UPS and IBT Reach Tentative Accord on Selected Issues But Talks Continue
MASTERS ON LABORNEWS@WORK
An Update, July 3, 2023
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By Marick F. Masters
Professor of Business and Consultant
mastersmarick@gmail.com
TEAMSTERS AND UPS REACH TENTATIVE ACCORD ON SELECTED ISSUES
After several weeks of negotiations and a nailbiting deadline imposed by the Teamsters to strike if UPS did not propose a more favorable set of contract terms, the parties have reached a tentative agreement on several items.?It is reported that the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and UPS agreed to end the two-tier wage system and forced overtime on drivers’ days off, plus the provision of a Martin Luther King holiday.?But negotiations are not over yet, as the parties must resolve other outstanding economic issues by the contract expiration on July 31, 2023 to avoid a strike by the 340,000 IBT-represented UPS workers on August 1.?The negotiations between the IBT and UPS include not only the National Master Agreement but also 40 supplementals that occur at regional and local levels.?Once a full agreement between the parties is reached the tentative contract goes to the membership for ratification.
A Few Observations:
The United Auto Workers watch these IBT-UPS negotiations with keen interest particularly with respect to efforts to eliminate the two-tier wage systems.
Both the UAW and the IBT have operated under court-approved consent degrees which forced changes in their constitutions to provide for the direct election of members of their international governing boards.?In its first round of such elections in 2022-2023, the UAW elected a new International Executive Board with seven officers representing the insurgent faction of Unite All Workers for Democracy, whose candidates won election for the presidency, secretary-treaturer position, two international vice president positions, and three regional directors.?These direct elections at the UAW ended 70 years of essentially one-party dominance in the union by the Administration Caucus.
From a negotiating standpoint, it is worthwhile to observe the importance of setting deadlines to prompt a counterpart’s responsiveness.?It is also critical to analyse the parties’ respective abilities to withstand a strike.?Auto companies can build inventory to draw from to continue sales during a strike.?UPS cannot inventory daily deliveries, and customers have other options to which to turn to get their packages delivered.?
Ultimately, collective bargaining is a test of the parties’ respective powers, as it is intended to be.?The hope is that the parties exericse their powers responsibly to serve the best interests of their respective constituencies.
For Updates from the Parties on Contract Talks See:
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Marick F. Masters
Bio
Professor, Consultant, and Podcaster (to be)
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Marick F. Masters is a Professor of Business in the Department of Management and Information Systems of the Mike Ilitch School of Business (MISB) at Wayne State University (WSU).?At WSU, he has served as Director of Labor@Wayne, which included the Douglas A. Fraser Center for Workplace Issues (2009-2019) and Chair of the Departments of Accounting (MISB 2020-2022) and Finance (MISB 2019-2022).?His research and teaching interests lie in Negotiations and Conflict Resolution, Unions, Business and Labor Political Action, Federal Sector Labor-Management Relations, Human Resource Management and Employee Relations, Workplace Privacy, and Workplace Violence.?Dr. Masters received his Ph.D. in Labor and Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois. He has served on the faculties of the Department of Management at Texas A&M University and the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh, where he was Director of MBA Programs and Associate Dean (Interim).?Marick Masters has published four books (Unions at the Crossroads [1997], The Complete Guide to Conflict Resolution in the Workplace [2002], The UAW: An Iconic Union Falls in Scandal [2021], and Trade Union Finance: How Labor Organizations Raise and Spend Money, [ 2023]) and more than 100 articles, proceedings, and columns.?He has directed several Executive Education programs, served on the boards of several professional associations, co-hosted a radio program, and been a guest columnist for several publications.?He has commented widely in the media, engaged extensively in executive development and fundraising, and received teaching and service awards.?Marick Masters has produced videos on Labor Arbitration, Employment Mediation, and Employment Arbitration (through a grant from the National Academy of Arbitrators), and conducted extensive research on the role of labor-management partnerships in the federal sector through a grant from the US Office of Personnel Management.?He is a senior partner in Albright, Irr, and Masters (AIM), a consulting firm based in New London, CT.?Marick Masters has taught extensively in Executive Education programs and at the doctoral, MBA, and undergraduate levels.?His research has been published in leading journals in management, industrial relations, public administration, and political science. He writes a biweekly newsletter on LaborNews@Work.
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Marick F. Masters has been engaged in extensively in politics. He was a Democratic Candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in the former 18th District in Pennsylvania in 1992.?Marick Masters has long studied the role of unions and businesses in politics and has launched a biweekly newsletter on MoneyinPolitics.
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Marick Masters is currently finishing a book on Richard Nixon’s comeback from his gubernatorial defeat in 1962 to win the presidency in 1968 titled: Richard Nixon the Phoenix:?How the 36th President Rose from Political Ashes to Win in 1968.