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UPS pilots honor Teamsters Canada strike
By Bill Wolfe
[email protected]
The Courier-Journal
UPS is turning to management pilots to make 36 weekly flights to Canada, following a decision by the Louisville-based Independent Pilots Association to honor a strike by Teamsters Canada.
The Teamsters, which represent 3,800 UPS employees in Canada, went on strike Monday, following a 72-hour notice. The 2,500-member UPS pilots union then announced it would stop flying UPS planes to Canada during the strike.
UPS has 6 roundtrip flights per day, Tuesday-Sunday, between the United States and Canada - all but one from the Worldport package-sorting hub in Louisville.
"The Independent Pilots Association is a strong trade union that does not cross primary picket lines," IPA president Tom Nicholson said in a written statement. "Our pilots will not fly into or out of Canada as long as the Teamsters are on strike in that country."
UPS Worldwide Express and UPS Worldwide Expedited service, which are primarily air based, will continue to operate between the United States and Canada, using nonunion employees, said company spokesman John Wheeler.
The Teamsters voted last month to reject a contract its leaders had negotiated with UPS. Negotiations prior to the strike had focused on wages and pensions, Wheeler said, and the company is not sure why the membership rejected the package. "We're open for negotiations, but we have nothing to report at this point," he said.
By Bill Wolfe
[email protected]
The Courier-Journal
UPS is turning to management pilots to make 36 weekly flights to Canada, following a decision by the Louisville-based Independent Pilots Association to honor a strike by Teamsters Canada.
The Teamsters, which represent 3,800 UPS employees in Canada, went on strike Monday, following a 72-hour notice. The 2,500-member UPS pilots union then announced it would stop flying UPS planes to Canada during the strike.
UPS has 6 roundtrip flights per day, Tuesday-Sunday, between the United States and Canada - all but one from the Worldport package-sorting hub in Louisville.
"The Independent Pilots Association is a strong trade union that does not cross primary picket lines," IPA president Tom Nicholson said in a written statement. "Our pilots will not fly into or out of Canada as long as the Teamsters are on strike in that country."
UPS Worldwide Express and UPS Worldwide Expedited service, which are primarily air based, will continue to operate between the United States and Canada, using nonunion employees, said company spokesman John Wheeler.
The Teamsters voted last month to reject a contract its leaders had negotiated with UPS. Negotiations prior to the strike had focused on wages and pensions, Wheeler said, and the company is not sure why the membership rejected the package. "We're open for negotiations, but we have nothing to report at this point," he said.
