UPS brings together human resources and labour relations units

UPS is bringing together its human resources and labour relations functions under a single senior vice president. John McDevitt, the 35-year UPS veteran who was SVP for global transportation services and labour relations, is being given the responsibility for both areas involving employment issues within the US shipping giant.

His global transportation services responsibility is being assumed by chief operating officer David Abney, UPS said.

The current head of UPS’s Corporate Human Resources Group, Allen Hill, is retiring after nearly 36 years at the company.

Scott Davis, the UPS chairman and chief executive, said McDevitt had made “significant contributions in bringing together the company’s multimodal transportation network, adding that he was confident the SVP could bring similar success unifying labour relations and human resources activities.

“There are many synergies within our global labour relations and human resources processes and this change provides greater coordination for the application of our people policies,” said Davis.

UPS human resources and labour relations is marked by the strange quirk of US regulation that sees it regulated under the National Labor Relations Act, while its rival FedEx is governed by the old Railway Labor Act.

It means UPS can have its operations unionised on a local unit-by-unit basis while FedEx must have an entire nationwide vote by staff if a union is allowed to form – and so while delivery staff in brown have tended to join unions, those in purple have not.

Vigorous lobbying by both sides last year saw UPS failing to persuade Congress to add a labour clause into a Federal Aviation Authority reauthorisation bill that would have brought FedEx (and other express carriers) under the same labour laws as UPS.

FedEx had been lobbying against the clause with the claim it was effectively a “Brown bailout” designed to cripple FedEx in favour of UPS.

McDevitt

The new leader of the UPS integrated human resources and labour relations unit began his UPS career as a part-time employee while still at Rutgers University in 1976.

He rose through the ranks including senior positions in operations, labour relations and corporate compliance before becoming vice president of air operations in 2000, a role that included overseeing development of the company’s largest expansion project, the air hub UPS Worldport.

Joining the UPS management committee in 2003 as SVP of strategic integration, McDevitt was appointed to his role heading up global transportation services and labour relations in 2005.

Hill

Paying tribute to UPS general counsel and head of human resources Allen Hill (pictured right), Scott praised Hill’s “essential role” in creating efficiency within the human resources and legal departments.

Hill joined UPS in 1976 as a part-time package sorter while attending Libscomb University, Nashville. Having been through Nashville School of Law, he joined the UPS legal group in 1988 working in human resources, in which he oversaw creation of an employment dispute resolution system still in use today.

Having played a part in the UPS IPO in 1999, the largest in Wall Street history at the time, Hill joined the management committee in 2004 as general counsel and corporate secretary, before accepting his current post in 2006.

“Not only has the organisation realised an improvement in safety results during Allen’s HR leadership, we have been able to share our knowledge with the community through programmes such as the UPS Foundation’s Road Code,” said the UPS chairman and CEO.

“We appreciate his contributions to the company and will miss his counsel and partnership.”

• UPS has named Eduardo Martinez, a 35-year veteran of the company, as its new president for The UPS Foundation. The appointment is a promotion from his current role as the Foundation’s programme director, with Cuban-born Martinez succeeding Ken Sternad, who is retiring having also completed 35 years at UPS.