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.

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.

Click here to download this article as a leaflet.

<< Click here to go back to Complete UPS Contract Coverage.

May 7, 2013: The International Union made harassment the signature issue of the contract negotiations. Does the tentative agreement deliver on the hype?

Two hot button issues the new contract is supposed to address are unfair discipline based on technology and excessive overtime.

The proposed new language is finally out. TDU.org asks UPSers to look at the language and send us your opinion.

Technology and Discipline
Article 6

The company's right to fire an employee for "dishonesty" solely based on information from GPS or technology appears largely unchanged.

In cases that do not involve dishonesty, UPS must now "confirm by direct observation or other corroborating evidence" a violation warranting discharge.

But what about cases involving alleged dishonesty? There are only two changes in this language.

"No employee shall be discharged on a first offense if such discharge is based solely upon information received from GPS or any successor system unless he/she engages in dishonesty (defined for the purposes of this paragraph as any intentional act or omission by an employee where he/she intends to defraud the company."

Dishonesty used to mean "theft." But under the last contract, UPS has been firing drivers for "dishonesty" and "falsification" for DIAD misentries that used to be routine: mis-recording the delivery time on air, recording a stop when you're back at the building, entering a closed commercial stop as a "not in" residential stop etc.

Do you think the new language will stop these terminations in the future? Send us your comments.

Retaliation / Excessive Overtime
Article 37

The International Union makes big claims for the new language in Article 37, saying the new language: will protect members from retaliation, make it easier to get on the 9.5 list, get drivers 9.5 pay faster, prohibit excessive overtime on the two remaining days within a workweek, increase cover drivers' 9.5 rights, and give the Union the power to address inadequate staffing.

Article 37 has a number of language changes—and a number of loopholes.

TDU.org asks shop stewards and members with experience trying to enforce 9.5 to read the proposed changes and send us your thoughts.

More Detailed Analysis to Come

The tentative agreement is just out. It deserves a serious reading. Shop stewards and active UPS Teamsters are reviewing the contract now.

Teamsters for a Democratic Union will be compiling their feedback and publishing an analysis of the contract's highlights and lowlights.

TDU will host a nationwide conference call for UPS Teamsters on Thursday night. Click here for more information.

UPDATED June 4, 2013: We now have most Supplement and Rider Tentative Agreements posted for membership review and comparison. We will post more as we obtain them from the International union.

Available for download here are –

• National Master tentative agreement
   
• National Master tentative agreement (Spanish/Español)
   
• Louisville 89 Air Rider Rejected Company Offer
  Local 89 rejected this offer, but the company got the International to mail it out to the members for a vote. The International rushed it out, screwed up the mailing, and has sent a second ballot to all affected Louisville Teamsters.
   
• Western Region Supplement tentative agreement

• New York Local 804 Supplement tentative agreement
   
• Upstate New York Supplement tentative agreement

• New Jersey Local 177 Drivers Supplement tentative agreement
   
• New Jersey Local 177 Maintenance and Mechanics Supplement tentative agreement
   
• Atlantic Area Supplement tentative agreement
   
• Northern California Supplement tentative agreement
   
• TCI Supplement tentative agreement
   
• Metro Philadelphia Supplement tentative agreement
   
• UPS Cartage Services, Inc. tentative agreement
   
• Central Region Supplement tentative agreement
   
• Southern Region Supplement tentative agreement
   
• New England Supplement tentative agreement
   
• Philadelphia Local 623 Supplement tentative agreement
   
• Central Pennsylvania Supplement tentative agreement
   
• Western Pennsylvania Supplement tentative agreement
   
• Local 135 Rider tentative agreement
   
• Metro Detroit Local 243 Rider tentative agreement
   
• Michigan Rider tentative agreement
   
• Ohio Rider tentative agreement
   
• Hawaii Rider tentative agreement

• Supplement Union de Tronquistas de Puerto Rico Local 901 tentative agreement
   
• Southwest Package and Sort Rider tentative agreements

• Southwest Automotive Rider tentative agreement
   
• Wisconsin Local 344 Rider tentative agreement
   
• Missouri Local 688 Rider tentative agreement
   
• Joint Council 3 Rider tentative agreement
   
• Oregon Joint Council 37 Package Rider tentative agreement
   
• Oregon Joint Council 37 Sort Rider tentative agreement
   
• Local 769 Miami Air Cargo Rider tentative agreement

• Alaska Local 959 Rider tentative agreement

• Washington State JC 28 Rider and Sort Addendum tentative agreement
   

We will make more supplements available for members to review, compare and discuss, as soon as possible. We believe an informed membership is the basis for a strong Teamsters Union.

