UPS Freight and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) headed off a potential strike on Sunday, as they reached a five-year labor contract for 11,600 UPS Freight workers. The previous contract was due to expire on Monday. The two groups had been at the negotiating table since the summer and a tentative agreement in October was widely rejected by union membership.
“UPS is pleased that the UPS Freight agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamster has been ratified,” UPS said in a statement. “It is an agreement that rewards our employees for their contributions to the success of the company, while enabling UPS to remain competitive.”
Earlier this month, UPS had informed its freight customers about the potential of a strike and advised them to line up alternative shipping options due to concerns over a strike. It stopped picking up shipments of larger, heavy items on November 7 and worked to clear its freight network by November 9. On Sunday, with an agreement reached, UPS announced, “We will resume normal operations and will immediately begin accepting new volume from UPS Freight customers. Our teams began contacting customers immediately after ratification.”
UPS Freight, which focuses on larger, supply chain shipments, is considerably smaller than its parcel division. The company has also recently ratified a new five-year contract for the 250,000 package drivers, handlers and sorters in that division as well.
