Together, we made UPS deliver better contract language. Now, it's time to enforce it. Here are some places to start.
8-Hour Request Rights & Penalties - Article 37, Section 1(b)
Drivers only have to give three calendar days notice for an 8-hour request, down from five days.
UPS has to adjust your dispatch before your start time and make further adjustments during the day to make sure you complete your day in 8 hours, provided you notify them by 1pm.
The penalty for an 8-hour request violation is now two hours at double time. That’s four hours pay. File a grievance and get your money.
Members working under the Central Supplement who have an approved 8-hour request retain the right to bring the truck back to the building after they’ve completed eight hours work.
Improved 9.5 Rights - Article 37, Section 1(c)
The new contract strengthens protections against excessive overtime. Every eligible driver should sign up for the 9.5 list by January 5. The list becomes effective on January 15.
If your 9.5 rights are violated four times in a calendar year, then a compliance meeting must be held within 45 days. Continued 9.5 violations after that are eligible for quadruple-time penalties.
The contract allows triple-time monetary penalties if UPS over dispatches drivers on the remaining two days of the week.
OJS Protections - Article 37, Section 3
UPS now has to give drivers a 24-hour notice before a supervisor’s ride, including the reason for the ride. After the ride, they must provide documentation to the driver and steward.
Management can give more than 24-hours notice, but it has to be specific. Blanket notice is not enough. It’s not enough to say at a PCM, “Everyone be ready for a ride next week.”
Use the 24-hour notice to remind drivers about the do’s and don’ts on an OJS—make sure that all drivers document their ride with the online OJS Tracking Sheet.
OJS tips and the online tracking sheet are available at www.tdu.org/ojs.
Grievance Procedure Reform - Article 8, Section 1
Cases that involve only national language may now be filed directly to the National Grievance Panel. This will speed up the grievance procedure by preventing UPS from stonewalling and deadlocking grievances at lower-level panels.
Make sure to include in your grievance that you want your case to be filed directly to the National Grievance Panel if it cannot be resolved locally.
Supervisors Working Article 3, Section 7
The new contract supercharges our supervisors working grievances by creating a new quadruple time penalty for violations by supervisors that are repeat offenders.
The first two violations will be paid at double time. But the third violation by the same supervisor is eligible for the quadruple-time penalty under the new contract.
Payroll Errors - Article 17
The new contract increases penalty pay when UPS shorts your paycheck. Track your hours and file a grievance any time that you are underpaid.
That gives management two days to correct the error. After that, part-timers are entitled to four hours of penalty pay for every pay period until the error is corrected.
Full-timers are eligible for four hours penalty pay for the first two pay periods and eight hours of penalty pay for every pay period after that.
Penalty pay will increase to up to five hours for part-timers and eight hours for full-timers, starting January 1, 2026.
Increased Penalties for Harassment - Article 37, Section 1(b)
The new contract increases the maximum pay for harassment to five times a member’s daily guarantee. That’s a week’s pay without overtime.
Our union won landmark victories at the national grievance panel, winning penalty pay on harassment grievances for the first time.
Dallas Local 767 members won multiple financial penalties in front of the National Article 37 Committee against a center manager with a reputation for harassment, who issued more than 1,000 notices of discipline in an 87-member center.
New York Local 804 members also won financial penalties on three harassment grievances, including one that involved a supervisor who made violent sexual remarks about the mother of another employee.
Harassment is a daily problem at UPS. The key to winning grievances and the higher penalty is to document a pattern of egregious behavior. It is much tougher to win a grievance based on a single incident.
Focus on the supervisors and managers who are the serial worst offenders. Work as a group to file grievances against them and build your case.
Make UPS Pay for Paycheck Errors
"Since part-time members live paycheck to paycheck, a simple payroll error hurts us the most.
Now, UPS pays a premium on it. At the Greensboro hub, we’re going to educate members about the additional penalty, and we’re gonna continue to enforce the contract.”
Chris Cecil, Local 391
Greensboro, NC
Stronger 9.5 Rights
“In my building, union activists have spent years getting nearly everyone signed up on the 9.5 list and enforcing their rights, but UPS used to be able to discourage enforcement by delaying 9.5 compliance meetings. Now, the company has to hold the meeting within 45 days. You can bet even more of us will be filing grievances now.”
Darryl Pace, Local 413
Columbus, Ohio
Stand Up to UPS Grievance Stonewalling
“Now, grievances that are only on national language can be filed directly with the national grievance panel. It's a great tool to take on UPS's stonewalling grievances by deadlocking them at lower level panels. Management knows it will be harder to stonewall and that will make it easier for us to enforce the contract.”
Nesa Peay, Local 222, Salt Lake city