Balloting materials to be mailed tomorrow on UPS-Teamster pacts

Balloting materials will be mailed out starting tomorrow for Teamsters union members to vote on proposed five-year contracts covering 256,000 workers at UPS Inc.'s small-package operations and 12,000 additional workers at the Atlanta-based company's less-than-truckload (LTL) unit, according to Teamster dissident group Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU).

For the first time in the long relationship between UPS and the Teamsters, contract voting will be conducted electronically. Each member will be given a personal identification number which they will use either to vote online or by telephone to a computer, TDU said.

The materials will be mailed throughout the rest of the week. Ballots will be counted on October 5, TDU said.