On Sept. 16, the airline mechanics for United Parcel Service Inc., members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 2727 in Kentucky, authorized a strike after almost three years of contract negotiations. Workers are resisting proposed reductions in health care contributions and compensation packages, and increased outsourcing of overseas maintenance work.
UPS airline mechanics work at 80 airports across the United States. Their contract became amendable in November 2006, but they have continued with negotiations to date. The company wants to push through amendments that would increase health insurance premiums and reduce coverage for some types of care by 15 percent.
Even though the workers authorized the strike, the union is bound by the Railway Labor Act, which restricts strikes until the National Mediation Board decides that the parties have reached an impasse.
Labor struggles have erupted across the country as layoffs, benefit cuts, and reductions in pay force workers to shoulder the burden of the flailing economy.
