Topeka Teamsters president speaks on UPS tentative agreement

TOPEKA (KSNT) - With a tentative agreement still subject to approval from union members, Local 696 Teamsters President and Principal Officer Mike Scribner hopes membership takes their time to look through the agreement.

“Together we reached a win-win-win agreement on the issues that are important to Teamsters leadership, our employees and to UPS and our customers,” UPS CEO Carol Tomé said in a statement.

Under the new deal, average part-time drivers would receive a 48% raise by the end of their contract. The deal includes higher wages for Teamster workers, air conditioning in trucks and an agreement to hire 30,000 new drivers to reduce the burden on the current fleet. Workers would see a $2.75-per-hour raise this year and $7.50 more by the end of the contract.

"It seems like a very good agreement, again it's a national agreement, from what's being relayed so far, everything we wanted we got," Scribner said. "There's a number of things, again I'm sort of at a disadvantage at only having what the press release said, it says it was a good agreement."

Teamsters threatened to strike starting next when the current contract expires on July 31. A Teamsters UPS strike would have been the largest private sector strike in U.S. history and could have upended national supply chains, experts said.

"It is a tentative agreement it still has to go to the membership for approval," Scribner said. "And I'm not exactly sure when that's going to happen or how it will happen."

"We will take it to the membership they'll have their voice and you know," Scribner continued. "I hope that everyone takes their time looks through it and makes a good decision."