
DATE: Wednesday, August 20, 1997            TAG: 9708200435

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MICHAEL CLARK, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  144 lines

TEAMSTERS RELIEVED, READY TO ROLL PICKETING OF UPS ENDS AT MIDNIGHT, AND LOCAL WORKERS WILL BE BACK ON THE JOB THURSDAY.

What had been a picket line for more than two weeks in front of the United Parcel Service facility on Air Rail Avenue in Virginia Beach was more of a gathering place Tuesday.

Members of Teamsters Local 822 walked around the cul de sac in front of the building, smiling about the announcement late Monday that the union had reached a tentative agreement on a contract with UPS that would end the 15-day-old strike.

Picket lines had to stay in place until local representatives were briefed Tuesday in Washington, D.C., said James Cotterell, union shop steward and full-time UPS driver. Local 822 President David Vinson went to Washington Tuesday and was unavailable for comment.

Cotterell expects to be back at work Thursday.

``Midnight Wednesday the pickets come down,'' he said. ``So, really, we're still picketing.''

To illustrate, a UPS truck left the parking lot at 9 a.m. to jeers and calls of ``scab'' for the employee at the wheel who crossed the picket line during the strike.

Despite encounters between striking Teamsters who honored the picket line and the few UPS employees who crossed, there was a perceptible lack of tension in the air Tuesday.

``It's a morale boost for us,'' Cotterell said. ``We made a good contract.''

National Teamsters President Ron Carey said some of the 185,000 striking union members could be back at work as soon as Tuesday night.

The settlement meets a union demand to give more part-time workers full-time jobs. UPS agreed to create 10,000 new full-time jobs over five years by combining existing part-time positions, Carey said. These jobs are in addition to 10,000 full-time jobs expected to come from growth in the company or attrition. The company also agreed to continue participation in the Teamsters' multi-employer pension plan.

The company's original pre-strike proposal would have created 1,000 new full-time jobs. Also, the five-year agreement would increase wages for full-time workers by $3.10 an hour over five years, Carey said. It would raise wages for part-time workers by $4.10 an hour after five years. The average part-timer makes $11 an hour now.

The lowest starting wage for part-time workers will rise to $8.50 an hour from $8, as under the original proposal, Carey said.

The agreement ends UPS' first major nationwide strike lasting more than two days since 1986. UPS is estimated to have lost about $800 million in revenue, while striking Teamsters lost about $200 million in wages.

The full union membership still must vote on the settlement through a mailed ballot. That process will take about a month and approval is likely, union leaders said.

``Really, we won,'' Cotterell said. ``They said they'd never give in on the pension. They got a five-year contract, but the pension is all ours,'' he said with a smile. ``We get 10,000 full-time jobs, too.''

On hand at the Air Rail Avenue picket line Tuesday, as they were most of the week before, five UPS pilots looked forward to resolving their contract dispute with the company.

One pilot joked that they would just pick up the pickets and begin their strike.

``The way we look at it, 2,000 of us didn't cross this picket line and it's not even our strike,'' he said.

Jim Skluzak, captain of a UPS 747, said he hopes UPS and the International Pilots Association union can resolve their differences now.

``We don't want to ruin anything that's going on now,'' Skluzak said, declining to detail the pilots' plans. ``We'll do whatever we have to do, whatever our union tells us to do.''

UPS Tidewater Division Manager Randy Lint had not seen details of the agreement Tuesday, but said that ``it's a relief'' to have the strike settled.

``It's been stressful,'' he said. ``I don't think anybody wins.''

Lint said he did not know how many layoffs the strike might cause nationally or in Hampton Roads, where UPS employs 1,000 people, including 700 Teamsters.

Some customers who feel burned by this will split their volume, he said.

``We'll see a sudden spurt initially for customers who are holding packages,'' Lint said. ``In one or two weeks, we'll see how many people are laid off. We just want to get everybody back to work, get back to business.''

Cotterell agreed.

``Hey, we'll get the business back,'' he said. ``I bet my customers will be glad to see me.''

As Cotterell and other UPS drivers try to recover business lost during the strike, they will find some wary customers.

Lynn Gardiner, president and co-owner of Virginia Beach Marine Electronics, finally received the last package in a shipment of oceanographic instruments worth $70,000. The depth sounders and transponders arrived Aug. 14, 10 days after the strike began, and nearly one month after they were shipped from the California manufacturer.

Gardiner said she shipped most packages during the strike by Federal Express, a practice she expects will continue.

``Probably most of our business will go to the alternatives,'' Gardiner said.

She wonders if there's still the risk of a strike by UPS pilots.

``Until it's over, I know I'm not going to depend on them,'' she said of UPS. ``Businesses can't survive like this.''

Dan Evans agrees. The owner of Evans Inc. in Portsmouth said he will consider keeping alternate delivery services in addition to UPS for his appliance parts dealership.

``We're definitely going to explore those possibilities,'' Evans said. ``We lost $40,000 in business. We definitely can't have all our eggs in the UPS basket.''

Evans said UPS shipped about 500 packages a day for his company before the strike. For the past two weeks, the total number of shipments has dropped to about 250 per day.

``UPS started picking up from us (again) last Thursday,'' Evans said. ``We're one of the top 10 percent of customers nationwide.''

UPS doesn't want to lose accounts like Evans Inc.

``We have a meeting set up with our rep already,'' he said. ``They called us yesterday, and we meet with them Thursday.''

Power-tool manufacturer Stihl Inc. in Virginia Beach will send UPS contracts to its 14 U.S. distributors in September, as it does every year, said spokeswoman Leigh Mang.

``Our shipping manager said it will be interesting to see how the distributors react when they see the contracts,'' Mang said. ``Some felt high and dry because UPS was the only company they had.''

Past contracts specified UPS as the preferred carrier. If the company wasn't available, distributors could use another delivery service.

``We've actually had a lot of communications with our distributors during the strike,'' Mang said. ``A lot of them had contingency plans in place, and the ones that didn't now are going to.'' MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

IAN MARTIN/The Virginian-Pilot

Employees David Silvio, left, and Kirk Perry were among those

gathered at the UPS facility on Air Rail Avenue in Virginia Beach on

Tuesday. The atmosphere was relaxed following Monday's labor

settlement.

Graphic with ASSOCIATED PRESS color photo

For UPS:

The company lost about $800 million in revenue during the strike,

but it received a five-year pact, which is longer than the union

wanted. The company has threatened to lay off 15,000 until business

returns to pre-strike levels.

For its employees: