Ehrlich on Washington column, August 17, 1997

NEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 1407 York Road, Suite 304 Lutherville, Maryland 2 1 093 3 1 5 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON Week of August 1 7, 1997 By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. UPS STRIKE HURTS EVERYONE It may be the worst labor strike the United States has faced in a quarter century. United Parcel Service, which handles 80 percent of all package deliveries in the U. S., has been paralyzed by the inability of management and officials of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to reach agreement on a new labor contract. As a result, the lives of nearly 200,000 striking UPS employees and their families have been thrown into turmoil. Moreover, UPS is losing millions of dollars a day, and many large businesses and small mom-and-pop companies which routinely depend on UPS are feeling the pinch. As I write these words, the chances of a prompt, painless resolution to this strike are not good. After negotiations with UPS broke off recently, Teamsters President Ron Carey warned that his members were “digging in for a long one.” UPS delivers 12 million parcels a day, so it is likely that every element of the American economy — businesses, hospitals, schools, even individuals like you and me — will be negatively affected. The President has the legal authority to intervene in a national strike which threatens to, “imperil public health or safety,” and may call workers back to their jobs during a 60-day “cooling off’ period. UPS, three governors, and 37 CEOs from affected companies such as Toys ‘R’ Us, Sears, and J. C. Penney have asked the President to stop the strike. To date, President Clinton has declined, explaining that the “severe damage to the country” that would