Teamsters reach ‘historic’ deal with UPS: ‘Tremendous victory for labor,’ union president says

One of America’s largest mail carriers, the United Parcel Service (UPS) and the Teamsters union reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement Tuesday to avoid a potential strike that could rattle the U.S. economy.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien joined “Cavuto: Coast to Coast” to discuss the deal, arguing it’s a “tremendous victory for labor” while praising it as “the largest union settlement in the history of labor.”

“Proud to say we hit a historic deal,” O’Brien told Neil Cavuto.

The union represents about 330,000 UPS employees in the U.S.

“It’s a $30 billion deal that will go in the pockets of all our members, both full-time and part-time,” O’Brien added. 

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The former contract between UPS and Teamsters was set to expire on July 31. In mid-June, 97% of UPS Teamsters were in favor of authorizing a strike if negotiations failed to yield a satisfactory agreement between the two sides.

O’Brien explained that the union received “direction” and “guidance” from its members in preparation for the negotiation talks. 

“We’ve done a lot of great work,” O’Brien said, praising the “many improvements” made in the contract.

“We eliminated two-tier wage systems. We put air conditioners in trucks. We also improved pensions,” he pointed out.

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The union was also able to improve pensions, maintain health care, make Marin Luther King Jr. Day a paid holiday and drive up the starting wage for its part–time workers. 

“This is the first time ever that our part-timers, in some instances based on their years of service, will be getting larger wage increases,” O’Brien said.

UPS said the agreement is a “win-win-win” for the Teamsters’ leadership, employees, and customers in a press release. 

“This agreement continues to reward UPS’s full- and part-time employees with industry-leading pay and benefits while retaining the flexibility we need to stay competitive, serve our customers and keep our business strong,” said Carol Tomé, UPS chief executive officer.

O’Brien argued that the “historic” agreement will add “stability” to UPS’s workforce and that the mail carrier would’ve been “striking themselves” if they didn’t comply with what Teamsters requested.

“When you’re paying people a livable wage, when you’re paying people for the hard work that they do and treating them with respect and dignity, they’re going to retain employees,” he said. 

The president continued, adding that UPS witnessed a great deal of pressure from the union due to the two weeks of practice picketing.

“I think what we’ve done in this campaign is we’ve highlighted, you know, who actually loads those trucks, who unloads those trucks, who makes it possible to provide goods and services,” O’Brien said.

“It was our time, and we took full advantage of our time,” he concluded. 

FOX Business’ Eric Revell contributed to this report