Negotiation Analysis
May 2, 2010
UPS/Teamsters negotiation in 1997
Introduction In 1997 united parcel service and the Teamsters were on table again after 1993’s contract negotiation. It was common since 1980’s that union sent signals to management about large concessions before every negotiation. Union made it clear before the 1997 negotiations started that "These negotiations are about only one thing and that is making improvements that will give our members the security, opportunities, safety, and standard of living that they deserve" (Witt, Wilson, 1999). In 1996 UPS reported $22.4 billion of sales. 80 percent of the ground package delivery business was under control of united parcel service. UPS had 185,000 Teamsters employees. Majority of these employees were part timers and other full timers. While reported being a profitable company UPS management said that to stay profitable and beat its competitors they need to negotiate the contract wisely and its employees need to cooperate with them. The emphasis on international business and expedited air shipments was driving the growth of the company. The air side of UPS operates virtually separately than the ground operations. This is where people worked odd hours and had to meet tight operational deadlines. The ground portion also consisted of majority of the part time workers (Budd, 1997). The Teamsters was part of the AFL-CIO. AFL-CIO was a federation consisted of 78 different national and international unions. Overall it had most than 13 million members. Teamster was a big in it as well. It was presenting 1.4 million members including about 400,000 pensioners both in United States and Canada. Union leaders told its members to be offensive in the negotiation to stay in power. Teamster had many part timers in their membership and these part timers made 57% of the total UPS employees. These part timers had big stakes in this negotiation and were looking forward to get heard in the
UPS/Teamsters negotiation in 1997
Introduction In 1997 united parcel service and the Teamsters were on table again after 1993’s contract negotiation. It was common since 1980’s that union sent signals to management about large concessions before every negotiation. Union made it clear before the 1997 negotiations started that "These negotiations are about only one thing and that is making improvements that will give our members the security, opportunities, safety, and standard of living that they deserve" (Witt, Wilson, 1999). In 1996 UPS reported $22.4 billion of sales. 80 percent of the ground package delivery business was under control of united parcel service. UPS had 185,000 Teamsters employees. Majority of these employees were part timers and other full timers. While reported being a profitable company UPS management said that to stay profitable and beat its competitors they need to negotiate the contract wisely and its employees need to cooperate with them. The emphasis on international business and expedited air shipments was driving the growth of the company. The air side of UPS operates virtually separately than the ground operations. This is where people worked odd hours and had to meet tight operational deadlines. The ground portion also consisted of majority of the part time workers (Budd, 1997). The Teamsters was part of the AFL-CIO. AFL-CIO was a federation consisted of 78 different national and international unions. Overall it had most than 13 million members. Teamster was a big in it as well. It was presenting 1.4 million members including about 400,000 pensioners both in United States and Canada. Union leaders told its members to be offensive in the negotiation to stay in power. Teamster had many part timers in their membership and these part timers made 57% of the total UPS employees. These part timers had big stakes in this negotiation and were looking forward to get heard in the
References: 1. Witt, Wilson, Matt, Rand. "The Teamsters ' UPS Strike of 1997: Building a New Labor Movement." Labor Studies Journal. 24.1 (1999): 58-72. Web. 22 Apr 2010. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-54517324/teamsters-ups-strike-1997.html (Pro-union) 2 3. Cabell, Brian. (1997, August 20). It 's official: teamsters end ups strike. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/US/9708/20/ups.update.early/ (Neutral) 4 5. Michael Bradford. (1997, August). UPS, “Teamsters boxing on benefits”. Business Insurance, 31(32), 1,25. Retrieved April 29, 2010, Business Insurance v31 p1, august 11, 1997. (Neutral) 6 9. John F. Budd. “What the Teamsters Knew.” Budd Jr., John F, Initials. (1997, Nov-Dec). What the Teamsters knew. Across the Board, 34(10). (Neutral) 10 11. Henry R Hoke. (1997, September). “The UPS strike 's winners and losers.”Direct Marketing, 60(5), 80. Retrieved April 29, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 15113521). (Neutral) 12 13. USDA. The 1997 Economy: An Overview. (1997), Economic research service. Web: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aer780/aer780b.pdf (Neutral) 14 15. Budd, John W. Labor Relations: Striking a Balance, 2nd Edition, McGraw-Hill Irwin Publishing: Chicago, 2008. (Neutral)