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A decision by leadership of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to ratify a labor contract with United Parcel Service Inc. on Friday night is deepening a divide within the union.
As we reported over the weekend, the majority of voting members came out against the labor deal by a margin of 54.2 percent against to 45.7 percent for it — but only 44.3 percent of its members voted on the contract. The IBT ratified the deal because the union constitution says that in a situation where fewer than 50 percent of members vote, a two-thirds votes against is required to reject an offer.
Nobody expected that ratification, said Fred Zuckerman, president of Louisville-based Teamsters Local 89.
On the first business day after the ratification/non-ratification of the UPS (NYSE: UPS) master agreement covering its Small Package division, the dust still had not completely settled.
In particular, a new wrinkle surrounding local issues, and the need to have them approved, came from a statement made by the dissident Teamsters for a Democratic Union.
A spokesman for UPS said Monday that the company planned to sit down with union negotiators to discuss local issues at the 10 local/regional units that had rejected the union.
But whether it’s necessary to talk about 10 separate agreements is unclear, based on a web posting by the TDU.
The Teamsters have voted against the UPS contract agreement for the Small Package division, but the union says the contract is ratified anyway.
That appeared to be news to UPS.
While that fate of that larger contract may be somewhat in question, one thing that is clear is that the tentative contract agreement covering the UPS Freight division, much smaller than the Small Package sector, was defeated by the Teamsters.
According to a statement issued by the Teamsters, the contract–agreed to in July to replace the five-year agreement that expired July 31–was rejected 50,248-42,356. That seems like a clear defeat.
Disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and drones have been helping United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) in how it operates in the logistics industry, which itself is prone to disruptions.
UPS has relied on technology to stay ahead, the logistics company said on Tuesday during the inaugural Innovation Series, a platform organized by the US-ASEAN Business Council, the Makati Business Club and Manila House.
Chris Buono, managing director of UPS Philippines, said as a high-asset, fragmented and competitive industry, logistics has a great potential for disruption.