Good News and Bad News about Transport
Good News and Bad News about Transport
UPS strike averted, but Yellow is likely doomed.
Previously on Unprepared…
First, some good news: it appears that the UPS strike has been averted.
From CBS News:
UPS and the Teamsters union have reached a tentative contract on working conditions for the 340,000 unionized employees at the shipping giant, both parties announced Tuesday.
The contract, if ratified, would avert a strike that was shaping up to be the biggest in 60 years.
The Teamsters called the five-year contract "overwhelmingly lucrative," adding that it "raises wages for all workers, creates more full-time jobs, and includes dozens of workplace protections and improvements."
The new contract raises starting pay for part-timers to $21 an hour, up from the current contracted pay of $15.50, and includes catch-up raises for longtime workers. Full-time workers will see their top hourly rate go up to $49 an hour.
Unprepared tip for surviving inflation: go get a job with UPS.
However, the news for trucking company Yellow is not so good, which should come as no surprise if you read our previous entry. While Yellow has averted a strike, the company is hemorrhaging money as the Teamsters continue to push for pay raises.
Now it looks like Yellow may not survive the week. The strike threat may have dealt a fatal blow. An internal memo obtained by FreightWaves:
The threat of a strike on Monday, July 17, led to catastrophic shipment declines last week as customers needed to ensure their shipments could be serviced without interruption and not caught up in a strike of undetermined length.
As a result of these unfortunate circumstances and the impact on the network, we are limiting pick-up operations in all terminals. Over the coming days, the Company is focused on delivering existing shipments in the network to its valued customers and communicating with our employees on new developments while we continue working an accelerated process with union discussions.
While unfortunate, this situation has been a long time coming and the market has been preparing to move on without Yellow.
The UPS and Yellow dramas have been a stark contrast exploring the pros and cons of unions. The Teamsters scored a sweetheart deal for UPS employees but have likely doomed Yellow employees to the unemployment line.