Not much to add, there is a tentative settlement agreed for a 5-year deal, which must be ratified by the union members. The agreement covers 340,000 workers.
Story here.
This could also negatively affect consumers used to “free” online shipping.
That sounds like corporate speak for “we have to not only pass on these increased costs, but make the best of this golden opportunity to milk our customers due to ‘astronomical’ labor cost increases.” Only the accountants and the executives know the truth.
Surprised how high the pay is:
You would have to separate out the benefits to know how high the pay is. Benefits, depending of course on what they are, can add a huge percentage to any compensation package.
“Prior to the new deal, the company said drivers earned about $95,000 in pay annually on average or about $42 an hour, and another $50,000 in benefits.”
So about 2/3 pay.
Makes sense for the prior pay and benefit levels.
The new contract is about a 17.25% increase over 5 years, or about 3.5% per year (from the original amount, not year over year). That doesn’t seem excessive to me at all, especially in this inflationary economy (to which this probably contributes a little).