(New York) The Teamsters president said Sunday he had asked the White House not to intervene if unionized UPS workers end up going on strike.
Negotiations between the delivery company and the union representing 340,000 of its workers have been stalled for more than a week. The July 31 deadline for a new contract is fast approaching.
The union has threatened to go on strike if an agreement is not reached before the expiry of the collective agreement. Asked during a webcast with members on Sunday whether the White House could impose a contract on the union, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said he had repeatedly asked the House- Blanche to stay away.
In my neighborhood where I grew up in Boston, if two people had a disagreement and you had nothing to do with it, you just kept walking.
Sean O’Brien, President of the Teamsters
“We don’t need anyone involved in this fight,” he said.
Teamsters represents more than half of the Atlanta-based company’s workforce in the largest private sector contract in North America. If a strike were to take place, it would be the first since a 15-day walkout by 185,000 workers paralyzed the company a quarter of a century ago.
Prior to the breakdown of contract negotiations, the two sides had reached tentative agreements on several issues, including the installation of air conditioning in more trucks and the removal of a two-tier wage system for drivers working the weekends and earn less money.
A sticking point in the negotiations is over wage increases for part-time workers, who earn a minimum of $16.20 an hour, according to UPS.
Last week, UPS said it would temporarily begin training non-union workers in the United States to respond to strikes.