ATLANTA (AP) -- UPS Inc. pilots approved a new contract Thursday with the world's largest shipping carrier, ending a lengthy battle that included threats of a walkout.þþThe Independent Pilots Association said 56.5 percent of UPS pilots who voted approved of the deal, which runs through 2011 and provides higher pay and health care premiums. The deal reached between the union and management was announced on June 30, after more than three years of talks.þþRoughly 2,652 pilots were eligible to vote.þþTerms of the new contract include immediate hourly pay raises of 17.7 percent for captains, IPA spokesman Brian Gaudet said. First officer immediate hourly pay raises will range from 18 percent to 25.8 percent depending on length of service. There are also pay raises in later years of the contract. Health care premiums for family policies will increase about $200 a month for all pilots, Gaudet said. Signing bonuses ranging from $34,000 to $60,000 for pilots are also part of the contract, he said.þþUPS pilots had been making on average more than $175,000 a year, according to the company.þþThe Atlanta-based company and its pilot union had been grappling over pay, pensions, work rules and health benefits, among other things.þþUPS, also known as United Parcel Service, and its pilots had been in federal mediated talks since June 2004. Its pilots contract became amendable on Dec. 31, 2003, and had remained unchanged since then.þþAt one point, the union had said it was considering asking for release from federal mediation so it could strike.þþUnder the Railway Labor Act, the pilots couldn't strike while under the direction of the federal mediator. The mediator never released the sides from talks, which continued and were ultimately successful.þþ
Source: NY Times
