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Teamsters members rejected a new contract with
United Parcel Service
Inc.
UPS -0.06%
send both parties back to the bargaining table before the holiday season.
The preliminary results of the votes showed that 54.3% of the votes cast opposed the five – year agreement which represents 243,000 drivers, package sorters and other workers, revealed on Friday evening the number of votes cast. International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Another pact representing 11,000 UPS Freight workers was also rejected, 62.1% of the votes cast being opposed to this agreement.
A number of other regional and local agreements were also rejected, blaming the Teamsters leaders and UPS for trying to sell their ranks in the contracts.
Union leaders said they would reopen discussions with the company. "We will be going back to the company to talk to them about some additional changes," said Denis Taylor, co-chair of the Teamsters bargaining committee.
A spokesperson for UPS said the company was disappointed with the results and that she would meet the Teamsters to discuss next steps. A contract extension is in place for the previous transaction that expired in July and the company expects its business to proceed normally.
"The Teamsters Negotiation Committee and UPS have developed fair deals that reward UPS employees for their contribution to the company's success, including improved wages, benefits and job creation," said the door. of the company, Steve Gaut.
The vote adds a layer of uncertainty to the UPS's operations as it moves towards the critical peak period as the number of packages passing through its network soars.
The agreement in principle, reached between the company and union leaders in July, was facing a persistent campaign by a Teamster faction opposing a two-party pay system. levels for drivers and starting salaries that will soon follow those proposed to
Amazon.com
Inc.
"Our members have spoken out loud," said Sean O'Brien, Teamster leader in Boston, who opposed the deal. "This contract is clearly concessionary and leaders should listen to members and go back and get what our members deserve."
This contract is one of the largest collective agreements in North America and is considered essential in defining the distribution giant's cost structure at a time when it is shipping more parcels than ever before through online shopping.
The creation of a two-tier system would have allowed the company to call on less-paid workers to deliver packages on weekends, possibly including Sundays, to reduce delivery costs. . Teamsters leaders said it would also allow parcel sorters and other workers to get a higher rate of pay.
Teamsters for a Democratic Union, a group opposed to the current leadership of the union, argued that the weekend driver's position created a division among the workforce, as people would be doing the same job as before. 39, a better paid flat rate truck driver.
The opposition seized this week's information that Amazon would increase its starting salary to $ 15 an hour, noting that the proposed contract with UPS provided for a starting hourly rate of $ 13.00 and would not reach $ 15. dollars before 2021.
Before the vote count, a spokesman for UPS said the company believed that its overall compensation package, including health insurance, pension plan, vacation pay and others, made it competitive.
Write to Paul Ziobro at [email protected]
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