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UPS driver pay and benefits deal in US to be worth $170k a year, firm says

bbc.com

31–40 of 114 posts

Re: UPS driver pay and benefits deal in US to be worth $170k a year, firm says

#31
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just a side thought, but how do the collective bargaining protections work in the age of automation? Basically like robots as scabs or permanent replacements?

If your work could be fully automated - you wouldn’t have a job right now and collective bargaining wouldn’t be relevant.

> If your work could be fully automated - you wouldn’t have a job right now

To nitpick this - there's a non trivial up-front cost associated with automation. As such using (well, abusing) people is sometimes just plain cheaper than the amortized costs of automating.

Re: UPS driver pay and benefits deal in US to be worth $170k a year, firm says

#33
post #5

I will pay more for items to be shipped to me and wait longer for them to arrive if it means the UPS drivers are treated fairly.

why would you be willing to when companies can easily allocate the record profits they have to wages?

Re: UPS driver pay and benefits deal in US to be worth $170k a year, firm says

#34
post #4

that's more what I'm payed as a senior dev ... maybe I should change career

Doing the math from the article, they'll be at an average of $120k in wages for an average of around 43 hours a week.

If you are doing below that as a dev, probably worth first changing companies.

Re: UPS driver pay and benefits deal in US to be worth $170k a year, firm says

#35

Just pay them a million a year each, why should they be anything short of rich? Even if the company could afford to pay the drivers $170k/yr without increasing shipping costs, they're still going to increase shipping costs. So this just gets passed on to the consumer rather than the company, much like tipping. And at a time when discretionary spending is down tremendous, this just means more people will get laid off.…

UPS makes about $75 Billion per year in profit. This is a $25k increase after a few years of record inflation. There are 300k teamsters at UPS (including other jobs like package handler). If 1/3 of those employees are drivers, we're talking a 3% reduction in profits. They can afford it. (also worth nothing this $170k is also including all benefits).

>this just means more people will get laid off.

The threat of a strike makes this much less likely.

Anecdotally UPS drivers are much, much better than Fedex and Amazon. They don't toss my packages or leave them sitting in the rain etc...

Re: UPS driver pay and benefits deal in US to be worth $170k a year, firm says

#36
post #2

Awesome news! I'm glad for the workers and their families. That is a great wage and one that will pay dividends in terms of their health and the health of their communities.

How is this awesome news for the poor who will pay for it in more inflation?

Re: UPS driver pay and benefits deal in US to be worth $170k a year, firm says

#37
post #5

I will pay more for items to be shipped to me and wait longer for them to arrive if it means the UPS drivers are treated fairly.

That's great but why are you forcing others to subsidize these jobs too, especially the poor?

It's not subsidizing, it's paying.

I don't subsidize a roofer when I hire them, I pay them.

So your question is "why should poor people have to pay UPS drivers a decent wage?" Which I predict you would argue that you think this is too much money/healthcare/retirement for a delivery driver.

Re: UPS driver pay and benefits deal in US to be worth $170k a year, firm says

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife is a teacher in NC. We are on her insurance with the state health plan for a whole family. We pay $700/mo for our portion on the 80/20 plan. I would say they likely do pay $30k+ per employee and 50k isnt a big stretch when you count every benefit as you stated. https://www.shpnc.org/documents/open-enrollment-documents/sh...

That is the beauty of employer subsidized benefits with preferential tax treatment. The worker cannot easily compare compensation offered by different employers, so they are less likely to leave. And bigger/more profitable businesses can afford to hire professionals to analyze and implement these benefit plans, while small businesses are left competing for 2nd tier employees since they cannot afford that overhead. Wh…

One more reason healthcare needs to be divorced from employment.

Re: UPS driver pay and benefits deal in US to be worth $170k a year, firm says

#40

Just pay them a million a year each, why should they be anything short of rich? Even if the company could afford to pay the drivers $170k/yr without increasing shipping costs, they're still going to increase shipping costs. So this just gets passed on to the consumer rather than the company, much like tipping. And at a time when discretionary spending is down tremendous, this just means more people will get laid off.…

According to the article: UPS "now expects its adjusted operating margin this year to be 11.8%, down from 12.8% expected in May. The drop also reflects a fall in shipments as the economy weakens."

Their shipping prices are determined by what the market will pay and their competitors prices. Employee compensation affects UPS profit/stock price.

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