Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 31, 1993 TAG: 9307310055
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LEIGH ALLEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
About 165,000 unionized UPS workers are set to walk off the job Aug. 10 if negotiators can't agree on a new contract. The three-year labor contract expires today, but both sides agreed to extend it.
The AFL-CIO this week approved $50 million in loan guarantees for the Teamsters strike fund in case of a prolonged strike, which could cost about $30 million a week.
UPS carries about 20 times more packages each day than the U.S. Postal Service. If UPS strikes, officials agree that the Post Office and private carriers such as Federal Express won't be able to handle the crush of packages. Despite plans by those companies to hire temporary workers, shipping delays would be unavoidable.
"We have a limited number of alternatives," said Roanoke Stamp and Seal Co. President Greg Freeman. "Unfortunately, those are the same alternatives as everyone else."
The stamp company is the fourth-largest user of UPS in the Roanoke Valley, he said.
Tweeds Inc., an apparel mail-order house in Roanoke, is the valley's largest UPS user, sending about 4,000 packages a day, five days a week.
When the Teamsters made a similar strike threat two years ago, Tweeds made plans to ship all its packages by private carrier to a Post Office hub in Greensboro. But a settlement was reached and the plans were not carried out.
Both the union and UPS declined to comment about the negotiations this week. But in a letter sent this week to many UPS clients, the shipping company's vice president, William Delmont, said they would continue negotiations with the union until a contract settlement is reached. Both sides have expressed a willingness to extend the strike deadline if negotiations progress, he said.
Delmont also said in the letter he thought an interruption in service could be avoided. UPS has never shut down due to a strike, Freeman said.
by CNB