It's our contract. Get the facts on the proposed new five-year deal with UPS.
Wages
Wage increases are as follows: $.70/hour on August 1, 2013; $.70/hour on August 1, 2014; $.70/hour on August 1, 2015; $.40/hour on August 1, 2016 and $.40/hour on Feb. 1, 2017; $.50/hour on August 1, 2017 and $.50/hour on Feb. 1, 2018.
The progression has been increased from three-years to four-years so new 22.3s and drivers will have to wait longer to reach full union scale. The details are in Article 41.
The wage increases total $3.90. The wage increases in the 2008 contract totaled $4.00, which taking into account five years of inflation would now be $4.40.
Part-Time Wages
The International Union announced that part-time wages are going up by $1.50. But the real increase is only 50 cents.
That's because the $1 raise that you get after 90 days in the present contract has been eliminated. In the proposed contract, part-timers don’t get their first increase until the one-year mark.
The contract does not include any catch-up raises for part-timers, just the regular annual wage increases.
The chart below shows the difference.
| 2008 Contract | 2013 Contract |
|||||
| Start | Preloader/Sorter | $9.50 | $11 | |||
| All Others | $8.50 | $10 | ||||
| Start +90 Days | Preloader/Sorter | $10.50 | $11 | |||
| All Others | $9.50 | $10 | ||||
| Start Plus One (1) Year | Preloader/Sorter | $11 | $11.50 | |||
| All Others | $10 | $10.50 |
Health Benefits
All members presently in the company-based health plan are being moved out, into the Central States Health and Welfare Fund or other funds with inferior benefits.
Retiree Health Benefits
Members in company-based plans will face much larger payments for retiree health care. Instead of paying $50/month to cover a retiree and spouse, it will go to $100, then $200 and $300/month by the third year of the contract ($150 for a retiree alone).
In the West, where Teamsters have "maintenance of benefits" language to protect against health care cuts, any maintenance of benefits funding will come from reduced pension funding.
IBT-UPS Plan Pensions
Covers nearly 50,000 Teamsters in the Central and Southern Regions and the Carolinas
The 30-and-out benefit will go from $3,000 to $3,200 in 2014 and to $3400 in 2017. The 25-and-out and 25-at-57 benefits are frozen at $2,000 and $2,500/month. The annual accrual, presently $170, remains frozen for five years and will go up by $5 in 2018.