http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_3321CHICAGO - Some 230,000 Teamster members nationwide will vote soon on a new five-year contract with United Parcel Service--a pact that could also open UPS' newest subsidiary, the former Overnite Transportation, to unionization, too.
The new contract, reached Oct 1 -- almost a year in advance of expiration of IBT's old pact with UPS -- includes "substantial" raises, preservation of health benefits, and creation of a new jointly administered Teamsters-UPS pension fund for UPS workers, along with a $6.1 billion company contribution to it.
Voting will take place by mail, with results expected in early December, the union said.
For legal reasons having to do with new federal pension laws, UPS will withdraw from participation in the Teamsters' Central States pension fund, the union said. If ratified, most provisions in the master UPS pact will take effect starting next Aug. 1, when the old pact expires.
A key section in the new national pact is a reported card-check clause. If it is in the pact, it will apply not just to organizing present UPS facilities, but also to organizing UPS Freight, the former Overnite. Union President James Hoffa said IBT has been trying to organize Overnite for almost 50 years. Overnite has 15,000 workers.
Separately, the union reached its first-ever contract at an Overnite terminal, covering 125 workers in Indianapolis. Teamster regional reps met Oct. 11 in San Diego to review the overall UPS pact before it was sent to all the members. The Teamsters-UPS pact is one of the largest private sector contracts in the U.S.
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