Union Urges UPS Pilots To Approve Strike

The union representing pilots at package delivery company United Parcel Service said it had urged them to vote to approve a strike.

The Independent Pilots Association said on Wednesday that if the pilots voted in favour of authorising a strike, its board would have the authority to request a release from federally mediated negotiations with UPS.

The National Mediation Board has been mediating since early 2014 in contract negotiations between UPS and its pilots' union on issues related to compensation, pension and benefits.

Rival FedEx and its pilots tentatively agreed last month on an amended collective bargaining agreement after nearly a year of mediation from the National Mediation Board.

"UPS has stalled and delayed, unnecessarily prolonging our negotiations," Independent Pilots Association President Robert Travis said in a statement. "UPS management has created a bitter standoff with its pilot employees."

The contract is under the Railway Labor Act, the US law that governs railways and airlines, and it became amendable towards the end of 2011.

If the National Mediation Board grants a release from the mediation, a strike or lockout could follow after a 30-day countdown.

UPS said it continued to negotiate "in good faith" for a contract and it was confident that the talks would be completed without disruption in its services.

"Despite the (union's) announcement, there is no real threat of a strike. Such authorisation votes are routine during negotiations in the airline industry, but they are legally irrelevant under the Railway Labor Act," UPS spokesman Mike Mangeot said in a statement.

Even if the National Mediation Board grants the union a release from the talks, there are a "series of fail-safes, including presidential and congressional intervention, designed to prevent an interruption in operations," Mangeot said.