The Teamsters union and UPS are putting different spins on how contract negotiations are going.

Representatives of UPS and the Teamsters met last week in Dallas to continue formal negotiations on changes to the UPS National Master Agreement. The next set of national negotiations is in May. The current agreement, reached after a 15-day strike in August of 1997, runs through July 31.
UPS says progress on contract terms remains steady. The company says it “remains optimistic that it can reach a balanced and fair agreement that rewards employees for their hard work and efforts while enabling UPS to remain competitive,” noting that UPS employees are the highest paid in the industry.
The Teamsters, however, said the third round of talks ended “making little progress.”
“Negotiations continue at a slow pace,” said Bill Lichtenwald, Co-Chair of the Teamsters National Negotiating Committee. “We are making progress in some areas and expect to continue that progress. It is still early in negotiations and we still have a significant number of issues to address.”
Talks continue to address only the non-economic portions of the contract, the Teamsters said, such as safety and overtime. Wage, pension and health care issues will be addressed once all non-economic issues are resolved.
According to the Journal of Commerce, analysts don’t think a strike is likely. Ed Wolfe of Bear Stearns observed that “overall relations between UPS management and the Teamsters remain excellent,” and noted that the Bush administration would be far less supportive of a Teamsters strike than the Clinton administration.