Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 31, 1993 TAG: 9308310073
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Medium
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has about 250 locals representing 165,000 UPS workers. All local votes must be tallied by the international by Friday.
Local 171 members voting in Roanoke, Lynchburg and Dublin over the weekend delivered "an overwhelming majority to authorize national negotiators to strike if they do not make satisfactory progress," local President Jim H. Guynn said Monday.
Only 13 members voted no, he said, but he declined to say how many votes were cast. Five hundred of Local 171's 1,200 members work for UPS and were eligible to cast strike votes.
The vote at Local 728, which represents workers at three major UPS depots in the Atlanta area, also was "overwhelming" for a strike, said local President Donald Scott. He declined to give figures until they have been reported to the international union.
The local in Seattle approved the vote 346-24 and workers in Spokane 88 percent to 12 percent.
Members of Local 41 in Kansas City voted 633-26 to strike, the union said. The vote by Local 89 in Louisville, Ky., was 344-10; Local 135 in Indianapolis voted 90 percent to 10 percent to strike; and in Portland, Maine, the vote at Local 340 was 97 percent to 3 percent.
The Atlanta-based shipper, which never has had a nationwide strike, has offered what amounts to a 2 percent annual pay raise for six years, said Teamsters Vice President Mario Perrucci. The union wants an 8 percent annual raise for three years.
Negotiations broke off after the offer was rejected last week and were to resume Sept. 7.
"Basically, we said there's no sense in any more talking here. Our members have a right to know what's going on after five months," Perrucci said from Washington, where the talks have been held.
Ken Sternad, a UPS spokesman in Atlanta, said the company already pays the best wages in the industry and has offered its employees raises. "We don't think that's insulting at all," he said.
Sternad said an indefinite extension of the current contract remains in effect and neither party has given notice of plans to end it. He called the balloting not a vote to strike, but "an attempt to add strength to the union's bargaining position."
Staff writer Daniel Howes contributed to this report.
by CNB