October 24, 2014: UPS profits are up and a record peak season is expected. For the first time package drivers will be forced to work on Black Friday.

UPS announced today third-quarter profits of $1.2 billion. That’s an increase of 11 percent over last year. Both profit figures topped Wall Street’s predictions. For the year, UPS expects to make after-tax profits of around $4.5 billion.

UPS also announced that Surepost shipments increased more than 50 percent. 

Management expects peak season deliveries to jump by 11 percent this year, shattering the previous record.

For the first time, UPS will have ground service on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Management will force members to work if there are not enough volunteers who want to work the holiday for the extra pay.

One local at least has contract language that allows Teamsters to avoid the Black Friday blues. Under the New York Local 804 Supplement, UPS cannot schedule Teamsters to work on a holiday, including the day after Thanksgiving.   

Local 804 members who want the day after Thanksgiving with their family can take the day off with pay. Any Local 804 member who works will get double-time pay for all hours worked, plus holiday pay.

The national contract has no language to stop UPS’s Black Friday plans and the issue was not addressed in contract negotiations.