‘Reward our employees’: UPS drivers to make $170,000 in pay, benefits under new contract

(Gray News) - UPS provided investors with an update on its tentative labor contract and revenue outlook during an earnings call on Tuesday.

UPS CEO Carol Tome called the agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters a win for all involved.

“Together we reached a win-win-win agreement on the issues that are important to Teamsters leadership, our employees, and to UPS and our customers,” Tome said.

Tome also shared that the average full-time driver would make about $170,000 a year in pay and benefits by the end of the five-year contract.

And part-time union employees that are already working at UPS will be making at least $25.75 per hour while receiving full health care and pension benefits.

“We have the best people, and our new contract continues to reward our employees with the best pay and benefits in our industry,” Tome said.

The new contract agreement came as Teamsters authorized a strike if a deal couldn’t be reached.

Voting on the new contract began last week and is expected to continue until Aug. 22.

According to UPS, package volume has declined for all shippers and numbers fell significantly for the company during the second quarter.

Domestic revenue reportedly slid 6.9% during that time, as the average daily package volume fell 9.9%.

Tome said during the company’s conference call that union negotiations impacted its package volume the deeper those negotiation talks went.

“We expected negotiations with the Teamsters to be late and loud, and they were,” Tome said. “As the noise level increased throughout the second quarter, we experienced more volume diversion than we anticipated.”

The company reported it was able to offset some of those declines with a 3.3% increase in revenue per piece.

According to The Associated Press, the global shipping industry has been dealing with a package volume decline in part due to unpredictable consumer spending.

UPS said it now foresees 2023 consolidated revenue of about $93 billion. Its prior forecast was for revenue of around $97 billion.

Copyright 2023 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.