COMP NEWS – Following a major breakthrough deal, UPS drivers will earn an average of $170,000 in annual pay and benefits following a bargaining agreement with the Teamsters Union

UPS drivers will earn an average of $170,000 in annual pay and benefits at the end of a five-year contract agreement, UPS CEO Carol Tomé said during an earnings call this week.

The executive’s comments punctuated the end of a weekslong struggle between UPS and the Teamsters Union which negotiated with the carrier last month to avert a strike and secure a new contract for 340,000 union employees. More than 70% of UPS’ 443,000 employees are represented by the Teamsters’ Union, the company’s website shows. 

“We expected negotiations with the Teamsters to be late and loud, and they were,” Tomé said during the call. As a result, UPS slashed its full-year revenue forecasts “primarily to reflect the volume impact from labor negotiations and the costs associated with the tentative agreement,” she added.

The deal, which was reached on July 25, will increase full-time workers’ compensation to $170,000 from roughly $145,000 over five years, according to UPS’ calculations. It will also boost part-time workers’ salaries to at least $25.75 per hour, and end mandatory overtime, Tomé told investors on Tuesday.

Online searches for jobs with “UPS” or “United Parcel Service” in the title jumped 50% in the week after the new pay deal was announced, Bloomberg News reported, citing data from Indeed. 

The Teamsters deal is a monumental bargaining agreement, being the “single largest private-sector” one in North America at this time.

UPS’ deal with the Teamsters is the “single largest private-sector collective bargaining agreement in North America,” the union group said in a blog post last month. It comes as unions notch wage increases for aviation workers and less than a year after a court reaffirmed union workers’ win at Amazon’s Staten Island warehouse.

To read more about the Teamsters contract, click here.

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