UPS reaches tentative contract deal with workers

Update:

• UPS reached a tentative new five-year contract with its Teamsters union, averting a potential strike that threatened to disrupt package deliveries for households and businesses across the country, The Associated Press reports. 
• The contract, which still must be approved by union members, will increase the pay for full- and part-time UPS union workers by $2.75 per hour in 2023 and $7.50 per hour in total by the time it expires.
• The agreement also contains a provision that will increase the starting pay for part-time workers from $16.20 per hour to $21 per hour. 
• Negotiators for UPS and the Teamsters union had clashed over pay for part-time workers, which make up more than half of the UPS employees represented by the union.

UPS trucks air conditioning deal overview: 

• Who: The United Parcel Service (UPS) has reached a tentative deal with the Teamsters union to install air conditioning systems in its brown delivery trucks. 
• Why: The deal comes amid ongoing negotiations over the terms of a new contract for more than 340,000 unionized UPS employees and amid criticism the logistics company is not doing enough to protect its drivers from extreme heat. 
• Where: Nationwide.

(June 20, 2023)

The United Parcel Service (UPS) has reached a tentative agreement with the Teamsters union to install air conditioning systems in the logistics company’s brown delivery trucks, amid reports their workers have been dealing with extreme heat in their vehicles. 

The tentative deal comes amid ongoing negotiations over the terms of a new contract for more than 340,000 unionized employees, NPR reports. 

“We have reached an agreement on heat safety with the Teamsters, which includes new measures that build on important actions rolled out to UPS employees in the spring, including new cooling gear and enhanced training,” UPS said in a statement.

UPS said it has agreed to equip all of its newly purchased U.S. small package delivery vehicles with air-conditioning systems starting in January of next year, with hotter areas of the country given first dibs on new vehicles. 

The company has also installed cab fans in its package cars — in order to provide additional airflow for drivers — along with exhaust heat shields in the cargo floor of the vehicles. 

UPS faced criticism from labor leaders, workers over claims it failed to protect drivers from extreme heat

The tentative agreement marks the first time UPS will be required to equip its recognizable brown delivery vehicles — which make up 95% of its delivery fleet — with air conditioning systems, according to the Teamsters union, NPR reports. 

UPS had reportedly faced criticism from labor leaders, workers and their families, who argued the company was not doing enough to protect their drivers from having to deal with severe heat during their delivery routes. 

“Air conditioning is coming to UPS, and Teamster members in these vehicles will get the relief and protection they’ve been fighting for,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement.

A sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve asked a federal judge in Washington to certify a class of 440 soldiers earlier this year as part of a class action lawsuit filed against UPS over claims the company failed to pay reservist workers during their time spent on military leave. 

What are your thoughts on the tentative deal between UPS and the Teamsters union? Let us know in the comments! 

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