UPS 853 Members got thrown a curve ball last week Wednesday. The IBT needed a national bargaining chip right away as negotiations continued between the Teamsters and UPS for the master contract, which will define the UPS work agreement for the next five years.
In less than three(3) days, the Local and members had to organize a vote drive on whether or not to give the IBT permission to strike if they needed to exercise that option during negotiations.
Everyone came together and got it done. Members had to take extra time to be available to vote, and staff scrambled to put two fully staffed voting stations in place. One voting station went well past 10:00 PM to accommodate as many members as possible.
“A strong thank you to all the members,” said David Crawford, UPS Business Agent. “Everyone came together and gave Teamsters Local 853 and the IBT the tools it needed to strengthen our negotiating stance at the national level.”
