1. T R U C K I N G
In late September, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and United Parcel Service
Inc. and UPS Freight began hammering out terms for two new national agreements to cover
250,000 workers. Among issues of concern to IBT are maintenance of quality, affordable
health care and pension benefits, limits on subcontracted work, and an increase in wages.
UPS has concerns about rising health care costs and remaining competitive.
Negotiations Between Teamsters, UPS Seen as Largest on the Horizon
T
he bargaining calendar for the trucking industry in
2013 is heavy, with negotiations between the Inter-
national Brotherhood of Teamsters and United
Parcel Service Inc., ABF Freight System Inc., and DHL
Express (USA) already under way, but IBT has not yet
begun bargaining with companies involved in the expir-
ing National Master Freight Agreement (NMFA).
The largest negotiations on the horizon are those be-
tween IBT and UPS and UPS Freight, covering 250,000
workers, which began Sept. 27.
National negotiations began in Washington, D.C.,
with the IBT National UPS and UPS Freight Negotiat-
ing Committees vowing to protect pensions and health
care. Members have stated ‘‘loud and clear that their
top priorities are to protect their pensions and health
care, to stop the harassment by supervisors and to deal
with outsourcing,’’ IBT General Secretary-Treasurer
Ken Hall, co-chairman of the negotiating committees
and director of the package division, said in a statement
when negotiations began.
Current five-year contracts expiring July 31 cover
237,000 workers at UPS and 13,000 workers
at UPS Freight.
The current five-year contracts negotiated in 2007
cover 237,000 workers at UPS and 13,000 workers at
UPS Freight. The two contracts expire July 31, 2013.
One of the goals for IBT was to maintain a common ex-
piration date for both UPS and UPS Freight, which the
union has tentatively achieved in the talks. Both compa-
nies and the union are planning to complete a tentative
agreement on the new contracts by March 31.
‘‘Talks are under way and everything is proceeding,’’
Susan Rosenberg, a UPS and UPS Freight spokes-
woman told BNA Jan. 7. ‘‘Our intent is to reward our
people but enable UPS to maintain its competitiveness
in the industry.’’
Rosenberg declined to comment specifically about
what some of the major issues are for UPS and UPS
Freight in bargaining, but she did say health and wel-
fare costs are a concern for the company.
She said UPS has a collaborative process with the
Teamsters that ‘‘doesn’t stop and start with bargain-
ing.’’ She said the company includes IBT members on a
competition committee in order to educate and collabo-
rate about market trends, new products, and technol-
ogy.
According to Michael Belzer, an associate professor
of industrial relations at Wayne State University, IBT
has limited bargaining power with UPS because they
are competing against FedEx, a mostly nonunion com-
pany. Belzer, in early January, said UPS and FedEx
dominate the ‘‘one-stop shop’’ small-to-large shipments
freight industry, holding some 80 percent of the market
share.
‘‘UPS will try to come to an agreement early because
[any threat of a strike could cause] customers to start
moving their freight away from UPS to FedEx,’’ Belzer
added.
IBT Stated Issues. IBT is negotiating two separate
contracts with UPS and UPS Freight with different
terms. This is the second master UPS Freight agree-
ment that is being negotiated with the Teamsters; the
first one took effect in 2008.
The IBT National Negotiating Committees have coun-
tered UPS proposals by raising concerns about more
protections for workers who do not want to work more
than 9.5 hours in a day regularly and continuously,
along with concerns about dispatch times, backfilling
jobs, and limiting the use of technology for disciplinary
purposes.
Meanwhile, IBT has presented proposals to UPS
Freight that included eliminating subcontracting, limit-
ing the maximum hours of those working part time, and
allowing discretionary days to accumulate.
After these issues are addressed, negotiations with
both companies will then turn to economic issues in-
cluding pensions, health care, and wages. IBT is seek-
ing more full-time jobs at both UPS and UPS Freight, a
major issue during previous UPS negotiations.
