WASHINGTON, July 7 (Portal) – Acting US Secretary of Labor Julie Su said on Friday she saw no need to intervene at this stage and the parties committed to an agreement in contract negotiations between the Teamsters Union and United Parcel Service (UPS). push. N).
“That’s right,” Su said on CNN when asked if she thought there was no need for intervention at this time. She added that she expects the parties to respect the negotiation process.
On Wednesday, the Teamsters said UPS had “cancelled” negotiations for a new contract. The company denied this and accused the union of having stopped negotiations.
On Friday, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that President Joe Biden’s administration is in touch with both sides and remains optimistic about reaching an agreement.
“I don’t have any information about increased administrative involvement, but we’re definitely staying in touch with both parties,” said Jean-Pierre.
The sides exchanged volleys in their statements to avoid a strike when the current contract, which covers around 340,000 workers, expires at the end of July.
Should talks fail, UPS workers have already authorized what would be their first strike since 1997. That strike lasted 15 days, cost the company $850 million, and caused some customers to switch to competitors
Both union and company officials have said they want an agreement to prevent a strike that could jeopardize millions of daily deliveries.
After missing out on wage increases during the pandemic, unions are aggressively pushing for higher wages and better working conditions, rejecting contract offers from companies struggling with labor shortages.
Su recently helped negotiate a key contractual agreement between employers in West Coast seaports and a union representing 22,000 workers.
Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Nandita Bose in Washington; Edited by David Holmes and David Gregorio
Our standards: The Trust Principles.