UPS, Teamsters Begin National Contract Talks as Deadline Looms

United Parcel Service Inc. and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters have begun national contract negotiations, racing against a July 31 deadline when the current agreement expires.

As of Wednesday, the union said it had reached deals on nearly all of the outstanding supplemental agreements, which govern local issues, and had begun negotiating the master agreement—the largest private-sector collective bargaining agreement in the US with more than 300,000 workers.

Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, who is taking the rare approach of leading negotiations himself, had refused to begin negotiating a national agreement until the supplemental agreements were resolved. Two locals are still in negotiations, and O’Brien said in a statement he would stop national bargaining if deals aren’t reached soon.

A top priority for national negotiations will be eliminating a two-tier wage system for delivery drivers. The union said in a statement it has already made progress on discrimination protection, equipment repair, and filling vacancies with union workers.