NMFA Expiring March 31. The NMFA, which expires
March 31, previously covered ABF, YRC Worldwide
Inc.’s subsidiaries, and some smaller companies. Since
the last NMFA was negotiated in 2007, members of the
Teamsters agreed to concessions covering some 37,000
employees of YRC and its subsidiaries YRC Freight,
New Penn, and Holland, and the contract’s expiration
date was extended to March 31, 2015. Meanwhile, ABF,
whose contract covers some 7,500 workers, in 2012 said
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2. it was withdrawing from NMFA and wants to negotiate
its own contract similar to YRC’s.
It remains unclear which companies will be at the
bargaining table with IBT negotiating new terms for the
NMFA. YRC and IBT declined to comment on which
companies would be at the bargaining table.
‘‘It looks like the way the trend is going, it would only
be YRC at the table,’’ Michael Crowden, ABF manager
of communications, told BNA in early January.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in
July 2012 revived a previously dismissed lawsuit filed
by ABF against IBT and competing trucking company
YRC over allegations that YRC and IBT violated a na-
tional collective bargaining agreement when they nego-
tiated concessionary amendments to the contract trig-
gered by YRC’s financial situation. ABF in 2010 filed a
grievance and lawsuit alleging that the union and YRC
violated the NMFA three different times in the previous
two years by negotiating modifications to the national
agreement providing substantial wage and benefit con-
cessions only to YRC and not to the other signatories of
the NMFA.
According to dissident group Teamsters for a Demo-
cratic Union, IBT’s initial proposal to ABF called for a
two-year contract duration, which was designed to co-
incide with the 2015 expiration date of its contract with
YRC.
ABF Seeks Reduction in Cost Structure. The Teamsters
National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee (TN-
FINC) exchanged national and supplemental contract
proposals with ABF in December, and IBT said in a
statement it will continue to fight the company’s at-
tempts ‘‘to harm ABF Teamsters’ livelihoods.’’ In its ini-
tial contract proposals, ABF is proposing to cut work-
ers’ benefits and working conditions.
‘‘The union is disappointed with ABF’s initial con-
tract proposals that seek to destroy the NMFA stan-
dards that have been in effect for decades and served
ABF well,’’ said Gordon Sweeton, co-chairman of the
National ABF Negotiating Committee for TNFINC, in a
statement in early January.
‘‘ABF and its lawyers have cherrypicked language
from a handful of first-time truckload and regional LTL
(less-than-truckload) agreements and substituted that
for virtually all of the language in the existing National
Master Freight Agreement and its supplements,’’
Sweeton said. ‘‘To say the least, this initial proposal
from ABF is a real non-starter and will do nothing to ad-
vance the dialogue between the parties. We know the
company needs some relief but this strategy is going
nowhere fast with our committee.’’
When negotiations began, ABF said its goal was to
‘‘secure a new contract that allows ABF to substantially
lower its costs, become more flexible and better com-
pete in a rapidly changing marketplace that has seen
hundreds of union carriers go out of business and non-
union carriers proliferate. For the first time, ABF is ne-
gotiating for its own national contract, creating an un-
precedented opportunity to both parties to work to-
gether and fix the labor cost problems that have led to
$230 million in losses since 2009.’’
‘‘We are looking out for our employees’ long-term
best interests, as it is our goal to take back market share
and reverse the trend of job loss at ABF in an era when
most union LTL carriers have gone out of business,’’ the
company said in a December statement. ‘‘It is true that
our proposal is different from the National Master
Freight Agreement because the marketplace is also
vastly different and demands new solutions and greater
flexibility for ABF.’’
ABF said the NMFA is an outdated 1965 agreement
that covered virtually the entire trucking industry,
which was then largely unionized. The company said
nonunion companies now dominate the industry. ABF
said it has survived despite this trend because it has em-
braced change when it is needed, as it is greatly needed
now.
‘‘The facts are that ABF is the only employer left cur-
rently paying full contract rates under the NMFA for
wages, health and welfare and pension contributions,’’
the company said. ‘‘In our proposal we are only asking
to be brought in line with the types of accommodations
and cost structures the Teamsters have agreed to with
our competitors.’’
