This comes more-so as a perspective from a veteran part-timer:
PROS:
- $1.00 per hour skilled pay is being maintained ( With current technology, UPS has been pushing to eliminate this for some time)
- No health insurance premiums yet ($ 30/60/90 per week would have been a huge blow to part-timers)
- 2,350 new 22.3 jobs. (of course this comes with a huge *asterisk. We'll see what happens)
CONS:
1. No catch-up raise (Well of course not. The veteran PTers are the employees that UPS wants to get rid of , so they're not going to provide us with any additional incentives. They would much prefer for us to be gone so they can ride staffs primarily consisting of newbies who are making the starting rate and not eligible for paid vacations, pension, or insurance)
2. 4 year progression once becoming full-time, compared to 3 years in the current contract, and 2 years in the previous contract. This is as close as you can get to a two-tiered wage system
3. If I am understanding this correctly, this means our raises could be taken away and put into the healthcare or pension fund:
Article 34, Section 4, Subdivision 1:
"Any portion of any GWI may be re-allocated as an increased contribution to a Teamster Pension or Health &Welfare Fund. The re-allocation shall apply to all employees in a Supplement, Rider or Addendum, as applicable, provided all of the affected employees (full or part-time, if applicable) are covered by the same Pension or Health & Welfare Fund."
(The preceding would be a huge blow to a part-timer)
4. Union administered healthcare plan. They can do whatever they want with it, whenever they want...as evidenced by the following Memorandum of Understanding contained within the contract:
"Nothing within this Memorandum of Understanding shall affect the Central States Health & Welfare Trustee’s right to modify benefit levels."
(even if agreed upon benefit levels do not get significantly modified within the life of the contract, what's to say union dues don't skyrocket if healthcare becomes more expensive than anticipated?)
5. Decreased insurance coverage compared to current contract, which includes:
~ Deductibles that increase each year of the contract (what's that going to mean for the 2018 contract? This is just getting the ball rolling
~ 80% coverage on diagnostics compared to 90% in the current contract and 100% in the 2002-2007 contract
~ 80% coverage on ER visits compared to current $25 co-pay
~ Decreased prescription coverage
~ Decreased vision coverage
~ Annual max of $1,500 on dental work compared to no max currently
(All of this adds up for a part-timer. Whatwe do receive of the scheduled general wage increases, will likely go into extra healthcare expenses)
Final note: We are going down the wrong path with concessions every contract and part-timers are usually the sacrificial lambs. Concessions in every contract in light of record profits for the company doesn't bode well for the distant future if you're in your 20's, 30's, or 40's and want to make UPS a career.