LOUISVILLE, KY.—About 25 UPS drivers protested outside the company’s Louisville facility June 19,
opposing its contract proposal to have lower-paid “hybrid” drivers to handle expanded weekend deliveries. The company, whose contract with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters expires July 31, wants to use workers who handle packages during the week to drive for Sunday deliveries, so it wouldn’t have to pay full-time drivers overtime. Package handlers start at $10.35 per hour, while drivers make from $19 to $36. “Basically they [the hybrid drivers] will never make what a true driver does, but they have to do the same work, and as a union, that’s not what we’re in the business of negotiating for our current members and our future members,” Teamsters Local 89 shop steward David Thornsberry told WDRB-TV. The national union is more open to the idea, saying that it would keep current drivers from being overworked. “Newly hired drivers will be full-time, will primarily work on weekends, and will be available to redress the complaints of current drivers that they can’t get home to enjoy their kids and families,” spokesperson Kara Deniz said in a statement. The Teamsters represent about 12,000 UPS workers in the Louisville area. Read more
