UPS and Teamsters Extend Contract – Tentatively Reach Deal With Freight Division

Last month UPS and The Teamsters Union, which represents most of parcel delivery drivers and many workers, tentatively agreed on a new 5-year master labor agreement.

But this tentative agreement still required that some side accords and since the existing contract will run out by the end of July, the two parties agreed to extend the current labor agreement past the July 31 expiration date.

There is no end date to the extension, but the union expects to conclude all side accords within 60 days, which is good news as that would settle any fears of a renewed strike threat before the important holiday season.

READ MORE: UPS and Teamsters Avoid Strike – Agree on New Five Year Deal

Agreement With UPS Freight Division

In more labor news for UPS, The Teamsters Union and UPS this week also agreed on a tentative deal for the 11,000 members of the UPS Freight Division, which is mostly an LTL carrier, but also offers some full truckload services.

Just like with the parcel division, UPS and The Teamsters agreed to extend the existing agreement should they not complete ratification by August 1.

On the surface, it seems as if the two sides would not have agreed to a contract it would not matter much too small online merchants as this is a service they often do not use.

However, the two sides couldn’t agree on a deal and a strike was called at UPS Freight, the parcel workforce may have fully or partially joined them in support, especially at facilities where they cross paths as union members typically do not cross strike picket lines.

And with a large shortage in trucking capacity in the U.S., non-Union alternatives in LTL and truckload logistics may have been overwhelmed with a rise in business to make up for the loss in capacity, leading to delays and sharply rising freight costs.

READ MORE: Trucking Shortage May Impact eCommerce Sellers

Bottom line, it seems that UPS and The Teamsters have worked together to come up with a solution for both logistics divisions and that the two sides are confident they will complete the agreements and have the membership ratify them within the next two month.

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Richard Meldner

Richard is co-founder of eSeller365. He has over 17 years of experience on eBay which includes tens of thousands of sales to buyers in over 100 countries and even has experience with eBay’s VeRO program enforcing intellectual property rights for a former employer. And for about two years Richard sold products on Amazon using Amazon FBA in the US.

To “relax” from the daily business grind, for a few weekends a year, he also works for IMSA as a professional race official.