UPS and Teamsters Avert Strike With 5-Year Deal

Facts

UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a union representing more than 300K UPS employees in the US, on Tuesday agreed to a tentative five-year collective bargaining agreement that will avert the threat of a strike that had been set to begin August 1.¹
UPS Teamsters will vote to ratify the new agreement — reportedly worth $30B — next month, with electronic voting commencing on August 3 and closing on August 22.²
The provisional contract features over 60 changes and improvements to the National Master Agreement, but "zero concessions from the rank-and-file."³
According to the agreement, both full-time and part-time workers will get $2.75 more per hour in 2023 and $7.50 more per hour by 2028. UPS will also recognize MLK Day in January as a holiday for the first time and equip all delivery vehicles bought after January 1, 2024, with air conditioning.⁴
The 22.4 driver classification — a more flexible junior-driver position that involves working from Tuesday to Saturday — has been eliminated, as the union long deemed it unfair to pay lower rates to full-time drivers doing the same job.⁵
A 10-day proposed UPS strike had been projected to cost the US economy more than $7B. UPS shares closed down 1.9% to $184.69 on Tuesday.⁶

Left narrative, as provided by The Los Angeles Times. This tentative settlement between the Teamsters and UPS underscores what can be achieved when labor fights are carried out fairly on a balanced playing field, and will likely teach a lesson to anti-union companies who may believe they have the upper hand over workers. Given that failed negotiations cause enduring damages to both sides, it's unwise for bosses to play chicken with unions.
Right narrative, as provided by FEE. Another decade, another Teamsters-UPS deal mistakenly being touted as a resurgence of the American union movement. Just like in 1997, when UPS capitulated to pressures from this cartel and again sought to crush competition among labor sellers despite the company losing market shares. It's competition and entrepreneurship, rather than unions, that provide prosperity for workers.