UPS, Teamsters to resume talks as strike deadline nears

United Parcel Service (UPS) says it will head back to the bargaining table with the Teamsters next week and is ready to up its offer to avoid a strike that could occur as early as the end of the month.

“We are prepared to increase our industry-leading pay and benefits, but need to work quickly to finalize a fair deal that provides certainty for our customers, our employees and businesses across the country,” UPS Vice President of Communication Glenn Zaccara said in a statement.

Talks between UPS and the labor union that represents some 340,000 of the shipping giant’s employees have paused for two weeks after they broke down on July 5, with each side accusing the other of walking away from the negotiations.

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The current contract for UPS Teamsters expires July 31, and the workers have already authorized a strike if a deal is not reached by the deadline. 

If a work stoppage does occur, it could be the largest single-employer strike in history and the most expensive in a century, costing economic losses of more than $7 billion in just 10 days. 

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The two sides made progress in earlier negotiations and have come to an agreement on most points, according to UPS, but they remain at odds over part-time worker pay, which the Teamsters have referred to as “poverty” wages in some parts of the country.

UPS told FOX Business in an earlier statement that part-time employees at the company currently make an average of $20 an hour after their first 30 days of employment and receive the same health benefits as full-time workers. The minimum starting wage of a UPS worker is $16.20 an hour.