UPS drivers will earn an average of $170,000 in wages and benefits at the end of a five-year contract for their union I negotiated with the carrier last month to Avoid the hitUPS CEO Carol Twomey said during an earnings call this week.
The deal, reached on July 25, will increase full-time workers’ compensation to $170,000 from about $145,000 over five years, according to UPS’ mathematical calculations. Tommy told investors on Tuesday that he would also boost pay for part-time workers to a minimum of $25.75 an hour and end mandatory overtime.
Online searches for jobs with “UPS” or “United Parcel Service” in the title jumped 50% in the week after the new pay deal was announced, Bloomberg News mentioned, citing data from Indeed. The CEO’s comments marked the end of a weeks-long struggle between Teamsters Union and UPS to secure a new contract for 340,000 union employees.
“We expected the negotiations with the Teamsters to be late and loud, and they have been,” Tommy said during the call. As a result, UPS lowered its full-year revenue forecast “primarily to reflect the impact of volume arising from business negotiations and costs associated with the interim agreement,” it added.
Six figure pay for UPS drivers
By the end of the new contract, full-time UPS delivery drivers will earn an average of $49 an hour, which works out to a payout of roughly $102,000 annually, assuming employees work 40 hours a week for 52 weeks a year.
This puts UPS drivers near the same pay grade as software developers, financial managers, and physician assistants, who all earn average salaries between $108,000 and $115,000, according In reality.
UPS did not immediately respond to CBS MoneyWatch’s request for comment about how drivers’ expected $170,000 salaries and benefits are calculated.
Tommy said the new employment contract should be “approved within two weeks,” with the vote ending on August 22.
UPS’s deal with Teamsters is the “largest private sector collective bargaining agreement in North America,” Union Group He said In a blog post last month. It comes as unions raise wages for airline workers and just months after a court reconfirmed the victory of unionized workers at Amazon’s Staten Island warehouse.