UPS, Pilots’ Union to Continue Negotiations in December

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PS Inc. and its pilots union will resume contract talks in December, following talks Monday and Tuesday that failed to reach an agreement, Bloomberg reported.

UPS and the Independent Pilots Association met in Washington for talks that began three years ago.

The National Mediation Board has scheduled more negotiations for the week of Dec. 19 without specifying the days. It will be the third meeting between the two sides in four months.

The talks will resume the same week as the company's peak shipping day, when Atlanta-based UPS expects to deliver more than 20 million packages for Christmas, Bloomberg reported.

A UPS spokeswoman told Bloomberg that pilots cannot strike while the two sides are in mediation.

Meanwhile, FedEx Corp.’s FedEx Express unit and its pilots union this week began contract talks under mediation board supervision, Bloomberg reported.

That company’s talks with the Air Line Pilots Association began in March 2004, and the sides last month asked for a board mediator to join negotiations. Talks are scheduled to last through Friday.

UPS is ranked No. 1 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers, and FedEx is No. 2.