She rewarded labor while automating a bunch of them out of a job. We should be in a better position as far as that goes.

This. Anyone who thinks any part of this contract will be a "given" is either very new and inexperienced, or kidding themselves. We've given up a full negotiation cycle. The company surely sees this as a huge win and I can guarantee that they are NOT planning on allowing us to make up two contracts' worth of gains. We have a huge hill to climb and are facing an entrenched, well armed, determined, and veteran adversary. I expect this thing will be a huge fight & will be pleasantry surprised if we have anything remotely worth voting on within the next five years. We should all be prepared for the long fight & come fully to terms with the difficulties of the road ahead.

Why did the company agree to early negotiations?

Certianly a valid and intriguing question & one that has many of us wondering. Perhaps there is something on the horizon that will require buy-in from the union & UPS actually intends to move the contract along. Maybe we really are dealing in a kinder, gentler, more collaborative environment. But forgive me if I have my doubts. History tells us that this company doesn't give anything away and even when we think we've made progress, they tend to move the goalposts on us. Maybe they think they can get us for cheap and scare us into signing a substandard contract while the FedEx pilots are on the ropes & the doomscrollers are fixated on perceived economic & geopolitical storm clouds. In any case, my list of needed improvements is long & my expectations for a quick outcome are low. Call me a cynic, but I'd rather be pleasantly surprised than dismayed when we still don't have a contract in the summer of 2029. I'm also prepared to wait for the right contract vs. settling for something quick and lacking. I'm hoping that's the mindset of the majority.

Probably to demonstrate to the eventual NMB that they are being cooperative.

I really hope they haven’t gamed it out that way. Agree to start negotiations early, slow roll us on everything that matters, jointly file for mediation, and then point to how they’ve been trying to help us out, but we are just unreasonably asking for dramatically better compensation than FedEx is providing.

I’m cautiously optimistic, but at the end of the day I know what it will take to get my yes vote, what I would vote no for, and what would drive me to actively campaign against a TA. Hopefully, the EB won’t endorse a TA that would result in the latter two options. They have our survey feedback, so this shouldn’t be rocket science, aside from convincing the company to sign off on a good contract. That might be rocket science.

Think about when the legacies start their next contract talks.

UPS has made it clear that they DO NOT want to bargain with the IPA and the Teamsters simultaneously. Or at least that’s what they have claimed. I’m not sure of the exact date of expiration of the Teamsters contract is and I have heard that the Teamster will not negotiate until ours is finished.

UPS has made it clear that they DO NOT want to bargain with the IPA and the Teamsters simultaneously. Or at least that’s what they have claimed. I’m not sure of the exact date of expiration of the Teamsters contract is and I have heard that the Teamster will not negotiate until ours is finished.

Of course they don't... why would they want to give the labor that much leverage?

Teamsters sure as **** won't wait around for IPA to finish negotiations, not sure why IPA waited for the teamsters to finish.