United Parcel Service Inc. and its pilot union on Wednesday said
they are jointly asking for federal mediation for contract
negotiations, which have already lasted more than two years.
The Independent Pilots Association, which represents about 2,600
UPS pilots, and the company said in a joint statement that they
have "utilized their best efforts over the past two and a half
years of negotiations," but are still at odds on issues including
scheduling, compensation, pension, and benefits.
The National Mediation Board will handle negotiations going
forward, according to the statement. The board has successfully
helped the two parties to come to an agreement on all three
contracts between UPS and the IPA since the union was formed at UPS
in 1990. The last contract took about two years of federal
mediation before it was signed in 2006.
The contract, which became amendable on Dec. 31, 2011, is
governed by the Railway Labor Act, which keeps contracts from
expiring and workers from striking, until all negotiation
processes--including mediation--are exhausted.
UPS is also currently working to wrap up labor negotiations with
the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. While a master contract
was passed in June by the company's domestic package-delivery
employees, several local groups have rejected supplemental
agreements that must be reached before the master contract can take
effect.
Write to Laura Stevens at laura.stevens@wsj.com and John Kell at
john.kell@wsj.com
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