To the ones saying they'd gladly give up raises in the next contract to get the part-timers wages up:
You're all silly. Think about what you're saying. Think of the consequences of that. If you agree with that, then you're either out in Nowheresville Alabama living like a king while those around you scrape by on $20k a year, or you have no eyes for the future.
A part time job is just that, a part time job. While I agree the PT'ers are underpaid, and should be making 10-12/hr to start, I don't think that should come off the backs of the drivers. But I've heard they have no incentive to stay; that's BS. The incentive to stay is the higher paying job, with good benefits and a good retirement. Most of the people in the hub don't have much else going for them in terms of employment. If they're not in college, then they're pretty much there waiting for a FT job anyway. I've heard they can go to Walmart or McDonalds and make the same amount of money, if not more. That's great, but where do those dead end jobs lead to? You can take your Walmart experience and go apply at Target, now that's an improvement. The chance of making $70K plus with no education, and right now, even with college, is slim.
Anyways, back on point; A contract is 5 years. FIVE years....that's half a decade. Do you REALLY want to give up a raise for 5 years? A lot can happen in that time, gas can skyrocket, utilities, food, etc. Look at how much prices on utilities and food have increased in the last year. A $0.12 COLA raise doesn't come close to covering that, and now you want to give up our raises, too? 5 years down the line, you want to be making the same amount of money as you are today? I'm telling you again, you're silly. Our raises are not much, and in the grand scheme of things at UPS, are even less. Should we be doing the same work then as we are now, but making less money? That is what it equates to. Our raises are not extravagant, they only cover basic inflation. We are not going to get rich off our raises, but take them away and I guarantee life will get more expensive for everyone.
And just something else to consider. It would be a lot easier for UPS to not give any raises the contract after the next one, as well. If we're all used to not getting a raise, then it wouldn't take much to leave it out of that contract either.
The part timers do deserve to be making a little more, but not at the level of full time, and not off our backs. UPS can afford to give a little without taking. Besides, getting rid of a few part time sups would more than cover the cost of the raises, and we all know there are more than a few redundancies there....