Full-time UPS drivers will earn an average annual salary of $170,000 plus benefits at the end of a five-year contract, UPS CEO Carol Dohm said. during Tuesday’s earnings call.
Salary caps for full-time and part-time drivers are among the details set to emerge this week as the Teamsters union begins the process of ratifying a tentative agreement that emerged last month.
“When you look at total compensation, the average UPS full-time driver will receive $170,000 a year in wages and benefits at the end of the new contract,” said Dom. “All part-time union employees already working at UPS will earn at least $25.75 an hour at the end of this contract while receiving full health care and pension benefits.”
The Teamsters authorized a strike if a new contract agreement could not be reached. Voting on the proposed deal began last week and will continue until August 22.
Working conditions for workers are expected to improve as UPS and the Teamsters reach an agreement on air conditioning measures “including air conditioning and air conditioning in every new US package car beginning in January 2024.”
The new tentative agreement will give workers Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday for the first time in company history.
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In America, UPS average daily package volume is down nearly 10% Had the Teamsters walked off the job, it would have been the largest single-employer strike in U.S. history as customers shifted their business to FedEx, the US Postal Service and other regional carriers.
“Most importantly, I want to thank our customers for placing their trust and business with us during our labor negotiations,” Dom said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call on Tuesday. “And for customers who have been diverted, we look forward to bringing you back into our network.”
Dome said the company expected labor negotiations with the Teamsters that began in April over a new national contract to be “delayed and noisy.”
“As noise levels increased throughout the second quarter, we experienced higher-than-expected diversions,” Dom said.
This decrease in daily volume contributed to an approximately 7% decrease in revenue for the quarter.
In an effort to avoid further customer losses, about 500 UPS executives met regularly with customers during negotiations to try to retain their business, and if the company was unable to maintain business, Dom said, UPS would develop a plan to win back. Once the tentative deal is approved, customers can expect to see Teamster member voting close on August 22.
“We are now laser-focused on executing on our win-back initiatives and have more than $7 billion in opportunity in our sales pipeline,” Dom said.
