An Open Letter to Local 174 Members at UPS
(Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks)
As I’m sure you have all heard by now, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has reached an “agreement in principle” with UPS management on the National Section of the contract. This is not referred to as a “Tentative Agreement” because we still have many Supplements and Addendums open across the country – including the Western Region Supplement and the Joint Council 28 Rider and Sort Addendum.
Until those sections of the contract are completed, we are not finished with the bargaining process. The IBT has shifted their focus to those areas and requested ALL Supplemental Chairs who are not finished to report to Minnesota during the week of July 9th to continue bargaining, with the IBT’s assistance if necessary. This is not unique, and has been the practice for the previous four National Negotiating teams I have served on. Those of us in the Western Supplement and also the Joint Council 28 Rider and Sort Addendum were already scheduled to meet in Los Angeles on those same dates to resolve our remaining issues, so we have been excused from traveling to Minnesota.
I caution you that over the coming weeks while we work to bring you the best contract possible, you may hear some negativity from people who, for political purposes, have chosen to attempt to get the members to reject this contract – before the members have had the chance to see the complete offer, and even more insulting, before we have even concluded the bargaining process.
I want you to understand something from me: this is the fifth National Negotiating Committee I have had the privilege to serve on, and it has been the most difficult one of all. This is not only because of the numerous issues we were tasked to address, but particularly because of outside political influences who have a different agenda. Their agenda is not about representing you – the members – but about enriching their own personal standing by playing politics with your lives! These personal political tactics have been played out throughout this entire negotiation, leading to many false rumors and innuendos.
There is no better example of these false rumors than the conspiracy theory surrounding the Strike Authorization Vote. The leaders of the “Vote No” campaign reported that at the same time we asked for your strike authorization, all of a sudden we announced we reached a deal. This assertion forgets that the entire point of a strike vote is to put pressure on the company! Once the strike vote was announced, the news outlets picked up the story immediately. Then the final strike authorization tally was released and went viral. That started the media frenzy with all sorts of strike speculation stories. When that happened, UPS was inundated with calls from their customers who were caught off guard – and the Company blinked. For the first time since negotiations started, UPS was motivated to reach an agreement. The negotiating team worked round the clock for an entire week before we reached this Agreement. This was one of the many brilliant moves by General President Hoffa and especially Package Director Denis Taylor.
In spite of these challenges, this National offer is the richest private sector contract ever negotiated in the history of this country. Most importantly, the vote to recommend that this part of the offer be sent to the two-person committee for their approval of your vote was unanimous by the National committee. Given these facts, I believe the members should think carefully about the motivations behind anyone who now tells you to vote no. Ask yourself, whose agenda are they serving?
I also believe there is nobody in the country that could have done what Package Director Denis Taylor did with this difficult assignment that was dropped on him at the last minute. Denis navigated the challenges of political bickering and endured constant misrepresentations of the truth and just outright lies of what was the reality of this negotiation. All while the Company sat back and waited for us to self-destruct. Denis refused to let that happen, and delivered what is in my opinion the finest national agreement that I am proud to present to you.
I have lived by a very consistent set of rules when it comes to bargaining contracts: Negotiate the strongest language you can, achieve the most money that you can without bankrupting the Company, and always tell the members the truth. After that, the members will always make the right decision for themselves and their families.
So in closing I ask that you continue to show the great patience you have shown throughout this stressful process, continue to trust in your bargaining team and let us finish our job. We still have a lot of work to do on the supplements and riders, but we are confident we will eventually bring you a deal that you will fully support.
Stay Tuned and Stay Positive!
Rick Hicks
Secretary-Treasurer — Teamsters Local 174