More than 6,000 UPS workers represented by Teamsters Local 710 voted to accept a new five-year contract on Thursday. The agreement is retroactive to 2013 and was overwhelmingly ratified by a 4-to-1 margin.

“This is a powerful Teamster contract protecting dedicated UPS workers in Chicago and across Illinois, Iowa and Indiana,” said John T. Coli, Trustee of Local 710 and President of Teamsters Joint Council 25. “The agreement includes annual wage increases, health care benefits, improved vacation pay for all workers and more full-time job opportunities for part-time employees. Local 710 commends the UPS membership for standing together ahead of negotiations and seeing through to ratification this strong union contract.”

The new contract was successfully bargained during a marathon negotiation session between the Local 710 negotiating committee and UPS management on December 5, 2014. During the past 10 weeks, Teamster representatives distributed tentative agreements to all UPS members for review, met with workers at area facilities and conducted tele-town hall conference calls to discuss all new provisions of the contract.

The ratification vote was conducted by mail-in ballot.

“UPS workers represented by Local 710 deserve a contract that clearly defines their wages and benefits and advances their rights on the job, and now they’ve got it,” said Del Schaefer, Teamsters business agent for UPS members. “Under the terms of the new agreement, Local 710 will continue to stand up for UPS workers across three states and champion the hard labor they put in each and every day.”

Today’s ratification vote follows a previous tentative agreement negotiated in April 2014 that was rejected by UPS members. Since that time, the Local 710 negotiating committee of 18 rank-and-file members and union representatives worked to bargain a stronger agreement. The new contract includes:

• Annual wage increases for full- and part-time workers, retroactive to July 31, 2013
• Improved vacation pay for more than 6,000 Local 710 members
• Increased flexibility for use of holiday and vacation days
• Increased credit in wage progression for part-time workers moving to full-time
• Protections for Local 710 members against the subcontracting of union work
• 550 new full-time job opportunities for part-time UPS workers

Representing 14,000 hardworking men and women, Teamsters Local 710 is an affiliate of Teamsters Joint Council 25, America’s premier labor union for Chicago, Illinois and northwest Indiana.

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