October 17, 2007: UPS entered into early negotiations with our union more than one year ago because shippers and stockholders were pressuring the corporation to reach an early settlement.

That pressure gave our union leverage. Did our negotiators use it to make UPS deliver?

Has the company put its best offer on the table?

Those questions are now in the hands of Teamsters at UPS, who have until Nov. 16 to cast their votes on the tentative national deal as well as supplements and riders.

The negotiations with UPS were the most secretive in Teamster history. Our union leaders kept a tight lid on what was being discussed in bargaining and never mobilized Teamster members.

The tentative agreement they are putting to a vote contains $9 an hour in combined wage and pension improvements for full-timers as well as historic concessions that give back the pension victory and new full-time jobs we won in the 1997 strike.

Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) launched Make UPS Deliver campaign to keep members informed and to unite concerned Teamsters to pressure UPS and our union negotiators to deliver the contract that members deserve.

Teamsters across the country are downloading and distributing contract bulletins and other information from www.MakeUPSDeliver.org, holding rank-and-file meetings, and taking action to make sure UPS Teamsters cast an informed vote on the proposed early deal.