IPA and UPS avoid impasse after 5 years of negotiations

The Atlanta-based delivery giant, United Parcel Service (UPS) and the Independent Pilot’s Association have reached a tentative agreement concerning a new labor contract after a five-year period of negotiation. IPA represents 2,600 flight deck crew of the airline arm of the delivery company whose contracts fall under the legislation of US labor laws. Pilots’ contracts do not come to an end and are simply renegotiated, while five years is not an unusual length for contract negotiations to last.
Issues being discussed have been predominantly based on issues from pay to retirement benefits, while that the principal problem which has stalled negotiations up until now has been work rules, particularly to avoid fatigue. Oilots have been looking for more time to rest between flights, applying rules akin to those which the Federal Aviation Administration has produced for airline pilots.
UPS has made it clear that up until now it has taken great care of its pilots, offering higher pay, better benefits and fewer flying hours than others in the same industry. UPS has successfully negotiated four contracts with its union over the 25+ years it has been running an airline.
While terms have not been revealed, the tentative agreement calls for a five-year labor contract, effective September 1, 2016 through to September 1, 2021. IPA leadership will now present the proposed contract to rank-and-file pilots for a vote that will be completed by August 31, which will require a majority vote for ratification.
IPA president Robert Travis said in a statement that “This tentative agreement has been unanimously approved and endorsed by both the IPA executive board and our negotiating committee,” adding that he will present it to UPS pilots “with an unqualified recommendation for ratification.”
According to Brendan Canavan, UPS Airlines president, “The contract rewards our crewmembers for their outstanding contributions and contains provisions that protect UPS’s ability to deliver competitive service to our global customers.”
This tentative agreement comes just over eight months after pilots at FedEx Corporation’s FedEx Express ratified a labor contract which will run through to 2021.