United Parcel Service
has tentatively agreed to a new six-year contract with its primary union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, thereby avoiding a strike that could have occurred at the end of this month.
The new deal gives full-time UPS union workers a $5-an-hour raise over the span of the contract, while part-time workers get a $6-an-hour increase over the same period.
In announcing the tentative agreement on July 16, Teamsters president James Hoffa said he was confident that the 210,000 union members who work for UPS would ratify the contract. UPS also agreed to hire 20,000 new workers over the course of the contract.
Faced with a possible strike once the current contract expires July 31, both parties have worked feverishly throughout the year to avoid another strike like the August 1997 job action that lasted two weeks and cost UPS $750 million in business.