Reuters
United Parcel Service Inc. and the Teamsters union are discussing a two-tier wage system that would allow the company to hire lower-paid workers to deliver packages on weekends, including Sundays, as the parcel giant seeks ways to manage the surge in e-commerce.
The proposal, raised in recent contract negotiations, calls for creating a “hybrid driver” position that would earn as little as $15 an hour and top out at an hourly wage of $30. These employees’ regular schedule would be Sunday to Thursday or Tuesday to Saturday, avoiding costly overtime.
Under the current contract, most package-truck drivers work Monday to Friday shifts and earn higher wages on weekends. The union says they are entitled to double-time wages in some areas for working on a Sunday, or hourly rates of nearly $74.
The hybrid driver role would allow UPS to start regular Sunday delivery of packages, a service the U.S. Postal Service provides for customers such as Amazon.com Inc. UPS started Saturday package delivery in some markets in 2017 but hasn’t disclosed any plans to start delivering on Sundays.
A Teamsters spokeswoman said the proposals between the union and UPS were part of the negotiating process and the two sides hadn’t come to any agreement about hybrid drivers. A UPS spokesman on Tuesday declined to comment on contract negotiations.
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