Getting Down To Business Confrontation Ends As Spokane-Area Teamsters Return To Ups Jobs After 15-Day Strike

They’re on the road again.

It was back to business Wednesday for UPS drivers, sorters and loaders in Eastern Washington and North Idaho who had been part of the nationwide strike the past two weeks.

At the distribution center in east Spokane the last pickets left the site at 8 p.m. Tuesday night and the first returning Teamsters came through company gates at 3 a.m. Wednesday.

About 8 a.m., 85 drivers began their routes in their chocolate brown trucks. They had full delivery schedules, with many customers wanting to ship piles of packages they had stored through the strike.

“It’s a little busy today,” said Jerry Odele, who was quickly walking to his next customer at the Catholic Diocese offices on West Riverside. “Hi Jerry,” said Mary Bressler, a building employee who spotted the UPS delivery man and held the elevator for him. “Long time, no see.”

Drivers said they found warm welcomes from nearly all of their customers.

At his next stop, North Coast Life, Odele was greeted by Marlys Skalstad at the front desk. “Hi stranger,” she said as he crossed the green carpet. “We missed you.”

Odele responded with a sheepish grin. “It’s good to be back.”

The only traces of the two-week Teamster strike outside the Spokane UPS center Wednesday morning were two portable toilets, a pile of garbage, scattered cigarette butts and tire tracks. Not a person was in sight.

Though many of the workers had not been called by either the company or the union, nearly all checked in at the beginning of their regular shifts Wednesday.

“Today it’s pretty much business as usual,” said UPS manager Rich Hanlon. One exception is the temporary layoff of a day crew of 50 sorters until Tuesday, when UPS expects to be running at full speed.

Starting Thursday, the company expects a drop in deliveries as packages left at UPS centers are delivered and the country adjusts to the return of the workers. Then volume should grow about 25 percent a day until the delivery giant is running at full volume next week, Hanlon said.

“Though 100 percent then is not the same as 100 percent now,” he said, explaining that the plant doesn’t expect to get all of its customers back. “We’ll know then who is permanently laid off.”

During the strike Hanlon had to fill in as a driver in the Coeur d’Alene area. “It was tough work,” he said. He and the other managers who had to fill in doing everything from driving to unloading and sorting, are breathing easier now that the Teamsters are back to work.

Employee-manager relations seemed friendly Wednesday. “We met as many employees as we could this morning and welcomed them back,” Hanlon said.

The 650 striking employees in Eastern Washington and North Idaho lost more than two weeks pay. Their next UPS pay checks come Aug. 29.

Meanwhile, some drivers on Wednesday found heavier-than-normal business while they collected all the packages that businesses had kept through the strike.

“We let it pile up,” said Jackie Lindsey at Alliance Vending in Spokane. “We have plenty of things for him to pick up.”

At the same time, businesses are still awaiting some important deliveries. When UPS driver Darren Smith breezed in to Windows of the Heart, a home decor and gift shop, he was met with big grins and open arms.

“I thought for sure you’d have a whole truckload for us,” said owner Sharon Branda. The store is expecting its first shipments of Christmas and holiday merchandise. “We’ve been really nervous about it,” Branda said.

At noon, five drivers met for lunch at Zips Drive In on East Sprague, a time-honored tradition that had been neglected during the strike.

“The UPS drivers are back,” cried one of the fry cooks.

“It’s real good to be back,” said Ron Skogstad, a long-time UPS employee. “I haven’t run into one person today who says they weren’t behind us.”

These drivers weren’t too worried about recovering their customers.

Al Degenstein, between bites, cited UPS’s efficient and cost-effective service and the five-year contract with the Teamsters as reasons why customers will stick with UPS. “We’re going to get them all back.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo