Here are three Reuters News stories I pulled off the Web: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------- AFL-CIO says it would aid UPS strikers if asked 05:09 p.m Aug 06, 1997 Eastern CHICAGO (Reuter) - AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said Wednesday his union would provide unspecified monetary support to striking United Parcel Service workers, if asked. Speaking after a Teamsters union rally in Chicago, Sweeney said the AFL-CIO could provide loans or grants to the Teamsters strike fund, which was set to begin paying out at least $55 a week to each striker beginning at the end of next week. ``They haven't made any specific request,'' Sweeney told Reuters. ``But whatever they need.'' Told that paying 186,000 strikers each $55 per week amounted to more than $10.2 million a week, Sweeney replied that amount ''could be easily raised from (AFL-CIO) locals in loans and grants.'' During the last national election, the AFL-CIO devoted an estimated $30 million for an advertising campaign in support of Democratic candidates. A Teamsters spokesman in Washington said the strike that began Monday would not be compromised by the size of the union's strike fund. He also dismissed reports that the Teamsters national strike fund was virtually depleted at about $6 million. In Chicago, Teamsters Local 705 spokesman Paul Waterhouse said the local had accumulated $1 million in supplemental funds for its 11,000 members. Decisions about how to dole out the funds had yet to be determined and would depend on how long the strike was expected to last. Sweeney spoke forcefully to the striking union members in Chicago and praised them for having ``picked up the gauntlet on behalf of of all American workers and their families. Their struggle is now our struggle.'' Copyright 1997 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication and redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. ==================================== New Pressure on UPS, Teamsters to Talk 04:14 p.m Aug 06, 1997 Eastern By David Morgan ATLANTA (Reuter) - United Parcel Service and its 185,000 striking workers came under growing pressure to restart stalled labor talks Wednesday as the effects of the biggest job action this decade rippled through the economy. But a day after Labor Secretary Alexis Herman urged UPS Chief Executive James Kelly and Teamster President Ron Carey back to the bargaining table, no new talks had been scheduled. Thousands of members of the Teamsters union, including drivers, package sorters and loaders, spent a third day on picket lines from Maine to California, while 50,000 non-union workers scrambled to keep parts of the huge UPS network running. The union also had backing from 2,000 unionized UPS pilots who have refused to cross Teamster picket lines. With more than 90 percent of UPS deliveries at a standstill, a group representing the chief executives of major retailers, including Sears and Kmart, called on President Clinton to personally encourage both sides to restart talks. Wall Street investors also got their first taste of the strike's direct impact on businesses. ``The economy, which is enjoying unprecedented sustained growth, could experience a sudden downward spiral if this strike continues for an extended period,'' the National Retail Federation said in a letter to Clinton. Retail sales of $2.5 trillion account for one-third of the nation's economy. About $50 billion of that is from catalog and mail order sales that rely heavily on UPS. But the president has so far ruled out intervening directly, saying there was no threat to national health and safety. He and members of his administration instead have urged UPS and the Teamsters to try to resolve differences over pay and benefits, especially pensions, and the company's growing use of lower-wage part-time workers. UPS controls 80 percent of the U.S. parcel delivery business, normally handling 12 million packages a day. The strike has caused escalating logistical problems and higher shipping costs for businesses, manufacturers and consumers who have relied on UPS deliveries to move their packages and documents. Sport-Haley Inc., for example, a Denver-based sportswear maker, told investors that a prolonged work stoppage could hurt its earnings by driving up shipping costs. Its stock tumbled $2.50 to $13.75 on Nasdaq, a drop of 15 percent. UPS, with annual sales of $22.4 billion, also said in a filing with securities regulators that the first national strike in its 90-year history would hurt earnings and cost it customers. Meanwhile, behind-the-scenes expectations for renewed talks appeared to be on the rise, as UPS facilities across the country remained idle and Teamsters faced the prospect of trying to make ends meet on $55 a week in strike benefits. ``Predicting they're going to get back this week is a pretty good bet. But it's only a bet,'' one source close to the dispute said. Labor Secretary Herman on Tuesday became the latest member of the Clinton administration to ask the company and the union to meet. ``I