UPS, Teamsters accuse each other of walking out of contract talks
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Negotiations between UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters broke down early Wednesday, increasing the likelihood of a strike just weeks before their contract is set to expire. Marathon negotiations that stretched through the July 4 holiday ended with each side accusing the other of abandoning the effort. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight In a statement, the union said UPS walked away from the table around 4 a.m. after refusing to make a “last, best, and final offer,” and saying it had “nothing more to give.” The company’s offer had been rejected by the union’s bargaining committee.
“This multibillion-dollar corporation has plenty to give American workers — they just don’t want to,” Teamsters general president Sean O’Brien said in a statement. “UPS had a choice to make, and they have clearly chosen to go down the wrong road.”
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But UPS contends the Teamsters “stopped negotiating,” pointing out that there is still nearly a month left to iron out a deal.
“We have not walked away, and the union has a responsibility to remain at the table,” the company said in an unsigned statement.
It’s the latest labor dispute to threaten a pillar of the nation’s transportation and ecosystem. A nearly year-long dispute over pay and automation led to intermittent shutdowns earlier this year at several West Coast ports, even though workers were never officially on strike, disrupting trade pathways from Asia. President Biden had to personally intervene to avert a walkout among railway workers last year.
A walkout by UPS, the nation’s largest shipping company, would disrupt the movement of goods and commodities across the country and have serious implications for the economy. Roughly 6 percent of the country’s gross domestic product moves through UPS each year.
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Last month, union members voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. Teamsters’ leadership has said they won’t work beyond the expiration of their current contract at the end of July. As of early Wednesday morning no new talks were being planned, according to a statement from the union.
It’s unclear what specifically remains to be worked out. Compensation was a key issue heading into the negotiations, as were questions about the creation of more full-time jobs and UPS’s reliance on a lower-paid tier of delivery driver.
The union has criticized the pay increases included in previous offers from the company, which they say don’t keep up with the cost of living for part-time workers especially. Company drivers make $95,000 a year on average, and part-timers earn $20 an hour on average after 30 days.
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The two sides have tentatively reached agreements on several points, including one to equip new vehicles with air conditioning and on terms that would prevent the installation of driver-facing cameras.
The negotiations come as UPS faces declining revenue and significant competition for its core business. The company reported first-quarter revenue of $22.9 billion, down 6 percent from last year. Operating profit fell 21.8 percent to $2.5 billion.
It has deep-pocketed rivals investing deeply in expanding their logistics networks. The U.S. Postal Service is embarking on a $9.6 billion plan to electrify its fleet over the next five years with 66,000 new delivery vehicles, for example.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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Source: The Washington Post
