July 4 (UPI) -- The United Parcel Service has announced that it is offering buyouts to full-time drivers as part of its execution of "the largest network reconfiguration" in the company's history.
The plan was announced in a statement Tuesday, explaining it is "the first time ever" that they have offered full-time drivers the ability to volunteer to "receive a generous financial package if they choose to leave UPS."
Specifics of the financial package were not revealed, but UPS said it will be in addition to any earned retirement benefits, including pension and healthcare.
"Each driver would have the ability to decide if this voluntary program is beneficial to their family and the plans they have for their future," UPS said.
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The company added the drivers' union has been informed of the plan and that UPS remains committed to their 2023 agreement.
The union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, issued a statement rejecting the buyout plan as violating their commitment not only to protect 340,000 delivery workers but to create 22,500 more jobs.
"UPS is trying to weasel its way out of creating good union jobs here in America by dangling insulting buyouts in front of Teamsters drivers," the teamsters general president, Sean O'Brien said in a statement.
"It's an illegal violation of our national contract."
In the five-year contract, ratified in August 2023, UPS guaranteed to fill at a minimum 22,500 permanent full-time jobs. The announcement of the buyout also comes as the union says UPS is failing to provide at least 28,000 air-conditioned vehicles to drivers by 2028.
"Our members cannot be bought off and we will not allow them to be sold out," O'Brien said.
"The Teamsters are prepared to fight UPS on every front with every available resource to shut down this illegal buyout program."
The announcement comes after UPS said in late April that they expected to reduce their workforce by about 20,000 positions during this year.