UPS pilots ratify new labor agreement

New contract for 2,700 pilots at world's largest package delivery company ratified after four-year negotiation.
CHICAGO -- UPS's pilots' union said Thursday that its members ratified a new labor contract that took nearly four years to negotiate and provides wage and pension improvements.
The Independent Pilots Association, which represents the 2,700 pilots at the world's largest package delivery company, said 56.5 percent of its members voted for the new agreement.
The new contract will be valid until 2011.
Of the 2,652 IPA members eligible to vote, 1,482 voted to approve the agreement, while 1,141 voted against it.
Union President Tom Nicholson said the contract increased pilot compensation, retirement and benefits, while providing job protection for pilots flying international cargo.
"This is not a small thing," Nicholson said. "Our pilots are now secure in flying that stuff internationally."
Shares of UPS (down $0.76 to $69.78, Charts) fell 0.6 percent on the New York Stock Exchange.
On Monday, rival FedEx (Charts) and its pilot union said they'd reached a tentative agreement.