UPS, Teamsters agree on contract terms

The tentative “handshake” deal averts what could have been the largest labor strike in the United States in more than 20 years.    UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters have reached a tentative agreement on terms for a new five-year contract, according to statements from the company and labor union.
   The deal, which UPS referred to as a “handshake agreement,” is still subject to ratification, but would cover the more than 260,000 union members currently working for UPS and UPS Freight.
   Under the new contract, UPS Teamsters would receive hourly wage increases totaling $4.15 spread out over five years and the starting wage for part-time workers would rise to $13 an hour, effective Aug. 1.
   Had the two sides not reached an agreement by the time the current labor deal expires on July 31, the Teamsters were prepared to strike in what would have been the largest labor walkout in the United States since 1997.
   UPS and the Teamsters said they will continue to negotiate on a number of supplemental agreements that cover local work rules, as well as the separate agreement covering roughly 11,000 Teamsters-represented employees in the UPS Freight network, in meetings scheduled to take place July 9-12.
   Should those meetings prove fruitful, the Teamsters will then release the full details of the contract agreement to its members for a ratification vote.
   “I am confident that once the membership has reviewed and understood the changes, they will see that this agreement is among the very best ever negotiated for UPS members,” Denis Taylor, co-chairman of the Teamsters UPS National Negotiating committee, said in a statement. “I realize that the membership is anxious to see the improvements, but as I explained at the beginning of this process, the specifics must be held until the supplements have been settled and the entire proposed contract has been reviewed by the two-person committee.”