General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall announced today that UPS will add thousands of new package jobs across the country this year in the face of strong Teamster enforcement of the new National Master UPS Agreement.
The announcement follows months of discussion between the union and the company. UPS is now moving forward with plans to add thousands of new package jobs in all areas of the country. Hiring has already started, and the new jobs will be in addition to the regular filling of jobs through attrition.
The new contract took effect April 25 and is the largest collective bargaining agreement in North America, covering about 240,000 UPS Teamsters. It contains new language that allows the union to take inadequate staffing levels to an arbitrator in centers with excessive overtime issues. In addition, new protections and procedures involving the SurePost program will ensure that more SurePost packages are delivered by Teamster members. Both of these changes are already resulting in new jobs across the country.
“We are committed to strongly enforcing the new contract, including harassment by supervisors and excessive overtime,” Hall said. “Faced with new language in the contract and the embarrassing staffing shortages during the last holiday season, UPS has no choice but to hire more workers. This is great news for Teamsters who want relief from excessive overtime, for part-time workers who want full-time opportunities and for our entire union.”
The contract also tackles excessive overtime by making it easier for workers to get on the “9.5 list” limiting hours, providing access to penalty pay in the first week of a violation, prohibiting the company from piling on work at the end of a week and allowing the union to address inadequate staffing. This is the first time in the history of the national contract that UPS has agreed to language allowing the union to challenge the adequacy of staffing in its centers.
New contract language also puts more packages back on UPS trucks and protects Teamster work and jobs by establishing rules for the size and weight of packages shipped via SurePost, which is limited to businesses shipping residential. Under the new contract, SurePost packages are now limited to 10 pounds in weight and less than 3 cubic feet in size. UPS is contractually obligated not to diminish the bargaining unit because of SurePost. In 2013, UPS redirected 54.7 million packages. Already this year, more than 23 million packages have been redirected back to UPS drivers.
“We are armed with a great contract that provides tough new protections for UPS Teamsters,” Hall said. “We will do whatever it takes to enforce this contract, starting now. Our diligence has already paid off. But we need help from our members to hold the company accountable.”
Read The New Document Regarding Article 37 (9.5 issue)
Visit the Teamsters Local 492 UPS Page Here
