UPS Pilots OK Contract With Pay Boost

Pilots at Atlanta-based United Parcel Service of America Inc. agreed to a union contract that will boost wages 27% over seven years. The accord, approved by a vote of 1,570 to 324, was reached after more than two years of negotiations. The union had rejected the company’s final offer in October and authorized a strike. A federal mediation board refused to permit a walkout, and it ordered the parties to resume talks early this year. The pilots’ pay will be increased 23% retroactive to Dec. 30, 1995, when the last pact expired, with additional increases in 1999 and 2003 totaling 4%. The Independent Pilots Assn., which represents 2,100 UPS pilots, said the pact begins to close the gap between UPS pilots and their passenger-carrier counterparts.