More Than 1,700 UPS Freight Workers Vote to Ratify Contract

    Teamsters Now Represent More Than 11,600 Workers Since January



    WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 /EMWNews/ -- A first-contract

covering more than 1,700 UPS Freight drivers and dockworkers nationwide has

been ratified overwhelmingly by a margin of 94 percent. The agreement

improves wages, benefits and working conditions, Teamsters General

President Jim Hoffa announced today.



    The Teamsters now represent a total of more than 11,700 UPS Freight

workers in 41 states. In April, a new UPS Freight contract covering 9,900

workers was ratified by an 89 percent margin which improves wages, benefits

and working conditions. The workers who voted Aug. 16 and 17 were certified

after the April ratification vote.



    "We welcome these UPS Freight workers to the Teamsters and we are proud

to have negotiated for them a terrific contract," Hoffa said. "Having a

binding contract with your company means employees have job security."



    "With this latest vote the Teamsters now represent more than 92 percent

of UPS Freight eligible under our card check and neutrality agreement.

These drivers and dockworkers have shown a great commitment to joining the

Teamsters and we look forward to representing them," said Teamsters Package

Division Director Ken Hall. "We encourage the remaining UPS Freight workers

who have not yet signed cards to do so now so they can also start

benefiting from a great contract."



    Workers at 50 terminals voted over the weekend. The terminals are in 23

states: Alabama, California, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana,

Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio,

Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah,

Virginia and Wisconsin.



    The Teamsters kicked off this organizing campaign in 2006 when it

organized UPS Freight (formerly Overnite Transportation) workers in

Indianapolis and negotiated a contract with the company that was ratified

by a 107-1 vote in October 2007.



    The Teamsters won a card-check agreement from UPS in December 2007, and

the union launched the nationwide campaign in January. At the 90-day mark

of the campaign, 9,900 workers had already signed cards. This campaign has

been the largest organizing victory in the freight industry in 25 years.



    The contract expires on July 31, 2013. Among the contract's highlights:



    -- Wage increases totaling $4.35 per hour or nearly 11 cents a mile

over the contract.



    -- An improved health care plan with lower employee premium costs with

no increases in costs to employees over the life of the contract.



    -- Overtime pay for work exceeding 8 hours per day or 40 hours per

week.



    -- UPS Freight employees lock in their current pension benefits.



    -- The cost of retiree health insurance for most retirees is reduced

substantially with no increase in premium cost to employees over the life

of the contract.



    The Teamsters will continue to organize UPS Freight workers nationwide.

There are currently more than 15,000 UPS Freight workers, with 12,600

eligible to sign cards. The contract ratification caps a 50-year struggle

by the Teamsters to organize workers at Overnite, which was bought by UPS

in 2005 from Union Pacific Railroad and renamed UPS Freight.



    The 18 other states where Teamsters represent a majority of UPS Freight

workers are: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana,

Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New

Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia.



    Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents

1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and

Puerto Rico.