UPS Reports Second Quarter Profits of $873 Million

July 22: UPS reported second quarter profits of $873 million yesterday. Overall UPS revenue climbed 6.7 percent to over $13 billion for the same period.

Revenue from the company’s logistics and UPS Freight operations grew faster than the rest of the company, by 10.9 percent to $2.3 billion.

UPS’s second quarter profits were down from $1.1 billion last year, due to a weak economy and high fuel prices.
Read the rest ...

Local 705 UPSers Authorize Strike

Bargaining Continues; Contract Expires on July 31

July 20, 2008: More than three thousand Local 705 members turned out to the union hall on Sunday to participate in a vote to authorize a strike against UPS.

Five hundred members were lined up at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday when the doors opened to start the voting. Balloting continued until 5 p.m. Members voted to authorize a strike should one be necessary by an overwhelming margin of 2,993 to 232.

Bargaining will resume on Tuesday and Thursday this week. The Local 705 UPS contract is independent of the national agreement and covers more than 10,000 UPS Teamsters in the Chicago area. The contract expires at midnight on July 31.

Click here to watch a video about the Local 705 strike vote.

Are Full-Time Combo Jobs Being Protected?

In 1997, UPS Teamsters went on strike to tell the company, “Part-Time America Won’t Work.” Our united action forced UPS to create 20,000 full-time combo jobs under the 1997 and 2002 contracts. 

Our negotiators gave away this language in the new contract. But UPS is still required to maintain the 20,000 combo jobs created under the national contract.

Make UPS Deliver has received reports from more than one area that UPS is eliminating combo jobs by not putting vacant positions up for bid. Read the rest ...

UPS Expands Spyware Program

Are new sensors appearing on your package car?  UPS is expanding its use of new technology to monitor vehicles, and drivers, like never before.

The company’s new “telematics program” uses computer technology to combine data UPS gathers through GPS, the DIAD board and new sensors that are being mounted on package cars in pilot areas. Read the rest ...

Crossing the Line on Safety Quizzes

Help Make UPS Deliver Gather Information on Company Violations

We’re all familiar with UPS’s pop quizzes on the 10-Point Commentary and other company safety-speak. The company has decided it’s not enough for drivers to work safely and follow proper methods. They want us to recite their methods word-for-word.

The company can make us play the game, but there are limits. And some managers are stepping over the line. In some instances, UPS has threatened to take drivers out of service without pay if they can’t properly answer questions.  Read the rest ...

Local 705 Schedules UPS Strike Vote

UPS Teamsters in Chicago Local 705 will vote this Sunday, July 20 on authorizing a strike.

The vote will be held in the Local 705 auditorium from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Read the rest ...

Won't Get 15¢ Increase:

No Cost of Living Raise for UPS Teamsters

All UPS Teamsters will be missing something this summer: a cost of living raise of 15¢ per hour.

Gasoline and food prices are skyrocketing. Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) went up 4.5 percent from May 2007 to May 2008. This is the period used in Article 33 of our contract.

When that index goes over three percent, we are supposed to get a cost of living adjustment (COLA). Read the rest ...

Local 705 Swaps Contract Proposals with UPS

Chicago Local 705 has exchanged contract proposals with the company on a new UPS contract.

Local 705 is making both the union and company proposals available to the members in their entirety on the Local 705 website.

The Local 705 UPS contract is independent of the national agreement and covers thousands of UPS Teamsters in the Chicago area. Local 705 Teamsters are currently operating under the contract negotiated in 2002.

Click here to download and view the union’s bargaining proposals from the Local 705 website.

Big Brown Jockey Fired for Failure to Follow UPS Methods?

Rumor has it that the jockey who rode "Big Brown" in the Belmont Stakes this past Sunday was fired for failing to follow "UPS Prescribed Methods" by not whipping the daylights out of that horse during the final stretch.

UPS is claiming that the horse would have won the Triple Crown but for the jockey's failure to follow UPS methods.

Big Brown's trainer, Rick Dutrow, was given a "lateral transfer" to the UPS Center in Nome, Alaska where he will supervise the package sled drivers (and sled dogs) at that center during the twilight sort which lasts from November to August each year. Read the rest ...

DHL Restructures, Outsources to UPS

DHL unveiled a far-reaching restructuring of its troubled U.S. express business Wednesday that includes a sharp pullback in its operations and outsourcing its air transport business to competitor UPS. Read the rest ...