leftseat10
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Here's the story:
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/050526/transport_ups_pilots.html?.v=3
Reuters
UPS, pilots wary as mediation set to end
Thursday May 26, 4:30 am ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - United Parcel Service Inc. and its pilots union are unlikely to resolve their 31-month-old contract dispute during a round of federally supervised mediation scheduled to conclude on Thursday, both parties said on Wednesday.
UPS spokesman Norman Black said the world's largest package delivery company would ask federal mediator Linda Puchala to schedule additional negotiating sessions as soon as possible. "We believe the mediator will do that," he said. "We have made progress at the table."
A spokesman for the union representing 2,500 UPS pilots said the union was disappointed with latest round of negotiations which have taken place over the past two weeks in Baltimore, Maryland.
While some ominous signs have emerged from the dispute -- such as this month's vote by the Independent Pilots Association demonstrating near-unanimous support for a strike -- both sides are bound to keep talking under a U.S. labor law that covers rail and air carriers.
Only if the National Mediation Board determines that talks have stalled, and asks both sides to enter mandatory arbitration, could the dispute head toward either a strike or management lock-out -- an outcome that could risk a serious disruption to the U.S. economy.
If either side were to reject arbitration, a 30-day "cooling-off period" would go into effect before a work stoppage became a possibility. Even then, the Bush administration could extend the imposed truce.
"It would be very dangerous for the national economy if a company that handles roughly 6 percent of the world's GDP stopped carrying packages," said Jim Corridore, an analyst with Standard & Poor's. Corridore said he expects the two sides to resolve the dispute without a work stoppage.
According to the union, there are five major issues in dispute: scheduling, pay, healthcare, pensions and "scope" -- a contract clause that governs when UPS can use non-company-owned planes.
UPS says its pilots are among the best-paid in the aviation industry with an average salary of $175,830. The company said it has offered to increase pilots' pay, though it has not said by how much.
Brian Gaudet, a spokesman for the pilots' union, said the pilots' average pay is around $168,000. He said the pilots are seeking increases in line with "market rates."
The pilots are also seeking increases in pensions as well as medical benefits coverage during the "bridge" period between the mandatory retirement age for a pilot, 60, and when federal benefits kick in. He added that he union is pleased with the progress the two sides have made on the scheduling issue.
The UPS spokesman declined to comment on the company's proposals for pensions and medical benefits.
While U.S. passenger airlines have been hurt by high fuel prices and competition from new entrants, cargo carriers UPS and FedEx Corp. have fared better. Both saw profits surge last year, with UPS's net income growing 15 percent in 2004 to $3.3 billion.
Though at an earlier stage, FedEx and its pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, are involved in contract negotiations of their own.
UPS and the Independent Pilots Association entered negotiations for a new contract in October 2002, and began federally-supervised mediation in August 2004.
Labor disputes have been costly to UPS in the past, as when a strike by the Teamsters union eight years ago cost the company as much as 6 percent of its normal daily volume. Black said UPS has yet to see any signs of its customers preparing alternative arrangements to deliver packages. "Our customers understand the process here," he said. Corridore, the Standard & Poor's analyst, said investors should not be concerned, for now. "If there was a perceived risk of a strike there would always be package divergence," he said. "Any time you expose your customers to your competition, there's a risk that some of those customers are not going to come back."
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/050526/transport_ups_pilots.html?.v=3
Reuters
UPS, pilots wary as mediation set to end
Thursday May 26, 4:30 am ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - United Parcel Service Inc. and its pilots union are unlikely to resolve their 31-month-old contract dispute during a round of federally supervised mediation scheduled to conclude on Thursday, both parties said on Wednesday.
UPS spokesman Norman Black said the world's largest package delivery company would ask federal mediator Linda Puchala to schedule additional negotiating sessions as soon as possible. "We believe the mediator will do that," he said. "We have made progress at the table."
A spokesman for the union representing 2,500 UPS pilots said the union was disappointed with latest round of negotiations which have taken place over the past two weeks in Baltimore, Maryland.
While some ominous signs have emerged from the dispute -- such as this month's vote by the Independent Pilots Association demonstrating near-unanimous support for a strike -- both sides are bound to keep talking under a U.S. labor law that covers rail and air carriers.
Only if the National Mediation Board determines that talks have stalled, and asks both sides to enter mandatory arbitration, could the dispute head toward either a strike or management lock-out -- an outcome that could risk a serious disruption to the U.S. economy.
If either side were to reject arbitration, a 30-day "cooling-off period" would go into effect before a work stoppage became a possibility. Even then, the Bush administration could extend the imposed truce.
"It would be very dangerous for the national economy if a company that handles roughly 6 percent of the world's GDP stopped carrying packages," said Jim Corridore, an analyst with Standard & Poor's. Corridore said he expects the two sides to resolve the dispute without a work stoppage.
According to the union, there are five major issues in dispute: scheduling, pay, healthcare, pensions and "scope" -- a contract clause that governs when UPS can use non-company-owned planes.
UPS says its pilots are among the best-paid in the aviation industry with an average salary of $175,830. The company said it has offered to increase pilots' pay, though it has not said by how much.
Brian Gaudet, a spokesman for the pilots' union, said the pilots' average pay is around $168,000. He said the pilots are seeking increases in line with "market rates."
The pilots are also seeking increases in pensions as well as medical benefits coverage during the "bridge" period between the mandatory retirement age for a pilot, 60, and when federal benefits kick in. He added that he union is pleased with the progress the two sides have made on the scheduling issue.
The UPS spokesman declined to comment on the company's proposals for pensions and medical benefits.
While U.S. passenger airlines have been hurt by high fuel prices and competition from new entrants, cargo carriers UPS and FedEx Corp. have fared better. Both saw profits surge last year, with UPS's net income growing 15 percent in 2004 to $3.3 billion.
Though at an earlier stage, FedEx and its pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, are involved in contract negotiations of their own.
UPS and the Independent Pilots Association entered negotiations for a new contract in October 2002, and began federally-supervised mediation in August 2004.
Labor disputes have been costly to UPS in the past, as when a strike by the Teamsters union eight years ago cost the company as much as 6 percent of its normal daily volume. Black said UPS has yet to see any signs of its customers preparing alternative arrangements to deliver packages. "Our customers understand the process here," he said. Corridore, the Standard & Poor's analyst, said investors should not be concerned, for now. "If there was a perceived risk of a strike there would always be package divergence," he said. "Any time you expose your customers to your competition, there's a risk that some of those customers are not going to come back."
