UPS withdrawing $150,000 driver buyout offer in 13 states

UPS is withdrawing its $150,000 driver buyout program in 13 states after protests and emergency restraining orders from the Teamsters Union. 

Last summer, UPS began offering a buyout program for drivers as  part of a massive business restructuring involving the elimination of 30,000 jobs. This program would give participating drivers a payout based on years of employment if they willingly resigned from their positions. The company then launched a second buyout program that would provide participating drivers a lump sum payment of $150,000 regardless of years of employment. 

The Teamsters then filed an emergency retraining order against UPS, alleging that the program violates the company’s agreement with the union, undermines employment security guarantees, and exemplifies direct dealings between management and workers instead of taking steps to change to contract terms. A judge has since blocked the emergency order, allowing the company to continue with the buyout plan.

Now, UPS has chosen to pull the $150,000 driver buyout deal from 13 central states represented by The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents about 340,000 UPS employees total and 68,000 employees in the 13 central states, reports Reuters. These states include Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

“UPS’s actions to walk away from its own buyout program is an admission of guilt, plain and simple,” said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. “UPS wants to offload as many well-paid drivers as possible to boost its corporate earnings. The executives currently running UPS have no regard for the health, well-being, or future financial security of their workforce. The Teamsters are here not just fighting UPS to do the right thing but fighting for a better quality of life for the hardworking people who move America.”