Teamsters Win Historic UPS Agreement; Now Going to Battle for their Pilots vs Cape Air & Republic Airways

Leslie is first joined by Vincent Perrone, Teamsters International Trustee and a member of the Teamsters National Negotiating Committee for the UPS contract. He's also the President of Teamsters' Local 804 in New York.

The two discuss the historic new UPS contract won by the Teamsters.

Highlights of the tentative 2023-2028 UPS Teamsters National Master Agreement include:

- Historic wage increases. Existing full- and part-time UPS Teamsters will get $2.75 more per hour in 2023. Over the length of the contract, wage increases will total $7.50 per hour.

- Existing part-timers will be raised up to no less than $21 dollars per hour immediately, and part-time seniority workers earning more under a market rate adjustment would still receive all new general wage increases.

- General wage increases for part-time workers will be double the amount obtained in the previous UPS Teamsters contract — and existing part-time workers will receive a 48 percent average total wage increase over the next five years.

- Wage increases for full-timers will keep UPS Teamsters the highest paid delivery drivers in the nation, improving their average top rate to $49 per hour.

- Current UPS Teamsters working part-time would receive longevity wage increases of up to $1.50 per hour on top of new hourly raises, compounding their earnings.

- New part-time hires at UPS would start at $21 per hour and advance to $23 per hour.

- All UPS Teamster drivers classified as 22.4s would be reclassified immediately to Regular Package Car Drivers and placed into seniority, ending the unfair two-tier wage system at UPS.

- Safety and health protections, including vehicle air conditioning and cargo ventilation. UPS will equip in-cab A/C in all larger delivery vehicles, sprinter vans, and package cars purchased after Jan. 1, 2024. All cars get two fans and air induction vents in the cargo compartments.

- All UPS Teamsters would receive Martin Luther King Day as a full holiday for the first time.

- No more forced overtime on Teamster drivers’ days off. Drivers would keep one of two workweek schedules and could not be forced into overtime on scheduled off-days.

- UPS Teamster part-timers will have priority to perform all seasonal support work using their own vehicles with a locked-in eight-hour guarantee. For the first time, seasonal work will be contained to five weeks only from November-December.

- The creation of 7,500 new full-time Teamster jobs at UPS and the fulfillment of 22,500 open positions, establishing more opportunities through the life of the agreement for part-timers to transition to full-time work.

- More than 60 total changes and improvements to the National Master Agreement — more than any other time in Teamsters history — and zero concessions from the rank-and-file.

Leslie is then joined second by Greg Unterseher, Manager of Pilot Representation for the Teamsters Airline Division.

They detail the Teamsters lawsuit against Cape Air and Republic Airways for unlawfully requiring pilots to sign employment contracts with non-compete clauses that impose penalties ranging from $100,000 to $250,000.

The lawsuit asserts the employment contracts are an attempt by the airlines to change pilots’ working conditions unilaterally, in violation of federal labor law under the Railway Labor Act.

Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Visit Teamster.org to learn more and follow them on Twitter @Teamsters and on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.