Union, UPS Bracing for Long Strike

WASHINGTON — Striking Teamsters and the United Parcel Service appeared ready to hunker down for the long haul Monday as President Clinton’s prediction of a quick end to the nationwide walkout failed to materialize and union leaders announced a new series of actions to bolster striking workers through the week.

“This week UPS workers and their supporters will dramatically increase activities around the country to show that working families want an America with good full-time jobs and secure pensions and health coverage,” said the union in a statement.

UPS Chairman James Kelly was somewhat more upbeat, but he predicted the strike could go “much, much longer” if negotiations break off this week. “There are still some very difficult issues for them [negotiators] to discuss today,” Kelly told Cable News Network.

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Optimism that the strike by 185,000 UPS employees was soon to be resolved apparently turned sour after reports circulated Monday that when the UPS board of directors meets on Wednesday, it may discuss hiring replacements for striking workers.

UPS spokeswoman Gina Ellrich confirmed that UPS directors probably will address the topic. “The situation we are in now will be very much a topic of board members’ conversation. They . . . will probably explore the issue of” replacing workers, she said.

Since the strike began 15 days ago, a skeleton crew of managers and workers has been piloting UPS’ trademark brown delivery trucks, filling only about 10% of the company’s normal delivery capacity. The strike has crippled a company that normally handles 12 million packages a day, costing UPS $650 million so far. Meanwhile, striking workers try to cope with $55 a week in strike benefits.

The labor dispute also has important consequences for the White House, consumers and businesses. The nation’s booming economy could slow and management-labor tensions could increase if a strike persists.

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“Right now, the strike is simply posing an inconvenience for a lot of consumers--plus more than an inconvenience for a lot of businesses,” said Lawrence Kahn, professor of labor economics and collective bargaining at Cornell University. “But down the road there could be a downside for the president” and repercussions from voters if White House intervention doesn’t quickly end the strike in an equitable manner, he said.

Teamsters President Ron Carey, UPS’ chief negotiator David Murray and key aides had hoped to do their part to bring the labor impasse to an end as they strolled into a Washington hotel on Monday to resume talks.

But by Monday evening, sources close to negotiators expressed pessimism that a quick resolution can be reached.

“We are still talking, but we haven’t seen any significant progress,” said UPS’ Ellrich.

Teamster spokesman Steve Trossman confirmed that, saying: “We are moving forward with all of our plans to continue with the strike until there is a reason for us to not do so. We are glad that the government has worked to get the parties back to the table, but ultimately this is an agreement that will have to come between the company and the workers.”

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Clinton has been briefed on the status of negotiations by Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman, who is playing a key role in shepherding the delicate talks. She moved into the Hyatt Regency Hotel, where the talks are being held, and has maintained a constant vigil, shuttling among several meeting rooms to keep the negotiations going.

Despite public praise of the federal government’s involvement, however, some Teamster officials on Monday privately recoiled at Clinton’s suggestion Sunday that a resolution was at hand and that the union should move to quickly resolve the labor dispute before it loses public support.

“Right now, the Teamsters have public sentiment on their side, but that will turn,” Clinton reportedly said.

But union officials and sympathizers said they fear White House intervention at this stage might quickly escalate into tougher government measures to force workers back on the job under special federal labor law provision.

“I don’t see his comment as being particularly helpful,” said Ken Paff, national organizer for Teamsters for a Democratic Union, a Detroit-based labor reform group that has been backing UPS strikers. “This is a popular strike. . . . We are fighting for full-time jobs and it’s resonating with people.”

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To bolster their campaign, union members said Monday they would distribute flyers at K mart, Toys R Us, Circuit City and Home Depot outlets across the country because the businesses had urged Clinton to force an end to the strike. Teamsters also said that on Thursday they will begin a campaign to encourage Americans to send donations to the union and to wear blue ribbons in a show of support for striking workers.

UPS officials have struck back by writing members of Congress to urge the White House to invoke the little-used Taft-Hartley Act to force striking workers to return to the job at current salary and benefit levels to avert damage to the nation’s economy.

But the White House has said it does not plan to take that step.