed without service disruption and there is no real threat of a strike, which is not possible under the RLA unless authorized by the National Mediation Board. Even then, there is a series of fail-safes, which include presidential and congressional intervention, the spokesperson said.