<< Click here to go back to Complete UPS Contract Coverage.

May 7, 2013: You can download and review a benefits chart for the enhanced Central States C-6 Plan, which would cover many thousands of Teamsters from various regions if the tentative agreement is approved.

This chart is being distributed by the International Union.

Most Teamsters across the country presently in the company plan would be moved to this plan under the tentative agreement. Those in California and in New Jersey Local 177 have until November 1, 2013 to come up with an alternative plan for those members, per a Memorandum of Understanding.

Regarding health coverage for retirees, the tentative agreement includes a Memorandum of Understanding which states that Teamsters presently under the company plan will pay premiums for retiree coverage as follows: Effective 1/1/2013 $50 individual, $100 to include spouse; effective 1/1/2014 $100 individual, $200 with spouse; effective 1/1/2015 $150 individual, $300 with spouse.

We encourage Teamsters to review the health and welfare coverage, as well as the contract.

May 6, 2013: Teamsters for a Democratic Union will host a Conference Call for UPS Teamsters to review the proposed UPS contract on Thursday, May 9.

UPS Teamsters have been kept in the dark for months by an information brownout.

On Tuesday, TDU will obtain and post the tentative national agreement. On Thursday, UPS Teamsters and shop stewards will meet on a national conference call to discuss the proposed contract.

UPS Teamsters and shop stewards will report on contract changes on key issues, including: pension, healthcare and retiree healthcare, production harassment, excessive overtime, technology, full-time jobs, subcontracting and more.

We'll review contract highlights and lowlights on the call and take questions and comments from Teamsters. Keep your eyes open as well for upcoming Make UPS Deliver bulletins with contract updates and analysis.

UPS Teamsters will get to vote on the national contract and their supplement (and in some cases a third vote on their local rider).

The TDU Conference Call on the proposed UPS Contract will take place on Thursday, May 9 at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

You will need a Conference Call code to dial in to the call. Space is limited.

Click here to request the Conference Call code and we will send it to you by email.

UPDATE, May 6, 2013: The information brownout will be lifted and the tentative agreement with UPS will finally see the light of day on Tuesday, May 7.

There will be a meeting for representatives from every local union to review the proposed tentative agreement on Tuesday, May 7.

Due to past legal victories, TDU will receive the tentative UPS contract and make it available to all members.

TDU has obtained more initial details on the UPS tentative agreement, including some information on wages, pensions and health benefits.

Click here to download an updated bulletin of the proposed contract details.

There will be a meeting for representatives from every local to review the proposed tentative agreement on May 7. Due to past legal victories, TDU will receive and make available to the members the national agreement and all supplements and riders at that time.

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 full-timers will have to wait longer to reach full union scale.

The International Union has claimed a "substantial increase" in starting pay for part-timers. It will be $10 an hour in the tentative five-year deal, an amount that could again drop below minimum wage in some areas by August 2018.

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. Benefits there are being enhanced to match current 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).

Pensions: An important issue for UPSers in the Central and Southern Regions, and the Carolinas is a substantial increase in the IBT-UPS pension plan, where 44,000 full-time Teamsters receive the lowest retirement benefits in the country.

The 30-year pension in the IBT-UPS plan will reportedly go to $3,200/month in 2014, with a second increase to $3,400/month that does not take effect until 2017.

For all other Teamster funds, UPS will increase pension and Health and Welfare contributions by $1/hour more each year. With inflation, this is actually a savings to UPS of 10¢ an hour each year over the last contract.

Contract Language: As previously reported by TDU, the new agreement has language changes on harassment and excessive overtime.

Instead of 10,000 new full-time 22.3 jobs, the deal provides for 2,350 (500 in 2014, 500 in 2015, 1,350 in 2016). Will the 22.3 jobs the company has eliminated be restored? Technology, discipline over "dishonesty" and subcontracting are other critical areas where language needs to be carefully reviewed.

UPS Teamsters will get to review all language changes and vote separately on the national contract and their supplement (and in some cases a third vote on their local rider).

Almost all supplements have now been settled except the Louisville Air Rider, where members are asking for protection of bargaining unit work, ending unreasonable unpaid time going through airport security and shuttle bus to work areas, and protection of jobs and seniority rights.

