Administration steps
into UPS dispute

Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- After a week of keeping its distance from the Teamsters strike against United Parcel Service, the Clinton administration stepped into the fray today. Labor Secretary Alexis Herman called on both sides to meet with her and find a way to get "back to the bargaining table."

Federally mediated talks broke off on Saturday and sent the strike -- which is crippling the nation's busy package delivery system -- into a second week with little sign either side will budge.

President Clinton has been following the strike, Herman said yesterday. "But we don't believe that this situation has reached the state of what we define as a national emergency."

But early today, she said in a statement, "I've asked the leaders of the Teamsters union and the United Parcel Service to meet with me today at the Labor Department and they have both agreed. I intend to talk with each party individually to find out what it will take to move these talks forward and to urge greater flexibility and a willingness to compromise to get back to the bargaining table."

Herman told NBC's "Meet the Press" yesterday. "The president recognizes that these are serious issues: the nature of part-time work, pension protection for American workers. These are all issues that we care about."

The issue of striker replacement has threatened to escalate tensions.

"I can't promise anything," UPS Vice Chairman John Alden said today on ABC's "Good Morning America" when asked if UPS would hire replacements for strikers. "Right now we have no plans to hire people. We would like our people to come back to work. I can't promise what the future will bring.'

Herman had cautioned the parties not to "escalate this strike" and said hiring replacements for the 185,000 striking union members "does contribute to that escalation."

"I think he would have a problem" if the company did hire replacements, Teamsters President Ron Carey said on CBS yesterday. He did not elaborate.

"I'm convinced that there is still room here for a settlement," Herman said yesterday.

"If they will redouble their efforts and commit to taking these issues back to the bargaining table, we can settle this strike."

UPS normally handles 12 million parcels and letters daily. The work stoppage's damage to small businesses operations throughout the country has governors and business leaders clamoring for White House intervention.

Under the Taft-Hartley Act, the president must determine that the nation's safety and health is imperiled before he can intervene to force an end to the walkout. Herman said the administration is sensitive to the plight of small businesses and is monitoring the strike's impact on the economy.

"The question of Taft-Hartley ... is one that seems to me lies in the future, not now," Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin said in analyzing the strike's economic implications.