UPS Predicts Settlement with Teamsters

United Parcel Service Inc. chief executive Michael Eskew on Wednesday said he was confident the express delivery company could reach agreement on a new contract with the Teamsters, representing 220,000 workers outside the company’s airline division, by a July 31 deadline. ‘We know we have the best people in the business and we’d like to give them a fair contract going forward, but we’d also like to have the ability to grow our business over the long term,’ Eskew told Reuters in an interview. Eskew said he would like to see the contract talks settled sooner rather than later to ‘give UPS customers peace of mind.’ Analysts said there are some signs that competitors are picking up business at the expense of UPS, which ranks as the world’s largest express carrier and package delivery company, in part because of the risk of a strike. ‘I think they’re losing market share to Fedex Ground because shippers are looking at the teamsters negotiations and openly wondering what their viable alternatives are,’ said one analyst who tracks the company. ‘I’m not predicting a strike, but customers are trying to build relationships with others just in case,’ said Donald Broughton, analyst with AG Edwards. When asked whether, he was concerned about such a loss of business, Eskew said, ‘we’re concerned about that, but we really haven’t seen it. Looking at all of our segments, we feel that our market share has held very well.