DATE: Tuesday, August 5, 1997               TAG: 9708050111

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MICHAEL CLARK, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  174 lines

STRIKE TIES UP MOST UPS PACKAGES LOCAL BUSINESSES FEEL PINCH AS THEY LOSE SALES

The strike against United Parcel Service by the Teamsters union had an immediate and powerful effect on Hampton Roads residents and businesses Monday.

While UPS managers are delivering emergency shipments, things such as new CD releases, auto parts and catalog gifts didn't appear Monday as usual. Norfolk Southern Corp., too, is losing revenue from UPS, one of its 40 largest customers.

The picket lines are drawn as UPS vows to stand by its final contract offer and union members are resolute in refusing it.

JENNIE MALONE, ASSISTANT manager of the Wards Corner Blockbuster Music store in Norfolk, said the strike left a big hole in her inventory.

``We would have had 30 or 40 boxes of new releases coming in today,'' she said.

UPS ships all new CD releases Blockbuster receives, Malone said. Each shipment has 12 or 13 different releases.

Many customers are looking for the latest CD from alternative rock band 311.

``That's the one,'' agreed Barry Friedman, owner of Birdland Music in Virginia Beach. ``That's one of the biggest releases of the summer.''

Auto parts stores depend on UPS shipments, too.

Tim Merano, head salesman at Phase One Imported Auto Parts in Virginia Beach, said the strike dampened store sales.

``Their last-minute decision to strike has caused parts not to come in today,'' he said.

``Some of our sales are $300, $400 per person,'' Merano said. He estimated he lost $1,200 in sales Monday.

Edward L. McAllister, manager of Partners Auto Parts in Chesapeake, had parts on the way through UPS. Now, they sit in the Virginia Beach UPS terminal, where he can't get them.

``I can't talk to anybody down there since there isn't anybody to talk to,'' McAllister said. ``And they can't give you a delivery time.''

AT THE POST OFFICE on Thoroughgood Road, Virginia Beach, Chris Hale waited in a pre-noon line of about 15 people.

The owner of Shore Drive Marine was shipping two boxes of engine parts to a dealer in Camden, N.C.

About 80 percent of the packages shipped to Hale's boat repair shop go through UPS.

``I guess I'm going to be short a lot of parts in the next few days.''

John Hays was in line after Hale and came to the post office because of the strike, too.

He runs the Virginia Beach office of electrical and marine distributor Argo International Corp., which, he said, ``normally ships eight to 10 packages a day by UPS.''

Without UPS, Hays expects to use Federal Express and Airborne Express.

``We will ship by anybody who can get out to get it,'' he said.

Local post office spokesperson Fran Sansone said Hampton Roads post offices didn't see a crush of people Monday, but the service did set a shipping limit of four packages per customer.

``We set up the measures today,'' Sansone said. ``We were waiting to see if there would be a strike and move from there.''

AT THE MASSIVE Virginia Beach Distribution Center of Lillian Vernon Corp., dozens of tractor-trailers lined the loading docks around noon.

The mail order catalog company ships 18,000 packages a day out of the distribution center, about 55 percent of which go through UPS.

From company headquarters in New York, spokeswoman Bobbie Bryson said Lillian Vernon was prepared for the strike.

The company is using the post office and two freight consolidators to ship packages, she said.

``We've had this idea for more than a week,'' Bryson said.

The strike also affects companies that ship parcels for UPS, including Norfolk Southern. UPS is among the Norfolk-based railroad's top five intermodal customers and one of its top 40 customers overall, said Robert Fort, the railroad's spokesman.

UPS accounts for more than $30 million in annual revenue for Norfolk Southern, or about 6 percent of 1996 intermodal sales, Fort said. That may not seem like much for a company with $4.8 billion in revenues, but rail freight is a business of incremental gains, and every little bit counts.

``Obviously we haven't seen any major impact in this thing yet, but as this thing drags on we will see more and more of an impact,'' Fort said.

