Originally Posted by
CactusCrew
Technically correct, but UPS has an unhealthy adversarial relationship with its employees and their unions. UPS was stupid enough about maintaining that toxic relationship in 1997 that it drove thousands of customers to its main competitor during the Teamster strike. How is that a good business practice in a service industry ?
You say they "missed a great opportunity" in 1997. So in your mind, a great opportunity is one that chases away customers and benefits your competition ? Hope you don't make any decisions that matter around here.
Sabre rattling during negotiations is one thing, I've seen that numerous times at various employers. Four airlines, different unions (not just ALPA), and a few years as a member of the Steelworkers. What goes on at UPS on a daily basis (at least in the airline) is beyond normal union / management friction.
Cactus,
Do you think then Teamster President Ron Carey had a personal vendetta against UPS in 1997? Carey and his father both worked for UPS. Carey held a one day strike when UPS increased weight limits to 150 lbs.. 75% of the Union members crossed the picket lines and worked that time. Then Carey led the first national strike against UPS in 1997. Did you know that the the main hangup in negotiations was the Multi Employer pension fund that was Teamster controlled? UPS wanted to set up a separate pension fund for UPS members and would not have to pay for pensions of competitors such as Considated Freightways (out of business since then) Roadway, Yellow (both had to merge and filed bankruptcy). You can see where I'm going with this. The Teamsters were faced with a major problem if UPS funded a separate pension from the multiemployer pension fund the union wanted. UPS was the largest source of funding for the Teamster Mulit Employer Pension fund.
UPS ended up paying the union $6.1 billion dollars to get out of the multi employer pension fund that they contributed on average over $4 billion per year. The multiemployer Union pension fund accounting was based on last man standing paid for the fund account. Have a look at how many Union trucking companies have gone out of business. UPS has had to fund their pensions until they were able to get out of the multi employer pension fund that was Teamster controlled.
What I meant "Great Opportunity" was when the Union struck UPS could have changed the way they did business, hired scabs and became essentially a non union workforce. Think of how many people would have jumped at a truck driving job making 60k plus. Instead the srike was settled after 17 days and UPS created more union jobs. When UPS bought Overnite, Overnite was a non union shop. The Teamsters spent years trying to organize Overnite with very marginal success. After UPS purchasing Overnight and converting it to UPS Freight, Overnight became a union shop and they are now Teamster drivers making more than what they did.
I along with you have seen different unions, we have something in common with the Steel Workers Union.