UPS has agreed to remove their two-tier wage system for its drivers in the next contract with the popular union group, International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
This change in the UPS wage system will drastically lower the chance of the drivers going on strike as the labor agreement comes to an end in July.
In addition to the removal of the two-tier wage system, the union also advocated for an end to the mandatory overtime policy for unscheduled workdays, as well as having Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a paid holiday for the drivers.
Natasha Amadi, spokesperson for UPS stated that the agreement would move current part-time drivers to a Tuesday through Saturday shift to accommodate weekend deliveries.
This agreement is the largest private-sector collective bargaining agreement in the US, affecting about 340,000 drivers.
The powerful union group made it very clear to the business that they would not accept any proposal that continues the two-tier wage system that is currently in place.
Part-time drivers, the lower tier, make $5 an hour less than full-time drivers, who have a top rate of $39 an hour.
“We had part timers going to work in these warehouses with total disregard for themselves and their families” during the Covid-19 pandemic, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said during a break Saturday. “We had members that died because they went to work to provide these services to the general public.”
On June 28 contract negotiations came to a hard stop when Teamster walked away from the deal when they accused UPS of blinding them with last-minute requests to concessions.
On June 30, the union agreed to resume negotiations setting the deadline for July 5.
“But make no mistake—we are not done,” O’Brien said in a statement on Twitter. “UPS knows we must reach full agreement on other economic issues, including higher wages, within the next few days.”
