ATLANTA, Ga.—The tentative contract deal pending between UPS and the Teamsters is likely to clear the way for the company to begin Sunday deliveries.
An update the union posted June 29 “never actually says ‘UPS wants Sunday deliveries,’” the trade journal FreightWaves wrote July 3, but “everything else in there points to it.” The update states that current regular full-time package-car drivers will no longer be required to work weekends, and drivers who now work Tuesday-Saturday will be moved to weekdays-only within two years. Weekend work will instead be handled by a new job classification, the “combination driver,” whose numbers in a location can’t exceed 25% of the number of regular package drivers. “If the company needs additional drivers for Saturday or Sunday work,” the update says, regular drivers “will be offered first and forced last.” That, FreightWaves said, is a clear sign that Sunday deliveries are coming. The combination drivers will be guaranteed full-time work, the Teamsters said, which will “reduce forced overtime.” They will also get the first crack at open package-driving jobs. “The company can not hire off the street to fill a protected job unless no current employee wants the position,” the update said.
The union also said numerous supplemental agreements included in the deal must be worked out during a July 9-12 negotiation period before their current five-year contract expires at the end of this month. According to Transport Topics, separate talks also were scheduled during this stretch on a contract for 11,000 UPS Freight workers, with economic and subcontracting issues as the main focus. Workers in that bargaining unit are covered under a different contract.
Read more: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ups-sunday-delivery-teamsters