TDU and Make UPS Deliver expect to post the national and all supplement changes sometime on Tuesday, May 7.

We urge all UPS Teamsters to carefully review the proposed agreements, attend local union contract meetings, ask questions, and cast an informed vote.

It's Your Contract -- Have Your Say. Click here to speak out and share your comments or questions. We want to hear from you.

April 22, 2013: More than 100,000 Teamsters will be moved out of their current health plan if UPS management gets its way in contract negotiations. Now some locals are demanding a separate vote on the issue.

UPS wants to move more UPS Teamsters out of company health plans. The company and Ken Hall were all but set on moving these Teamsters into the Central States Health & Welfare Fund. But members and some local unions are saying, "Not so fast."

A debate has broken out on the National Negotiating Committee with some officers calling for alternatives to the Central States option and a separate vote by affected members only.

Officers from every local in the West held a conference call last week and spoke out against any transfer to Central States Health & Welfare Fund. Teamsters Local 177 which represents some 6,000 UPSers in New Jersey also joined the call.

"My local's members deserve a separate vote on this issue," an officer from a large affected local told TDU. "Members whose health benefits are going to stay the same should not be deciding whether our members get moved into a different plan with different coverage."

The International Union organizes the ratification vote and has the power to give affected members a separate vote.

UPSers' co-pays, drug costs, deductibles, and retiree healthcare costs would all go up under the top coverage that is currently offered by the Central States Health Fund, the C-6 plan.

The proposal to move UPS Teamsters out of company health plans would affect members in some of the largest UPS locals in the country, including locals in California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, St. Louis, Ohio, New Jersey, and Philadelphia.

Part-timers nationwide are covered by company plans that provide coverage that's superior to the C-6 plan.

Negotiations continue in Washington, D.C. this week. It's too soon to know if the proposed contract will move Teamsters in company health plans in C-6 in the Central States, an improved Central States plan or alternative plans.

Stand Up Against Healthcare Cuts

Before contract negotiations began, Ken Hall vowed, "We're not going to be talking about concessions, we're going to be talking about improvements."

Will this apply to Teamsters who will be moved out of their current health plan?

These members deserve a separate vote by affected members only and complete information on changes to their benefits and retiree coverage under any proposed new health plan.

That's where we stand. How about you? Click here to send us a message and team up with other UPS Teamsters who are working together to oppose health benefit cuts and get a separate vote for Teamsters who would be moved into a different health plan.

April 19, 2013: UPS Teamsters and many local unions are raising red flags about members being moved into the Central States Health Fund. The proposal has sparked resistance from members and locals opposed to benefit reductions.

Officers from every local in the West held a conference call on Wednesday and spoke out against any transfer to the Central States Health & Welfare Fund. Teamsters Local 177 which represents some 6,000 UPSers in New Jersey also joined the call.

In Ontario, California, members flooded Local 63 with phone calls. Their Business Agent promptly came out to the air hub and promised there would be no changes in members' health coverage.

Members in Iowa, St. Louis, Chicago, Ohio, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, have also voiced opposition to the plan. UPS Teamsters are concerned about changes to their healthcare, higher out-of-pocket expenses and changes in retiree coverage from higher eligibility ages to increased monthly premiums.

Management has been working a company game plan since the start of negotiations when they demanded that members pay $90 a week toward our health coverage. UPS never expected to win this demand but put it forward to try to scare and soften up members into accepting unfavorable changes in their benefits.

Hall promised negotiations would be about "improvements, not concessions." Does that apply to healthcare?

Teamsters Want Options, Right to Vote

The locals on the conference call have floated proposals to move their members who are in company plans into a Teamster fund in the West that has superior benefits to Central States.

Ken Hall alluded to this in the latest negotiations update, saying "The Company has indicated a willingness to move employees who are currently in Company plans into Central States to provide coverage. The Committee discussed the possibility of offering proposals for other Teamster plans to provide coverage," Hall said.

Contract negotiations resume Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Hall says that UPS and the International Union are both committed to wrapping up negotiations by the end of next week, four months before the contract expires.

If the proposed contract will move UPSers out of company plans and into Teamster funds, the members who are directly impacted by the change deserve a separate vote on the issue.

At Stake, Healthcare and More

UPS made record profits last year of nearly $4.5 billion.

