Teamster UPS workers overwhelmingly vote to approve contract

Union UPS workers overwhelmingly voted to approve the latest contract negotiated by the Teamsters union. Nationally, 86.4 percent of workers voted in favor of the contract, according to the union's announcement Tuesday.

Local and national union leaders strongly advocated in favor of the contract, calling it a "historic" win that guarantees wage increases and air conditioning in new delivery vehicles, prohibits forced overtime on days off, and more.

This approval ends the threat of an economy-devastating strike and sets the five-year contract in place once all local supplemental agreements are approved. Indiana workers voted on several area-specific additions to the contract, all of which were approved. Only one supplement in Florida remains unapproved, according to the union.

READ MORE: UPS union negotiated a historic contract. Now workers have the final say

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Only about 13 percent of workers didn't vote in favor of the contract, despite workers in Indiana and nationally taking issue with the contract’s part-time pay provision. It sets the minimum pay for part-timers at $21 an hour. While that is a meaningful increase, some workers say it falls short of expectations set by national leaders. That contingent pushed for a minimum part-time hourly wage of $25.

Adam is our labor and employment reporter. Contact him at arayes@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @arayesIPB.

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