Teamsters gear up for long fight with UPS

Shipping giant says 15,500 jobs could be lost

August 12, 1997
Web posted at: 7:37 p.m. EDT (2337 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- UPS and the Teamsters intensified their war of words Tuesday, with union leaders promising to find funds to keep their members on strike while UPS warned that 15,500 Teamster jobs might be cut from the company's payroll to offset lost income.

Tuesday marked the ninth day of the Teamsters' strike against United Parcel Service. The strike has sent 185,000 workers to the picket line and slowed delivery of millions of packages.

Afternoon UPS press conference

"If the strike were to continue to Friday, the impact of the first 10 days of the strike is that there would be 15,500 Teamster jobs that would be permanently lost" if work resumes on Monday, and more if the strike continues, UPS spokesman Ken Sternad said.

UPS said the cuts will be necessary because of business it believes has been "permanently lost" to UPS competitors. The company ran newspaper ads calling on the union to let their members vote on what it calls a generous offer rejected by union leaders.

Teamsters Press Conference

Teamsters President Ron Carey attacked the company's plan to cut jobs if the strike continues.

"I don't think it's accurate [that they are losing business permanently]. The post office and the other companies can't manage the volume," Carey said. "They shouldn't be dictating; they should be negotiating.

"What they are doing is intimidation. It is threats. That won't get the job done. That is a mistake," Carey continued.

AFL-CIO helping build strike fund

Carey also said the union was building a fund to pay the $10 million-per-week in strike benefits to striking Teamsters.

He was joined at the Teamsters news conference by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, who said he would ask AFL-CIO affiliates to provide loan commitments to the Teamsters.

"Because their fight is our fight, we are making this strike our strike," Sweeney said. "Before the week is out, we will have loan commitments from unions large and small to finance the worker side of this confrontation for a long strike, if that's what it takes."

Herman remains 'encouraged'

Despite the public battle over the UPS strike, Labor Secretary Alexis Herman is expected to talk by phone with both sides again on Wednesday.

Herman stayed in contact with both sides Tuesday trying to facilitate negotiations.

Herman told reporters on Air Force One Tuesday that she was encouraged about prospects for resolving the dispute after meeting separately with both sides Monday.

"I'm encouraged in that I believe that both sides expressed a willingness to be more flexible in looking at their own differences," Herman told reporters after briefing President Clinton.

However, no further direct talks between the two sides were scheduled.

UPS pushes pension fund

Also Tuesday, UPS held a news conference to talk up its proposal to withdraw from the union's multi-employer pension plans and establish one for UPS workers. The union has rejected the UPS proposal.

UPS pension official Mary Ann Tweddle said the UPS pension plan would provide more money to its members than union pension funds to which UPS currently contributes $1.06 billion a year.

As an example, she said, a Teamsters member employed by UPS who is 55 years old and has 30 years with the company would receive $2,500 a month from the Teamsters Central States pension fund. That same employee would get $3,000 a month from a UPS plan, she said.

The company also said UPS would match benefits for any worker who may be earning more than under the company proposal.

Teamsters officials have said they believe UPS would pocket the investment income from the fund if it were under company control. But Lea Soupata, UPS senior vice president for human resources, said the fund would have three Teamsters trustees and three UPS trustees.

She also said that under the proposed plan, investment income would have to stay within the trust.

"It would be illegal to take it out," she said. However, she conceded that if the fund's investments made large returns, UPS might contribute less to the fund.

The union has said that part-time work is the key issue in the strike. More than 60 percent of UPS workers are part-time employees. UPS said Monday it was willing to compromise on that issue, but not on the pension fund.

Prior to the strike, UPS carried 80 percent of the nation's parcel traffic. Thousands of small businesses have been crippled by the strike while UPS competitors, including the U.S. Postal Service, have been experiencing a bonanza.

UPS has said that it is moving about 10 percent of its usual daily volume of packages. Soupata said UPS believes it is losing between $200 million and $300 million a day.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Message Board: Can UPS and Teamsters reach an agreement?

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