Transportation

UPS Pay Hikes for Package Handlers Raise Pressure on FedEx

  • FedEx: Teamsters deal will make it tough to reduce turnover
  • Maintaining labor levels had already been difficult for FedEx
An employee loads packages on a delivery truck at the FedEx Corp. Ground distribution center in Jersey City, New Jersey.Photographer: Marc McAndrews/Bloomberg
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The raises won by United Parcel Service Inc. package handlers are going to put FedEx Corp. in a bind.

While the salaries that unionized UPS drivers will make under the tentative five-year agreement have grabbed headlines — ones with a few years experience could earn nearly $50 an hour — the bigger problem for FedEx might be that workers in sorting centers are getting even bigger pay hikes, with some increases hitting 55%.