UPS drivers to average $170,000 in pay, benefits at end of 5-year deal

UPS‘ CEO said drivers will average $170,000 in pay and benefits such as health care and pensions at the end of a five-year contract that the delivery giant struck with the Teamsters Union last month, averting a strike.

The tentative agreement covers some 340,000 workers at the package carrier. They are in the middle of a ratification vote that began Thursday and ends Aug. 22.

“We expect our new labor contract to be ratified in 2 weeks,” UPS CEO Carol Tomé said on an earnings call Tuesday.

The company cut its full-year revenue and margin forecasts “primarily to reflect the volume impact from labor negotiations and the costs associated with the tentative agreement.”

The tentative deal would raise part-time workers’ wages to at least $21 an hour. Their pay was a sticking point during negotiations. Full-time workers will average $49 an hour, and the agreement would end mandatory overtime on drivers’ days off, according to a summary posted by the Teamsters Union.

The deal is the latest large wage increase won in labor negotiations. Workers from pilots to aerospace manufacturing employees have recently pushed for and won higher pay.