The Teamsters National UPS Negotiating Committee resumed contract talks with the company on January 11 and 12, and the committee has set an aggressive schedule with the aim of reaching a strong agreement soon.

“We have made it clear to the company that we are very serious about negotiating the issues now and in the coming weeks,” said Ken Hall, Director of the Teamsters Parcel and Small Package Division who is co-chairman of the Negotiating Committee. “We have scheduled seven weeks of negotiations between now and the end of March, and we have no intention at this point of scheduling talks past the end of March. Our members deserve to know as soon as possible that their futures are secure.”

Hall reiterated that protecting UPS members’ pensions and protecting health care for retirees and workers are the top priorities. But many critical non-economic items, such as safety and health, working conditions, subcontracting, the company’s use of technology, among other issues, are on the table as well.

“We refuse to ask our members to ratify any agreement that falls short of protecting their pensions and health care, and one that does not address the other important issues,” Hall said. “Our entire committee looks forward to the seven weeks of talks in the Washington, D.C. area starting the week of January 22. We expect the company to be prepared to negotiate so we can reach agreement on the issues by the end of March.”

The current national UPS contract covers about 215,000 Teamsters at UPS. It expires August 1, 2008.

Meanwhile, Hall said he plans to resume talks soon for UPS Freight workers in Indianapolis. The union is negotiating a contract for those workers that will serve as a model contract for the more than 15,000 other UPS Freight workers nationwide. UPS bought the former Overnite Transportation in 2005, and renamed it UPS Freight. The workers in Indianapolis joined the Teamsters through a card-check agreement won by the union.