October 11, 2018

Under the leadership of Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks, Local 174 members voted “YES” to bring huge improvements to UPS contract

Now that the IBT has released Local-by-Local voting numbers on the UPS Master Agreement and all Supplemental Agreements, we are proud to announce that Teamsters Local 174 and Teamsters Joint Council 28 members voted overwhelmingly to approve all three agreements covering them: the National Master UPS Agreement, the Western Region Supplement, and the Joint Council 28 Rider & Sort Addendum. Local 174 members voted by a margin of 85.5% to ratify the National Master Agreement, 89.9% to ratify the Western Region Supplement, and 89.8% to ratify the Joint Council 28 Rider & Sort Addendum.

Joint Council 28 as a whole voted by 80.4% to ratify the National Master Agreement, 86.9% to ratify the Western Region Supplement, and 86.8% to ratify the Joint Council 28 Rider & Sort Addendum.

These new Agreements will provide major improvements to the lives of UPSers in Joint Council 28. Through the National Master Agreement, they will receive significant pay increases, zero out-of-pocket contributions on their top-tier healthcare plans for the life of the agreement, considerable pension increases, and much stronger work rules to help them fight harassment, supervisors working, and excessive overtime – among countless other improvements.

Most meaningful of all to Joint Council 28 full-timers was the addition of a new retirees healthcare plan to the Joint Council 28 Rider. This new plan will make it more affordable for Joint Council 28 UPS Teamsters to retire once they become eligible, and just as importantly, this new plan will soon be available to negotiate into all our Teamster contracts. This incredible victory was achieved by Joint Council 28 President Rick Hicks at the negotiating table, and is only available to Joint Council 28 Teamsters.

“Trying times call for strong leadership, and strong leadership starts with always telling the truth to the members who count on us,” said Teamsters Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks. “We started these negotiations with truth, and never wavered from that truth. Throughout this negotiation, what impressed me the most was our members, who were able to shut out the widespread misinformation and overwhelmingly vote ‘yes’ for a contract that will provide a secure future for them and their families.”

Founded in 1909, Teamsters Local 174 represents 7,200 working men and women in the Seattle area. “Like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TeamstersLocal174.