[PEN-L:11798] UPS Talks Continue; Nationwide Rallies Planned

[Michael Eisenscher <meisenscher@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

UPS, Teamsters Extend Talks
 11:41 p.m. Aug 15, 1997 Eastern

 By Peter Szekely

 WASHINGTON (Reuter) - Negotiators for United Parcel Service and the
Teamsters union
 extended a marathon bargaining session late into the night Friday as union
president Ron Carey
 unveiled plans to rally strikers and their supporters.

 With the strike concluding its 12th day, the nation's biggest package
delivery service and
 second-largest union stepped up their efforts to reach a settlement, said
Susan King,
 spokeswoman for Labor Secretary Alexis Herman.

 Carey paid compliments to Herman and chief federal mediator John Calhoun
Wells for their
 efforts to settle the strike. But he announced plans for rallies in 30 U.S.
cities next week and said
 unions representing UPS workers in several European countries were planning
job actions to
 drum up support for the 185,000 American workers on strike.

 ``A contract that provides the good jobs for working families certainly
won't be won at the
 bargaining table,'' he told a news conference. ``The only way you can win
that is either on the
 picket lines, and in the community.''

 The two sides began informal talks Thursday morning at the request of
Herman and continued
 their discussions with federal mediators straight through Friday night,
taking only a few hours
 break early Friday morning.

 ``We think they're redoubling their efforts to reach an agreement,'' King
told reporters around
 midday.

 At the White House, spokesman Mike McCurry declined to characterize the
talks but noted:
 ``They're talking and that's good.'' United Parcel Service made no comment
as the talks
 continued.

 Clearly buoyed by opinion polls showing the strikers winning the lion's
share of public support,
 Carey declared his resolve not to back down from the union's demand that
UPS convert more
 part-time jobs into higher paying full-time jobs.

 ``The Teamster fight for good full-time jobs has become America's fight as
well,'' he said at the
 news conference.

 ``It's obvious that there have been no agreements reached,'' he added.
``However, I will
 continue to negotiate as long as there is hope.''

 Cornell University labor studies professor Richard Hurd said the union's
tough stance was
 necessary for morale, and did not read it as a sign talks were faltering.

 ``Unions have to be very careful in how they publicly respond to management
overtures in a
 strike situation, because if they get the hopes of the strikers up and then
nothing happens, morale
 plummets,'' he said.

 The strike was causing severe problems for some businesses and a blood bank.

 A major U.S. blood bank reported it has destroyed more than 800 pints of
blood because
 overburdened delivery companies Federal Express Corp. and Airborne Express
could no longer
 guarantee their usual overnight delivery.

 The group, America's Blood Centers, suggested its blood banks set up mobile
collection units
 near UPS picket lines so that striking UPS workers can donate blood.

 The UPS workers have been on strike since Aug. 4 to demand full-time status
and benefits for
 some of the company's many part-time employees. The walkout is the biggest
since a three- day
 strike by 400,000 Teamster truckers in 1976, Hurd said.

 The strike is putting increasing pressure on both sides.

 The strikers are getting help from other unions, but finding it tough to
live on $55-a-week strike
 benefits.

 The company estimates it is losing $300 million a week, putting its losses
so far at about $500
 million or more. UPS carried 80 percent of the small packages in the United
States before the
 strike. It has tried to keep priority deliveries such as medical supplies
going with management
 help, but its volume has shrunk to about 10 percent of normal.

 Many small businesses are feeling the pinch of being unable to deliver
their goods. Some have
 laid off workers or lost substantial business.

 UPS competitors have rushed to try to fill the void. The U.S. Postal
Service said Friday it would
 continue Sunday deliveries in some areas of the United States to handle
increased mail volume as
 a result of the strike.

 Until late this week, UPS took a hard line in the negotiations, insisting
that the union put the
 company's last contract offer to a membership vote and calling on President
Clinton to use his
 powers to stop the strike.

 But Clinton has refused to intervene and UPS appeared to soften its stance
Thursday, suggesting
 its ``final'' offer was negotiable.

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