UPS aircraft mechanics and company at odds over proposed healthcare costs

Union-represented aircraft mechanics and other worker for UPS are taking UPS to task, saying yesterday that as they head into contract negotiations with UPS, the company is calling for a massive reduction in both active and retiree health benefits for 1,200 maintenance workers.

The UPS union workers said that UPS wants to increase healthcare costs for families by as much as 430 percent in the first year of a new contract with subsequent increases each year after at a time when UPS records record profits and dividend payouts, and executive compensation packages.

“Every day I go to work to service the planes that are essential to UPS’s success and to customers all over the world getting their important deliveries like text books, medicine and building supplies on time. Without operational aircraft, these important deliveries and holiday gifts won’t be delivered on time. I take my job very seriously, but it takes a toll on my body,” said Ralph Neopolitan, a 10-year mechanic at UPS in Louisville, Kentucky, in a statement. “UPS is hugely profitable because of the dangerous work we do, and it isn’t right that the company is trying to deny us of basic health benefits. We are standing up to UPS together to protect our health and our retirement.”

The union also said that in 2008, OSHA cited UPS for violations that led to various employee injuries on the job, while citing a recent OSHA complaint asserting that these dangerous conditions persist. And it added that the physically strenuous and often dangerous work of aircraft mechanics, inspectors, utility employees and others serve as a reason for not accepting any healthcare cuts.

UPS had a different take on the union’s comments.

“This is merely an attempt to influence ongoing contract negotiations between UPS and our aircraft mechanics,” Mike Mangeot, UPS Airlines Strategic Communications, told LM. “The reality is, UPS Airlines places the highest emphasis on safety, and no employee has been assigned to work in an unsafe environment. Our exacting safety standards meet and often exceed government regulations.”

Mangeot added that UPS does a great job of taking care of its aircraft mechanics, who enjoy annual wages in excess of $100,000, a robust pension plan, and premium-free health benefits.

“We believe negotiations are best left at the table, so we won’t discuss the specifics of talks,” he said. “UPS continues to negotiate in good faith for an agreement that is good for our mechanics and the company.”