Norfolk Southern hauls truckloads of UPS parcels all over its 20-state, 14,300-mile rail network in the Southeast and Midwest, Fort said.

ABOUT 70 UPS WORKERS, members of Teamsters Local 822, formed a tight picket line under the hazy morning sun and marched in a circle in front of the UPS facility on Air Rail Avenue in Virginia Beach.

Carrying signs proclaiming that they were ``On Strike Against UPS for Bad Faith Bargaining,'' the Teamsters had been marching in four-hour shifts since the line formed after midnight Sunday. Local union president David Vinson said he was pleased with the turnout.

``I'm happy to say we've not had one Teamster cross the picket line here,'' he said. ``We had one in Norfolk and a few at Oyster Point, but none here.'' Oyster Point is an area in Newport News.

A trademark brown van drove away from the facility and Vinson identified the two people inside as managers.

Before Vinson answered a question on whether the strike would last, he stopped himself.

``I've been wrong all along. This whole thing makes no sense. It's hurting everyone. The company's losing customers, it's losing money. We lose jobs.''

A man standing in front of the UPS facility declined to answer questions.

Asked why a video camera on a tripod stood near the building and was pointed toward the picket line, he said, ``Procedure.'' MEMO: Staff writers Christopher Dinsmore and John-Henry Doucette

contributed to this story. ILLUSTRATION: [Color photo]

MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/The Virginian-Pilot

Striking United Parcel Service workers, outside the Norfolk offices

at Airport Industrial Park, hold pickets accusing the company of

bad-faith bargaining. On Monday, Day 1 of the walkout, these workers

shouted amiably to passing drivers, who were for the most part

supervisors.

[Color photo]

TING-LI WANG/The Virginian-Pilot

United Parcel Service taped up this drop-off box at Thurston and Air

Rail avenues in Virginia Beach, saving people from trying to send

packages during the strike.

OPTIONS FOR CONSUMERS

Ask retailers which carrier they use. If it is UPS, ask what

arrangements have been made for the strike.

Ask how long delivery should take, but don't depend on receiving

a delivery on time.

If possible, wait. The first days of a strike are hectic. Let

retailers develop alternate shipping plans.

FEDERAL EXPRESS: Limiting customers to their normal shipping

volumes, limiting packages it accepts at drop-locations, and not

taking new customers. (800) 463-3339

EMERY WORLDWIDE: Will try to accommodate business-to-business

delivery of packages 5 pounds and heavier. (800) 443-6379

RPS: Serving only current clients. (800) 762-3725

AIRBORNE EXPRESS: Will take extra packages from current customers

- for ground transport only. (800) 247-2676

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE: Limiting number of parcels taken to four per

customer per visit. Customers with more must set up appointments to

deposit their mailings.

PILOT ONLINE: Links to Web sites for these delivery services are

on the News page at http://www.pilotonline.com

[The following ran as a sidebar to this article.]

With no new talks scheduled and President Clinton virtually

ruling out federal intervention in the dispute between UPS, the

nation's biggest package delivery service, and the 185,000 striking

Teamsters, the strike began in earnest Monday.

Q: How much of a disruption will this strike pose to commerce?

A: UPS says its deliveries represent 5 percent to 7 percent of

the gross national product. The company handles 12 million parcels

and letters daily, while Federal Express Corp., its nearest

competitor, handles 2.8 million. Analysts say rivals won't be able

to handle the overflow.

Q: President Clinton stopped the recent American Airlines pilots'

strike just moments after it was declared. If the problems grow,

will the federal government impose a cooling off period in the UPS

strike?

A: Not likely. The pilots were operating under the National

Railway Labor Act, which allows the president to step in if he feels

economic disruptions resulting from a strike are severe enough. The

Teamsters contract with UPS falls under the National Labor Relations

Act and the Taft-Hartley Act, which means that Clinton would have to

assert that the strike imperiled the nation's safety and health.

Q: What if I have questions about my UPS packages?

A: Call (800) PICK-UPS (742-5877)

- Associated Press

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