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UPS Pilots to Seek Countdown to Strike, Union Officials Say

Posted on: Friday, 23 December 2005, 12:00 CST

By Dave Hirschman, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Dec. 23--UPS pilots will ask the National Mediation Board to declare contract talks at an impasse and start a countdown toward what would be their first strike, union officials said Thursday.

"Our hand has been forced," said Tom Nicholson, president of the Independent Pilots Union, which represents 2,400 UPS fliers. "We no longer believe UPS is serious about reaching an agreement."

But UPS spokesman Mark Giuffre said the two sides were making meaningful progress in talks this week and that the company expects a negotiated settlement.

"What you're hearing from the IPA is part of the rhetoric of negotiation," he said. "We feel confident we'll reach an agreement without any inconvenience or disruptions to our customers."

UPS and its pilots have been negotiating for more than three years on a new labor agreement that would replace their current deal, with federal mediators overseeing recent talks. Nicholson said the two sides remain about $40 million apart.

Brian Gaudet, an IPS spokesman, said the union will submit a written request for the National Mediation Board to end mediated talks next week. The board will then decide whether to grant the union's request, schedule more talks or recess.

If released from mediation, pilots and UPS managers would begin a 30-day "cooling off" period. Barring intervention by President Bush, the union at the end of that period would be free to strike and the company would be allowed to impose contract terms or lock pilots out.

UPS pilots are paid $175,000 a year on average. They used to earn less than passenger carriers, but the post-9/11 economic crisis has led to steep wage concessions among passenger airlines and left UPS and FedEx pilots at or near the top of industry wage scales.

UPS pilots have never sought to shut down the world's largest shipping firm since the company launched its own airline in the late 1980s. Pilots refused to cross Teamster picket lines during their two-week walkout in 1997, however, and fliers say they're counting on support from other unions if they strike. More than 99 percent of UPS pilots endorsed a strike authorization in May.

UPS is growing rapidly, especially overseas, and the company has hired 275 pilots and ordered 29 new aircraft this year.

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UPS,

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

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