TEAMSTERS VOW TO STAND WITH UPS PILOTS IF THE INDEPENDENT PILOTS ASSOCIATION STRIKES UNITED PARCEL SERVICE

For Immediate Release: Independent Pilots Association (UPS Pilots) 

Contact: Brian Gaudet
(301) 957-4323 or bgaudet@ipapilot.org

TEAMSTERS VOW TO STAND WITH UPS PILOTS ON PICKET LINES IF THE INDEPENDENT PILOTS ASSOCIATION STRIKES UNITED PARCEL SERVICE

LOUISVILLE, KY, Tuesday, October 22, 2015 – In an unqualified show of support, James Hoffa, General President and Ken Hall, General Secretary-Treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, pledged to the Independent Pilots Association that "if a strike is necessary, we will not cross your lines, but will stand with you on them."

This commitment from Hoffa and Hall came in a letter to IPA President, Captain Robert Travis. "The International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 250,000 workers at United Parcel Service," said Captain Travis.  "This unflinching support from the Teamsters on the eve of our strike vote is exactly what UPS needs to see – we all stand together in support of a new pilot contract."

In their letter, Hoffa and Hall also said, "UPS has continued to stall and drag its feet in completing an agreement with you and your hardworking members.  Four years to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement is simply unacceptable," and that, "the Teamsters Union will stand with you in whatever decisions your members make."

The IPA will announce the result of its strike authorization vote tomorrow Friday, October 23 at approximately 10:30 a.m. EDT.  If approved, the five-pilot IPA Executive Board will have the authority to formally request a release from federally mediated negotiations with UPS, and the discretion to conduct a strike once mediation is concluded.

Mutual support between the IBT and the IPA during contract negotiations with UPS runs deep.  "The Teamsters have not forgotten the solidarity that your members showed us in 1997, when not one single IPA member crossed our picket lines," said Hoffa and Hall in reference to the IBT's landmark 16-day strike of UPS.

To read the entire Hoffa and Hall letter click through the following link:   

http://www.ipapilot.org/letters/IPALtr-10-20-15.pdf