Todd Robertson from Local 171 is Chairman of the UPS National Safety and Health Committee. He is attending the proposal meeting for the UPS Contract to discuss the 11,000 proposals from across the country.

This morning, General President Sean M. O’Brien and General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman opened a meeting of the UPS National Screening Committee in Washington, DC, where representatives from dozens of UPS locals are gathered to review proposals for National Master Agreement negotiations.

“We’re going into these negotiations with a clear message to UPS that we’re not going past August 1,” O’Brien said in his remarks to the committee. “We have to deal with 22.4s, PVDs, subcontracting, part-time wages and other issues that we’re taking a hard line on with the company.”

“Sean is going to pick a fight with this company, and that fight is to get the very best contract we can get for our members,” Zuckerman added. “This contract is going to be unlike the contracts of the past 25 years where UPS comes in and says they want a cost-neutral contract. It’s not going to be a cost-neutral contract. We’re going to take from them what our members deserve.”

Members of the committee are reviewing more than 4,000 pages of national proposals submitted by locals to the Package Division. In total, the Division received more than 11,000 Master Agreement proposals, which were sorted and compiled for today’s meeting.

Five screening subcommittees are meeting as well to review proposals on safety and health, 9.5/Article 37, Premium Services, Air, and technology. The screening of proposals will determine what will ultimately be put forth to the company when National Master Agreement negotiations begin.

The committee is meeting all day today and tomorrow. Supplemental committees will review supplemental proposals separately in preparation for supplemental negotiations which begin in February.