This is where I read it....
UPS Store owners have mixed feelings about IPA picket plan
Updated: 7:00 p.m. ET Nov. 27, 2005
An Independent Pilots Association plan to picket outside The UPS Store locations in Louisville and other cities with large United Parcel Service Inc. operations is leaving some store franchisees frustrated.
The union, which represents UPS pilots, took out a full-page ad in USA Today earlier this month, alerting customers that "informational picketing" was "coming soon to a UPS Store near you."
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The pickets are an attempt to draw attention to the negotiations, which have dragged on since October 2002.
But some Louisville franchisees, including Michael Seiler, aren't happy that their stores were chosen as a battleground for a fight that doesn't involve them.
Seiler, owner of a store at 974 Breckinridge Lane, said he and other franchisees pay royalties to UPS subsidiary Mail Boxes Etc. Inc. and follow a uniform retail format, but that's the extent of their relationship with UPS.
Although the UPS logo and the company's trademark brown are predominant in signage at the stores, Seiler said he isn't taking sides in the ongoing dispute between UPS and its pilots.
UPS bought Mail Boxes Etc. in 2001 and changed store names to The UPS Store in 2003, but the individual outlets are owned by independent franchisees.
"I am upset that they're using us to get their point across," Seiler said. "I have spoken to some of our regular customers, and they understand that we aren't owned by UPS, but I'm sure there are people out there" who think the stores are owned by UPS.
In the ad, the IPA said it wanted to bring the lengthy negotiations to the attention of customers at The UPS Store locations in UPS's hometown, Atlanta, as well as Los Angeles, Dallas, Orlando and Louisville.
"We're going to be polite about it," IPA president Capt. Tom Nicholson said. "Before we picket, we'll go in and talk to the shop owner, and we'll hold doors for customers and we'll be polite. We just think the public, shippers and investors need to know that we feel that this has gone on for too long."
Pilots 'within their legal rights' to picket
Steve Holmes, an Atlanta-based public relations manager for UPS, declined to say whether any store franchisees have contacted the company to express concerns about the picketing.
"We have advised the store owners that the pilots are within their legal rights to do picketing," he said.
It was unclear when and where IPA pilots might picket in Louisville. Nicholson declined to disclose specific information, but he said picketing is planned for mid-December.
Joyce Vallance, owner of The UPS Store in Floyds Knobs, said she hasn't been informed that her store will be picketed, but she said she is doubtful that picket lines outside any of The UPS Store locations will net the desired effect.
"UPS isn't going to be paying attention to anything that is going on in front of UPS Stores," Vallance said. "This is not our fight."
Pilots see stores as retail face of UPS
But Nicholson said the pilots decided to picket outside The UPS Store locations because they are widely seen as retail outlets that represent the company.
IPA officials have not coordinated picket lines with any franchisee, but about half of the franchisees who have contacted the IPA about the plans have been supportive, even inviting pilots to picket in front of their stores, Nicholson said.
The other half are concerned that the picketers might drive away customers, Nicholson said.
"We're glad to receive their feedback, but the IPA solely exists to take care of pilots who fly for UPS," added Brian Gaudet, president of Washington, D.C.-based Brian Gaudet and Associates, a public relations firm representing the IPA.
Pilots find sympathy among some franchisees
Some franchisees of The UPS Store have contacted the IPA and told them they would speak out on behalf of the pilots, Gaudet said.
Many of them are members of The Brown Board Owners Association Inc., a coalition of several hundred franchisees who have banded together to raise concerns about increasing costs and declining profitability at their stores.
Brown Board members could not be reached for comment.
The franchisees have accused UPS of undercutting them by offering cheaper shipping rates to customers who purchase shipping labels online and by touting its direct pickup service.
"We have our own issues with UPS," Seiler said. "We want the UPS pilots to be fairly compensated, but it's not our issue."
Strike could be looming
After more than three years of negotiations with UPS, the IPA announced on Nov. 18 that it would give the company until Dec. 23 to present a labor agreement it deems acceptable.
According to the IPA's Web site,
www.ipapilot.org, contracts governed by the Railway Labor Act have "amendable dates," rather than an expiration date. The pilots currently are working under an agreement that became amendable on Dec. 31, 2003. The IPA has negotiated with UPS since October 2002.
The company and union differ over matters such as health care premiums and sleeping quarters for pilots waiting for planes to be loaded.
If an agreement isn't reached before the deadline, the IPA will seek a release from mediation. If a release is granted by the National Mediation Board, the union would be required to observe a 30-day "cooling off" period before a strike could officially begin, according to the Railway Labor Act. UPS also could lock out its pilots after that 30-day period.
Nicholson said two decisions made by the National Mediation Board earlier this year lead him to believe that the IPA could be released from mediation if it requests such a release.
The board released Northwest Airlines Inc. mechanics and Polar Air Cargo Inc. pilots from negotiations with their respective companies, allowing the workers to strike.
UPS officials have downplayed the IPA's tactics, saying that the National Mediation Board has not given any indication it will consider granting the IPA a release from mediation.
Negotiations are set to resume Dec. 19 to 23 in Green Bay, Wis.
"Additional negotiating dates would not have been scheduled if the parties were at an impasse or if the NMB thought a release was appropriate," Louisville-based UPS Airlines public relations manager Mark Giuffre said last week in an e-mail to the media. "Any discussion by the IPA about being released from negotiations is pure rhetoric."
Not leaving anything to chance, Seiler said he has a backup plan if IPA pilots decide to resort to a strike in the coming months.
"We rely on UPS to handle our shipping, but it's not our only option," Seiler said. "We also offer DHL."
2005 Business First of Louisville
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