From today’s NBC News:
Negotiators for UPS and the Teamsters union representing some 340,000 workers at the nation’s largest package carrier are going back to the table on Tuesday, seeking to finalize a labor deal by the end of the month.
If the parties fail to reach a tentative contract agreement in time, UPS workers have committed to walking off the job at 12:01 a.m. ET on Aug. 1, risking widespread disruptions to deliveries across the country.
Here’s a look at the current state of the standoff and what to expect in the days ahead.
How close are the two sides to reaching a deal?
Most of the elements for a new five-year contract are already in place, negotiators have said.
UPS agreed last month to a range of new heat-safety protections, including bringing air conditioning to its iconic brown delivery fleet for the first time. The Teamsters hailed those changes as a major breakthrough after years of complaints that working in hot weather has grown more dangerous, with climate change fueling record-breaking summer heat waves across the country.
“Ninety-five percent of the contract, noneconomic issues, are done,” Teamsters president Sean O’Brien told MSNBC on Sunday.
Some important economic matters have already been resolved as well. The Teamsters announced in early July that they’d secured an end to an unpopular two-tiered workforce system long criticized as shortchanging weekend drivers, in addition to curtailing forced overtime on scheduled days off.
Read the complete story here.