More than 300,000 full- and part-time United Parcel Service (UPS) employees in the US have voted to ratify a five-year collective bargaining agreement, accepting pay increases and ending the threat of strike action.
More than 86% of trade union International Brotherhood of Teamsters members voted in favour of the agreement, which will see full- and part-time UPS union members receive $2.75 (£2.18) more per hour, with wage increases set to total $7.50 (£5.93) per hour over the length of the contract. Full-time staff will receive a pay increase to $49 (£38.76) per hour.
Existing part-time employees will see their pay increase to $21 (£16.61) per hour, seeing a 48% average total wage increase over the next five years, and part-time seniority workers will receive general pay rises, with some set to receive double the amount set out under the previous UPS Teamsters contract. Current part-time staff will receive longevity wage increases of up to $1.50 (£1.19) per hour on top of the new hourly rates.
In addition, safety and health protections, including vehicle air conditioning and cargo ventilation, have been agreed, as well as no forced overtime on drivers’ days off. In addition, Martin Luther King Day (15 January) will be given as a full holiday.
Part-time employees will have priority to perform all seasonal support work using their own vehicles with a locked-in eight-hour guarantee, while UPS creates 7,500 new full-time jobs and the fulfillment of 22,500 open positions, allowing part-timers to transition to full-time work.
Carol Tomé, chief executive officer at UPS, said: “Together, we reached a win-win-win agreement on the issues that are important to Teamsters leadership, our employees and to UPS and our customers. This agreement continues to reward UPS’s full- and part-time employees with industry-leading pay and benefits, while retaining the flexibility we need to stay competitive, serve our customers and keep our business strong.”
Sean M O’Brien, general president at Teamsters, added: “This contract will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers. Teamsters have set a new standard and raised the bar for pay, benefits, and working conditions in the package delivery industry. This is the template for how workers should be paid and protected nationwide, and non-union employers like Amazon better pay attention.”