A federal judge on Friday dismissed a Teamsters request to prohibit United Parcel Service from implementing a $150,000 buyout program for parcel delivery drivers, saying that union claims of harm were unfounded because arbitration can resolve any problems and that workers will be subject to involuntary layoffs if some don’t voluntarily leave the company.
The decision means UPS is likely to begin informing employees next week about the voluntary separation program.
UPS (NYSE: UPS) is restructuring its delivery network and says it needs fewer drivers because of shrinking volumes. A Teamsters lawyer said during a hearing on Thursday that the union expects 10,000 drivers to accept UPS’s offer, Reuters reported from the courthouse.
Courts are typically prohibited from issuing injunctions in peaceful labor disputes where arbitration is an approved method of dispute resolution. Judge Denise Casper of the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts ruled an arbitrator would still have power to reinstate any employees under any separation arrangement that is ruled improper and noted that the union will be harmed more if UPS opts to only reduce the workforce through layoffs and attrition.
“The union has failed to show that it will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction,” Casper wrote.
The Teamsters union argued in its Feb. 8 petition that UPS’s planned voluntary separation program violates the national master agreement because it wasn’t negotiated with the union and reverses hiring commitments. It also complained that any potential remedy ordered by an arbitrator under the contract’s arbitration process won’t apply to workers who have accepted a lump sum payment and resigned. Under the separation package, drivers agree not to seek employment again with UPS.
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