UPDATE:

Contract talks stalled today between UPS and Local Union 705.

Talks are not scheduled to resume until Tuesday, less than 72 hours before the 11,000 members of the union can strike.

Steve Pocztowski, secretary-treasurer for Local 705, said the two sides are no closer after meeting Thursday.  He said they will take a break from negotiations this weekend and reconvene Tuesday morning in hopes of coming to agreement on a new contract.

If Local 705 members opt to strike when their contract expires at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 1, it would leave an estimated 2 to 3 million packages a day undelivered at hubs in the Chicago area. 

Norman Black, spokesman for UPS in Atlanta, said the company has contingency plans in place for occurrences like natural disasters and employee strikes. He is confident, however, that UPS and Local 705 will come to terms on a deal long before the proposed strike date. 

UPS Union Authorizes Strike, thousands poised to walk off job Aug. 1

Members of Teamsters Local 705, the second-largest local union in the country with about 11,000 members, authorized a strike Sunday, July 20 effective Aug. 1.

A strike would send UPS drivers, package handlers and other union employees to the picket lines, leaving thousands of packages in the Chicago area, bordering states and possibly even nationwide undelivered.

Steve Pocztowski, secretary treasurer for the Local 705, said he expects to be on strike Aug. 1. He said his group gave UPS a full proposal June 9, and UPS has done nothing to make a deal, and the strike vote, with nearly 93 percent (2,993 of 3,225) in favor of a strike hopefully showed UPS how serious they are. 

“There is not one serious thing that they’ve done,” he said regarding the negotiations.

Pocztowski said there is more than 150 pages of proposal changes in the contract the Local 705, who is indepedent of the national UPS union, gave UPS in June.  He said UPS came back to them offering half the amount of a raise and less in pension contributions that the national UPS union received in their contract signed in October. 

Norman Black, spokesperson for UPS in Atlanta, said he expects it to be business as usual at the beginning of August.

“We are absolutely confident that we will negotiate a deal that is good for the company, our employees and our customers,” Black said.

UPS hubs in Illinois include locations in Addison, Bedford Park, Chicago, Decatur, Franklin Park, Hodgkins, Northbrook, Palatine, Rockford and Rock Falls.

Pocztowski said talks are scheduled with UPS before the Aug. 1 deadline.  If union members strike,  Pocztowski said they will extend an offer to various other major hubs to join in on the strike, including New York, New Jersey, Boston and Los Angeles.