UPS Faults Teamsters on Freight Unit Organizing

UPS Inc. said some of the Teamsters’ union’s locals are using a “campaign of deception” in an attempt to organize the company’s freight-hauling unit, Bloomberg reported.

Some locals have been telling employees there will be a master agreement with the teamsters, followed by one with UPS Freight, a company official told Bloomberg, adding that it was not true.

The Teamsters are seeking to extend their contract from one UPS Freight facility in Indianapolis, where 125 workers have accepted representation, to the 15,000-employee unit’s other 200 sites, Bloomberg reported.

UPS Freight is the former Overnite Corp., acquired by UPS in 2005.

UPS — ranked No. 1 on the Transport Topics 100 — is the largest employer of Teamsters, with 238,000 Teamster-represented drivers, clerks and sorters, and is in contract talks for those workers.