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UPS, once again, fails to reach Contract agreement with its Pilots

UPS came to Baltimore unprepared

NMB sets mid-June showdown in Washington, D.C.

Thru., May 26, 2005 (Baltimore) – UPS, once again, failed to meet a National Mediation Board deadline for wrapping-up contract negotiations with the Independent Pilots Association.

“Here we are, right before Memorial Day, coming out of two-weeks of talks in Baltimore and UPS has botched its second NMB deadline,” said Capt. Tom Nicholson, President, Independent Pilots Association. UPS missed the NMB’s first contract deadline when Federally mediated talks broke-down in Cincinnati just before Easter.

UPS was unable to meet the NMB’s latest contract deadline because it was wholly unprepared to close-out key areas of the contract. The best example of this was this week’s abbreviated discussion on pension.

“The IPA has spent three-years and more than a million dollars having our pilots and staff work with outside actuaries and Employment Retirement Income Security Act attorneys developing and modeling pension proposals. We came to the table this week ready to close a deal, but it became painfully obvious to both the IPA and the NMB that UPS hasn’t spent any time or resources preparing to work a deal on pension,” said Capt. Nicholson.

In order for UPS to get its proposals on pension and other open issues ready, the NMB has given the company two-weeks to prepare for the final round of negotiations at the NMB’s offices in Washington, D.C.

“While the Railway Labor Act process can sometimes be arcane, it does follow well established paths. When talks move to the NMB in Washington, D.C., most observers realize that it’s the end of the game and that status quo will change. We’re willing to follow the NMB’s lead and give UPS one more chance to do what it should have done during the seven-weeks between Cincinnati and Baltimore, which is to get its ducks in a row so that the Company returns to the table in mid-June with the data it needs to make a deal,” said Capt. Nicholson.