LOS ANGELES, June 16 (Reuters) - United Parcel Service (UPS) (UPS.N) union employees have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike should contract talks break down after the current agreement ends in two weeks, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters said on Friday.þþThe Teamsters, representing some 340,000 UPS workers in the United States, said 97% of voting members approved the strike authorization, ÿgiving the union maximum leverage to win demands at the bargaining table.ÿþþThe vote comes during relatively cordial talks as new Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien works to get a UPS deal that shares billions of dollars of its pandemic profit with workers and helps to recruit new members - including Amazon.com (AMZN.O) warehouse staff.þþUPS again on Friday said it is confident that the two sides will reach an agreement that provides wins for all involved.þþÿThe results do not mean a strike is imminent and do not impact our current business operations in any way,ÿ the company said.þþUPS shares fell as much as 1.5% after the news but quickly pared losses to trade down 0.6% in midday trade.þþThe company and the union already have agreements on issues such as adding air conditioning in new delivery trucks. But talks continue on wages, a crucial issue.þþJeremy Tancredi, a former UPS manager turned industry consultant, expects the Teamsters to win a ÿhealthyÿ raise without having to resort to a work stoppage.þþÿThere is money out there to (pay for the) increase,ÿ Tancredi said, adding that the lift would not be ÿcrazy drasticÿ or stressful to UPS.þþThere is precedent for significant wage increases.þþU.S. freight railroad workers secured a 24% contract pay increase. Unions and FedEx (FDX.N) reached a tentative deal that would give pilots for the delivery company a 30% raise. And the union and employers for U.S. West Coast port workers this week struck a tentative deal that includes a 32% pay increase and a one-time ÿheroÿ bonus.þþTancredi, a partner at consultancy West Monroe, said interdependence between the Teamsters and UPS reduces strike risk. That is because UPS management sells Teamster professionalism and teamwork as a strength over competitors, and the Teamsters count UPS as its largest employer at a time when union membership is struggling to grow, Tancredi added.þþStill, employees told Reuters that Teamsters members are unified and would stop work if the company balks at raises that reflect the time and health risks they took to manage the COVID-19 pandemic-related cargo surge or their value to the company.þþÿWe were working basically Christmas hours for two years straightÿ during the pandemic, when e-commerce surged, said Rikki Schreiner, a full-time UPS employee in Eagan, Minnesota.þþUPS was more profitable than FedEx during the pandemic when animosity between that rival and its lower-cost delivery contractors festered.þþÿThey get what they pay for,ÿ Schreiner said of UPS, adding that company delivery drivers, who make about $150,000 annually including base pay and benefits before overtime, ÿearn it.ÿþþReporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles and Shivansh Tiwary in Bangalore; Editing by Jamie Freed and Will Dunham.
Source: reuters.com
