Teamsters Local 2727 Reaches Agreement to Return Laid-Off UPS Employees to Work

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Oct. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Teamsters Local Union 2727, which represents more than 1,200 aircraft maintenance technician and related employees at UPS, has reached an agreement with the company to return some laid-off employees to work immediately, Local 2727 President Robert Combine announced today.

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The union and UPS earlier this year reached a new collective bargaining agreement that was ratified by Local 2727 members in April. But negotiations continued over outstanding disputes under the prior contract, including a grievance by the union claiming that UPS failed to provide the contractually mandated number of work hours to mechanics in 2010.

The settlement reached today by Local 2727 and UPS will result in the company providing 44,000 new work hours to employees who are currently laid off. The employees will return to full-time positions under the new collective bargaining agreement. The settlement also resolves more than 1,200 outstanding grievances under the old collective bargaining agreement.

"I'm pleased to announce that this settlement will put a number of our laid-off members back to work right away," Combine said. "It is the result of a lot of hard work by both the union and the company to come up with a solution to outstanding disputes under the agreement. And it not only gets our members back to work, it also gives the parties the opportunity to move forward under our new collective bargaining agreement in order to build a more productive relationship."

Also under the settlement, UPS will pay money toward resolution of contract grievances that were not resolved under the prior agreement. The settlement will allow the union and the company to focus on addressing issues that may arise under the new contract.

"We look forward to our laid-off members returning to work," Combine said. "And we hope to carry forward positive momentum from this settlement into our new contractual relationship with UPS."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents more than 1.4 million members in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, including more than 70,000 members in the airline industry. Visit www.local2727.org and www.teamster.org for more information.

SOURCE Teamsters Local 2727