September 14, 2010: UPS Teamsters in Local 2727 will get a turkey this Christmas season, and they will get their annual safety and length-of-service awards, thanks to a grievance their local just won.

But will all the rest of us get the same benefits?

That question can only be answered by our International Union officials, including Ken Hall and James Hoffa. Why is it that one local can win what they apparently can’t with the whole power of the International Union?

When UPS management took away these established benefits in 2009, Local 2727 took action on a grievance, and has now won the arbitration. Can our International Union do the same?

Local 2727 represents 1,200 aircraft mechanics who service UPS planes. They are under a separate contract covering just their local, and it does have different contract language.

The UPS national contract has a “maintenance of standards” clause in the supplemental language which reads “The employer agrees that all conditions of employment relating to wages, hours of work, overtime differential and general working conditions shall be maintained at not less than the highest standards in effect at the signing of this Agreement…”

Local 2727 members will get their benefits restored, and be made whole for the past year, when UPS stripped away this established past practice in violation of the contract.

The same should happen for all UPS Teamsters.

A copy of the arbitration award is available here.