Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 27, 1993 TAG: 9308270134
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Journal of Commerce
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Responding to what they termed a "ridiculous and insulting wage offer," Teamsters negotiators walked away from the bargaining table Wednesday. The session was the 64th in a series of talks that began March 25.
The 165,000 UPS union employees - including those at the UPS hub in Roanoke - have been working without a contract since Aug. 1. On Wednesday, the company presented its first wage offer: a 35-cent hourly increase each year over six years for full-time, top-rated workers.
The recently expired three-year contract pays those workers $17.60 an hour plus benefits worth $10.72 for a total $28.32 hourly wage.
The Teamsters have sought a $1.10-an-hour boost for each year for the length of the contract, said sources close to the talks.
Union officials said UPS' revenue and package volume in the 1993 second quarter was 3 percent higher than last year's quarter.
"We're looking for a 5 percent to 6 percent wage increase," said Mario Perrucci, co-chairman of the Teamsters UPS negotiating committee. "This is a very solvent company that can afford that."
UPS also sought unlimited use of part-time workers, to be paid a flat $7 an hour for six years, with education stipends increasing each year.
"Because negotiations have dragged on, and based on UPS' most recent insulting economic proposal submitted on Aug. 25 . . . it is now time to take action," the Teamsters said in a message sent to all UPS locals.
"We all recognize that a strike is only a last resort, when other means of winning a good contract have been exhausted. This vote authorizes your committee to do whatever it takes to win a fair contract, including, when and if necessary, all economic action, including a strike."
UPS officials declined to discuss their contract offer.
Ken Sternad, a UPS spokesman, said: "We're awfully proud of what we're paying our people now. They have the highest wages and the best benefits in the industry by far, and we've proposed to increase their compensation."
For five months, the union and UPS have sought to come to terms on non-economic proposals with few notable successes. The company has demanded that UPS be allowed to use non-union owner-operator truckers for its new 3-Day Select service. It also wants to place all members on UPS-controlled health, welfare and pension plans.
"It's never going to happen," said Perrucci.
Some union critics said the strike vote may only be posturing, and members would not vote to approve the measure.
by CNB