News
National Talks Kick Off
Bargaining for the UPS and UPS Freight national agreements has begun.
“As we move forward with negotiations, a major focus is keeping our members informed every step of the way,” said Denis Taylor, Director of the Teamsters Package Division. “We will also be reaching out to our members for their input and help as we all work together to negotiate the strongest contracts.”
As the union’s largest single-employer contract, a number of union departments are assisting negotiators, including Economics and Contracts, Communications, Legal and the Package Division.
The union had previously collected member recommendations from contract proposal meetings at local unions. For UPS, this involved proposals for the National Master Agreement (NMA) as well as the regional supplemental agreements to the NMA.
Once the proposals were received, division staff sorted them by article and section. The initial
proposals were then reviewed by the UPS and UPS Freight National Negotiating Screening Committees on Sept. 25, 2017. The results of the screening were then presented at the Two-Person Committee, a contract proposal review meeting with two representatives from each UPS and UPS Freight local union, on Oct. 17, 2017 in Washington, D.C.
Both the UPS and UPS Freight committees voted unanimously in favor of presenting proposals to the employers.
The proposals address a wide range of issues, including: the continuing harassment of employees; chronic under-staffing and forced overtime; subcontracting; safety and health; and the increasing volume of overweight and oversized packages. Economic issues that will be addressed are starting: wages for part-time employees’ pension; and health and welfare.
All of the UPS Supplemental Committees have met with UPS on multiple dates.
Negotiations for the UPS and UPS Freight contracts began on Jan. 22, 2018 and seven weeks of talks have been scheduled through April. Additional meetings will be scheduled as the negotiations proceed.
Grievance Panels
The 2017 National UPS Grievance Panel meetings were held in Minneapolis in June and in Seattle in October. Local unions continue to take on subcontracting and understaffing through the grievance procedure and the division has 24 cases heading to arbitration.
The National UPS Freight Grievance Committee also met in June and October. From the cases that have deadlocked at the national panel, there have been several arbitrations scheduled, starting with Local 776 on subcontracting issues.
The arbitration was scheduled to have four different cases heard as one. However, the division was able to resolve the arbitration and create four full-time jobs out of the Harrisburg, Pa. location. The division has also arbitrated a vacation pay case at the Memphis location.
The next scheduled arbitration took place November 28 and it dealt with the language in Article 44 (subcontracting) as to whether full-time road drivers are to work in their classification prior to the company subcontracting bargaining unit work on any given day.
CSI
UPS Cartage Services held its semi-annual economic review on September 28. The union gained seven new full-time jobs through a restructuring of the network in the South and expansion of union-covered territory.
Issues Facing Local Unions
UPS has announced and is implementing a new classification known as Seasonal Personal Vehicle Driver (SPVD). While seasonal drivers have been hired for years, these drivers will be using their personal vehicles to deliver. Used mostly in rural areas, the drivers will work under the contract and be paid mileage for the use of their vehicle. The division has sent letters to UPS both nationally and regionally, protesting this program as a violation of the contract and a unilateral change. An extensive information request was made in conjunction with the protest.
Moving Forward
As national negotiations begin, the union’s negotiating team will be calling upon you, the members working at UPS and UPS Freight, to help win a strong contract.
Get Involved – Stay Informed
Download the UPS Rising app by searching “UPS Rising” in the App Store or Google Play. You can also follow the campaign at www.upsrising.org, on Facebook @TeamUPSrising or on Twitter @UPSrising. Text “UPS” to 86466 to receive text message alerts. (Message and data rates may apply.)