The Western Region Supplemental Agreement Negotiating Committee began negotiations with UPS. IBT Package Division Western Region Director and Negotiating Committee Chair Andy Marshall and the Western Region Negotiating Committee representing all 11 Western States, began the process of securing a quality contract for our Members.

The Western Region Supplemental Agreement has some of the strongest language in the nation. "The Company needs to adhere to the language that we currently have", states Andy Marshall. The Western Region Negotiating Committee has successfully demanded that a stenographer be present for the meetings to memorialize both the Union’s and the Company's understanding, interpretation and application of the current contractual language and any newly negotiated language. “The first order of business needs to be clarifying what our existing language means to both sides and how it will be applied, prior to exchanging proposals on any newly negotiated language" said Andy Marshall.

The pace of these meetings were slow, contentious and deliberate. However, prior to concluding the first negotiating session the parties did exchange their initial proposals. After reviewing the Company's initial proposals, the Western Region Negotiating Committee surmised the direction the Company has charted and it’s clear that the Company is hoping to remove many of the critically important protections currently contained in the Western Supplemental Agreement.

The Western Region Negotiating Committee will be scheduling additional negotiation dates in the beginning of 2018. They will continue to fight hard, and bargain in good faith to deliver a superior contract for our Members which not only protects our current language, benefits and wages, but delivers improvements as well.