The modifications to the YRC contract included a 15
percent total reduction in gross wages from the terms
agreed to in the initial contract ratified in February
2008 as well as rolled back increases to the pension and
health and welfare benefit contributions. The modifica-
tions also extended the ‘‘nonpermanent pension contri-
bution termination period.’’ Since July 1, 2009, the com-
pany has not participated in the pension funds or made
any contributions to the funds. Under the terms of the
agreement, the company was not required to repay
those benefits at a later date.
ABF Seeks Expansion of Subcontractors. IBT countered
that ABF’s pension costs in its largest fund, Central
States, have been frozen for the past two years with
health and welfare costs only seeing modest increases.
IBT said in its initial proposals, ABF wants to:
s eliminate supplemental agreements and white-
paper agreements;
s reduce paid time-off;
s eliminate the present grievance procedure that has
been in effect for 50 years and replace it with arbitra-
tion;
s expand the use of subcontractors;
s expand the use of surveillance and computer-
tracking devices; and
s create part-time positions in most job classifica-
tions.
IBT countered the company’s proposals in January,
when negotiations officially began in earnest. Negotia-
tions are scheduled to continue through March. The
current contract expires March 31 for the 7,500 drivers,
dockworkers, mechanics, and clerical staff.
DHL Negotiations Under Way. IBT also will be bargain-
ing other major contracts in the trucking industry this
year including an agreement for 2,000 workers at DHL
Express (USA), where the current contract expires in
March.
The five-year DHL agreement that followed the pat-
tern set by NMFA covered some 7,000 workers when it
was ratified in March 2008. However, the contract only
covers some 2,000 workers now; about 5,500 IBT-
represented workers lost their jobs in 2008 and 2009 af-
ter Deutsche Post World Net, the German parent com-
pany of express delivery service DHL, discontinued
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3. domestic-only express delivery services in the United
States.
Sources close to the negotiations told BNA in early
January bargaining is under way, and DHL is seeking a
new contract that is unique to DHL, rather than follow-
ing the terms set by NMFA.
Much like the UPS negotiations, union sources say
they are vowing to protect pensions, health care, and
decent wage increases.
BY ALICIA BIGGS
R E TA I L F O O D
As bargaining teams for grocery chains and the United Food and Commercial Workers
face the expiration of 634 contracts covering some 301,000 workers in 2013, both parties
are seeking clarity on some of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act that could compli-
cate negotiations for contracts extending before and after their implementation.
ACA Could Make Negotiations Difficult Between UFCW and Grocery Chains
O
ne sector that will see a lot of bargaining action in
2013 is the retail food industry, where the United
Food and Commercial Workers estimates it will
renegotiate nearly 634 grocery contracts covering ap-
proximately 301,000 workers during the next year.
According to Nicky Coolberth, UFCW assistant com-
munications director, one of the major goals and chal-
lenges for the union has been ‘‘raising the bar’’ for re-
tail workers, meaning raising the economic standards
for co-workers, families, and communities.
‘‘Retail jobs are the jobs are the future,’’ Coolberth
told BNA Jan. 8. ‘‘Retail is a huge sector of our economy
and it’s projected to keep growing. Much like manufac-
turing once did, retail jobs will define how it is to live
and work in America. That’s why it’s so critically impor-
tant that retail jobs be middle class jobs with the pay
and benefits people need to live on, raise their families
on, and retire with dignity.’’
‘‘When we are bargaining with more than one
employer at a time, different chains bring different
goals to the table,’’ lengthening the negotiation
process, said Nicky Coolberth, assistant
communications director for the United Food and
Commercial Workers.
Coolberth said UFCW is expecting more contract ex-
tensions in 2013, a common trend seen in the retail food
industry in 2012. A contract between UFCW Locals 5
and 8 with Raley’s supermarket chain of 128 stores in
Northern California and Nevada, which expired in Oc-
tober 2011, was extended a number of times until more
than a year after expiration workers finally went on
strike after the employer imposed what it called its last,
best, and final offer. The strike, which occurred after
contract negotiations broke down following 15 months
of talks, affected about 7,000 employees at Raley’s, Nob
Hill, and Bel Air stores.