UPS Teamsters should review the details of any tentative agreement carefully to make sure any early deal lives up the promise that Ken Hall made when negotiations began:  "The more they make, the more we take."

This should apply to all of members' issues, including harassment, full-time jobs, excessive overtime, technology, pensions, part-time wage increases and more.

What's Your Bottom Line?

With UPS making $4.5 billion, what kind of improvements do members deserve?

Click here to read TDU's Contract Scorecard.

Click here to hear UPSers speak out on the contract.

Click here to send a message and speak out yourself.

UPDATED April 19, 2013: The International Union will resume contract negotiations with UPS on April 22 with the goal of reaching a deal on a proposed new contract by the end of the week. Economic issues, including healthcare, remain on the table.

The IBT and UPS have reached tentative agreements on a number of language issues, including 9.5 protections from excessive overtime.

Members have been promised that the new 9.5 language will:

• Make it easier for drivers to get on the 9.5 list. Drivers will no longer have to work over 9.5 hours three times in a week before they qualify to get on the 9.5 list.
   
• Protect drivers on the 9.5 list from the being over-dispatched twice a week as long as they're kept under 9.5 three days a week.
   
• Require management to adjust drivers' loads and not just pay penalty pay when 9.5 violations are ongoing.
   
• Create escalating penalties for repeat violations including making UPS create additional driving jobs when there are repeat violations.
   
• Include stronger 9.5 rights for cover drivers.

Teamster members and the Make UPS Deliver campaign have been pushing for these and other language improvements.

Every UPS Teamster will have the chance to review the proposed changes when a tentative agreement is reached to see for themselves if we've won clear, enforceable language protections.
 

Excessive Overtime

"We need tougher 9.5 penalties in the national contract that requires management to adjust our loads.

"Pay penalty is great. But it doesn't stop the 11-hour days or get me home at night to see my family.

"UPS preaches safety and keeping your body healthy, but they keep us out until 9 or 10 o'clock at night so we're eating dinner late and not getting enough sleep. It's a total contradiction.

"We're a big, profitable company and our customers are happy. We need to hire more people and get drivers home at a decent hour so we can have a more balanced life."

— Rich Pawlikowski, Package Driver, Local 804, New York

More Drivers Means Less Harassment

"We need clear enforceable language that makes UPS create more driving jobs in centers where that is needed to cover the work.

"Management has been cutting and combining loads, putting more work on the drivers and keeping us out until all hours of the night. This is no accident. The company is doing this to maximize profits and they don't care about us.

"Vague language that management has to 'maintain a sufficient workforce' isn't going to cut it. That gives UPS way too much wiggle room."

— Steve Spann, Package Driver, Local 413, Columbus, Ohio

Technology Harassment

"The number-one way drivers are harassed is from Telematics and GPS. It's only going to get worse with ORION which is like Telematics on steroids.

"In the last contract, Ken Hall gave UPS the loophole to use technology to discipline us in cases of 'dishonesty.' UPS has twisted and exploited that language. It's got to go.

"The National Negotiating Committee has proposed the right language for Article 6: that UPS can't discipline drivers based solely on information from technology. Ken Hall needs to stick to his guns this time, not cave in, or drivers are going to pay the price."

— Matt Maini, Package Driver, Local 251, Providence, R.I.

SurePost—More Jobs or Just More Harassment?

"The International is demanding that more SurePost packages come on the package car for final delivery. That's the right thing.

"But are we going to get more jobs out of this or just more packages? I am already working 10, 11 and even 12-hour days. Drivers who file 9.5s are harassed, intimidated and unfairly scrutinized and disciplined through telematics.

"An agreement on SurePost that doesn't make UPS create more driving jobs is just going to mean more boxes, higher stop counts, longer hours and more harassment."

— Martin Labut, Package Driver, Local 243, Detroit

Part-Time Pay Increases

"In 1982 starting rate for part-timers was $8. This has gone up 50 cents in the last 30 years, and that's absolutely ridiculous! If wages had been adjusted for inflation we'd be making over $19/hr today. I'm not saying we need that much now, but we're looking for big increases.

"Raising the wage is going to help us keep good employees. Right now there is no incentive to work without decent pay and having to wait so long for benefits.

"We also need to know we're taking care of the UPSers who are here already. The last time starting pay was raised existing part-timers also got a bump in their pay. We need that again."

— Paul Trujillo, Preload, Local 651, Lexington, Ky.