All: I've noticed that during all the current euphoria, a possibly BIG party-crasher is being ignored. I'm taking the liberty of posting just a clip from a WSJIE story that was run last week:
>The strangest turn of all, freight analysts say, would be a second labor disruption, this time triggered by the company's pilots. The impact on customer confidence, industry analysts say, would be profound.
"It would be a whole lot easier for UPS to say one strike will never happen again, than back-to-back strikes," says Paul R. Schlesinger, at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Inc. "That's almost just too bizarre to contemplate."
Talks With Pilots Union
But the threat is very real. In June, the National Mediation Board suspended increasingly bitter negotiations between the company and the Independent Pilots Association, an in-house union that represents UPS's 2,100 pilots. Talks began in December 1995.
The pilots, who are seeking to raise average salaries to between $120,000 and $130,000 from about $102,000, voted in May to authorize a strike if an agreement wasn't reached with the company. The Teamsters' president, Ron Carey, and the pilot's union chief, Bob Miller, pledged that if either group went on strike, the other would join it at the picket line.
The federal mediator overseeing the talks said negotiations would resume in late August or September, though a specific date hasn't been set. If the two sides are again unable to make progress, a 30-day "cooling-off period" could be triggered. After that, the pilots would be free to take action, including a strike or work slowdown.
[Folks, check this out. This is incredible. Talk about back-stabbers. Would they really do it? - DK]
Teamster officials say they still plan to back up the pilots, even if they have reached a settlement with the company. "We have forged a very strong relationship with the [pilots]," said Rand Wilson, a Teamsters spokesman. "They have been supporting our walkout 100%, and we'll do everything we can to support them."
Pilot leaders say they aren't optimistic that their contract talks will go any smoother than the Teamsters' negotiations.
"Negotiating with UPS at this time is like riding in the back seat with Thelma and Louise," said Mr. Miller, referring to the movie in which the title characters take a suicidal plunge off a cliff in an open convertible. |
