UPS talking pension issues
UPS hopes to resume talks with the Teamsters union toward a new contract soon, a company spokesman said yesterday.
The two sides put talks on hold last month while UPS sought more information about a union pension plan that draws support from UPS and other employers. Teamsters officials have said UPS wants to pull its employees out of the plan.
The union says the company and the troubled Central States Fund have an agreement on “establishing conditions for a potential UPS withdrawal.”
UPS and the Teamsters, which represent about 246,000 workers at the company, have been in contract talks since September. The current contract expires Aug. 1, 2008.
The shipping operates its Worldport hub at Louisville International Airport, and has more than 20,000 employees in the metro area.
The Central States Fund has been an issue because as the number of employers paying into the fund declines, more of a burden falls on UPS.
In May, the union said UPS expressed willingness to jointly manage a new pension plan with the Teamsters as a way to get out of the fund.
The fund raised health-insurance costs and lowered pensions for some future retirees in 2003.
The agreement disclosed last Thursday “does not mean that UPS is free to withdraw from Central States,” the union said on its Web site. Teamsters officials said they would not agree with a UPS withdrawal from the fund unless they are satisfied it would be in the interest of all Teamsters.
Union spokeswoman Leslie Miller said yesterday that that the agreement addresses “how they are going to go about discussing the pension plan.”
Black said he could not comment on overall progress on the contract talks. UPS is “absolutely confident that we are going to get a contract negotiated without any disruption of service,” he said.