The union said the lengthy negotiations had been
some of the most complicated the union had ever expe-
rienced because the three supermarket chains were ex-
periencing three very different economic conditions.
‘‘When we are bargaining with more than one em-
ployer at a time, different chains bring different goals to
the table,’’ Coolberth said, lengthening the negotiation
process.
Negotiations are not yet under way on the contracts
covering some 17,000 employees at Safeway, Albert-
sons, QFC, and Fred Meyer in the Puget Sound area of
Washington state. Those contracts, being negotiated as
a multiemployer group represented by Allied Employ-
ers Inc. of Kirkland, Wash., will expire May 4.
Another 12,000 UFCW-represented workers are cov-
ered under Michigan-area contracts that will expire
June 15.
Negotiation dates have been scheduled, although
bargaining has not begun in earnest for some 34,000
UFCW-represented employees at Stop and Shop in the
Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island areas.
Contract renewals are due in February.
Meanwhile, negotiations have not started for con-
tracts covering some 15,000 workers at Giant Food LLC
and Safeway Inc. in the Washington, D.C., and Balti-
more metropolitan areas expiring Oct. 31, 2013. In the
last set of negotiations, the parties negotiated short du-
rations of 19 months in the four contracts because of
the uncertainty around implementation of the Afford-
able Care Act and its impact on the health and welfare
plan covering Giant and Safeway workers.
Clarity on the ACA Sought. Meanwhile, union repre-
sentatives at UFCW see one of their largest challenges
at the bargaining table in 2013 as maintaining health
care insurance for members who get coverage through
multiemployer health plans.
‘‘UFCW and many companies want clarity on all the
provisions of the health care law with the goal of main-
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4. taining the best, most affordable, coverage for our
members,’’ Coolberth said.
The four agencies responsible for administering the
new law have not yet come out with final regulations as
they apply to Taft-Hartley multiemployer funds. She
said many unions including UFCW are working to-
gether with the Obama administration through the
regulatory process to ensure implementation of the Af-
fordable Care Act fulfills the full promise of health re-
form.
‘‘The uncertainty on how the law will be implemented
makes negotiating a contract that spans from before
implementation to after implementation quite difficult,’’
she said.
Delayed Expiration Dates to Continue in 2013. Gordon
Pavy, retired former director of the AFL-CIO’s collec-
tive bargaining department and immediate past presi-
dent of the Labor and Employment Relations Associa-
tion, told BNA Jan. 9 the large grocery contract negotia-
tions have continued past expiration primarily because
they have been struggling with the multiemployer
health and pension plans.
‘‘I would expect that to continue,’’ Pavy said. ‘‘I ex-
pect the delayed expiration dates to go on again this
year.’’
The supermarkets have a large number of part-time
employees and those workers often have some health
care coverage, Pavy said.
‘‘Whether and to what extent that continues remains
to be seen,’’ Pavy said.
Pavy said collective bargaining agreements define
what is part time and full time and those definitions do
not necessarily align with the ACA.
Neil Trautwein, vice president of the employee ben-
efits policy counsel for the National Retail Federation,
told BNA Jan. 11 that the Obama administration is con-
cerned about the stability of employer-based coverage
and has been trying to work out how to get through the
transition to the ACA.
‘‘They’ve been working with us to work out any
bumps,’’ Trautwein said.
Common concerns include how much shared respon-
sibility there should be between employees and the em-
ployer, he added. In addition, 100 percent health insur-
ance premium coverage by the employer is ‘‘the dino-
saur in health coverage today’’ and ‘‘a ripe point of
contention.’’
‘‘The trend in nonbargained plans is a greater em-
ployee responsibility,’’ he said.
It’s no secret that the largest component for labor
costs for retail companies is health care, he said.
‘‘When you have thin margins, it’s a real concern,’’ he
said. ‘‘The profit is the ability [for a company] to ex-
pand health care benefits.’’
He said it’s not uncommon for many retailers to have
a 1 percent to 2 percent profit margin, leaving little
room to take on additional costs.
‘‘Businesses are concerned health care costs will in-
crease and it will restrain future job growth and the
profitability of the company,’’ Trautwein said.
BY ALICIA BIGGS
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