spoke to both parties privately by telephone this afternoon and urged them both to go back to the bargaining table,'' she said in a statement. Carey said he was ready to meet UPS management ``anywhere, anytime.'' But the company refused to budge from what it called its last, best offer that the union rejected last week. ``We are ready to go back to the table. But our position hasn't changed about our offer. We've made our last, best and final offer,'' UPS spokesman Norman Black said. The Teamsters said they struck early on Monday after the company refused to to create thousands of new full-time jobs each year from part-time jobs, which account for 60 percent of the Atlanta-based company's 301,000 domestic workers. UPS called those issues ``a smoke screen,'' saying the real issue was the Teamsters' refusal to consider a company request to withdraw from a multi-employer pension plan that includes 30 other companies, mostly trucking firms. UPS says the plan would boost pension benefits to its Teamster employees. The union says the multi-employer plan shields its members from any one company's financial problems. Copyright 1997 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication and redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. ========================================= Carey, Sweeney Try to Rally UPS Strike Support 06:51 a.m. Aug 06, 1997 Eastern By David Morgan ATLANTA (Reuter) - United Parcel Service and its 185,000 striking Teamster members were under pressure to restart stalled labor talksWednesday as the effects of the three-day-old work stoppage rippled through the U.S. economy. Labor Secretary Alexis Herman spoke to UPS Chief Executive James Kelly and Teamster President Ron Carey, urging both back to the bargaining table to resolve their differences over pay, benefits and job security. ``I spoke to both parties privately by telephone this afternoon and urged them both to go back to the bargaining table,'' the Labor Secretary said in a statement issued late Tuesday. The two sides expressed a willingness to sit down and discuss their differences. CNN, quoting unnamed sources, said negotiations could resume later in the week, but no talks were scheduled and there were few signs of a break in the impasse. The first national strike in the company's history has interrupted more than 90 percent of UPS deliveries in the United States, leaving businesses, manufacturers and consumers across the country to seek other avenues for shipping their packages and documents. UPS, the world's largest parcel delivery company, controls 80 percent of the U.S. package shipping industry and estimates that its daily volume of 12 million parcels represents more than six percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. Thousands of members of the Teamsters union, including drivers, package sorters and loaders, remained on picket lines from Maine to California, while some 50,000 UPS managers and non-union workers scrambled to keep some of the company's massive distribution network operating. ``We're prepared to meet any time, anywhere, with a mediator or without one, to negotiate a contract that provides good jobs for working families,'' Carey said at a rally outside a UPS facility in Burtonsville, Maryland, where he was joined by the Rev. Jesse Jackson. But the company, after reviewing Herman's request, refused to alter a position hinging on a proposed management contract that the union rejected as inadequate late last week. ``We are ready to go back to the table. But our position hasn't changed about our offer. We've made our last, best and final offer,'' UPS spokesman Norman Black said. PresidentClinton has so far ruled out direct federal intervention in the strike. ``Every telephone conversation the White House has with both parties, we are urging them to get back to the table,'' White House spokesman Barry Toiv said. The strike, which has been marred by a growing number of arrests stemming from picket-line altercations, began early Monday after 17 hours of dead-end talks under the auspices of a federal mediator. The Teamsters said the strike was the result of the company's refusal to end sub-contracting by non-union employees and to create thousands of new full-time jobs each year from existing part-time positions, which make up about 60 percent of a 301,000-strong domestic workforce. UPS has called those issues ``a smoke screen,'' saying the real issue is the Teamster's refusal to consider a company request to withdraw from a multi-employer union pension plan that encompasses other companies, mostly trucking firms. The union also has been backed by 2,000 unionized UPS pilots, who have refused to cross Teamster picket lines. UPS has had no luck petitioning the White House to order the strikers back to work under the Taft-Hartley Act, which gives the president authority to end work stoppages that threaten national health and safety. Copyright 1997 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication and redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
