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he Independent Pilots Association said Thursday that more than 99% of its members voted to authorize a strike against UPS Inc.
UPS said Thursday it was confident the negotiations will be completed without disruption to its customers and that it "intends to provide its pilots with increased compensation."
“The overwhelming outcome of this vote is both a show of IPA unity and a clear signal to UPS management that our crewmembers are serious about closing out this contract over the next two weeks,” said Tom Nicholson, the IPA’s president.
UPS and the Independent Pilots Association, representing about 2,500 UPS pilots, have been in talks since October 2002, and a federal mediator has overseen negotiations for the past eight months.
UPS said in an e-mailed statement Thursday that it would negotiate with the IPA during the next two weeks in Baltimore.
The company said the pilots cannot strike while UPS and the IPA are in mediated talks and that the "bottom-line [is that] UPS and the IPA will continue to negotiate and there is no threat of a strike."
UPS's air deliveries accounted for $9.2 billion, or 35%, of its U.S. package revenue last year. The company is ranked No. 1 in the Transport Topics 100 listing of North American for-hire carriers.
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