Teamsters at UPS Inc.’s Louisville air hub rejected a side agreement proposal by a wide margin as roadblocks still remain to full implementation of the nation’s largest transport labor contract.
The 2,804-185 vote against the pact by members of Local 89 was posted on the union’s website. The side agreement is one of three that haven’t yet been ratified.
UPS and the Teamsters reached a contract agreement 10 months ago that was approved on the national level, covering more than 235,000 workers.
However, that contract with a $3.90-per-hour raise over five years and benefit enhancements cannot be implemented until the three remaining side agreements are approved. More than 30 other side deals already have been approved.
“While we are disappointed that the Local 89 agreement was rejected, the UPS National Master Agreement is approved and the vast majority of outstanding supplemental agreements are also now approved,” UPS said in an e-mailed statement, noting that more than 97% of its Teamsters employees have approved their agreements.
“We will continue to work with the Teamsters to finalize the remaining local contracts . . . [and] are working with an indefinite extension under the current contract and have committed to address outstanding items in the proposed agreements,” the company said.
UPS Inc. is ranked No. 1 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.
