The International Brotherhood of Teamsters union announced July 25 it had reached a contract agreement with the company, avoiding a potentially disastrous strike slated for August 1.

As part of the deal, which is pending member ratification, full-time and part-time UPS Teamsters will receive $2.75 more per hour in 2023 and a total of $7.50 more per hour over the five-year contract. The agreement will also create 7,500 new full-time Teamster jobs at UPS, as well as providing additional health and safety protections, including in-cab A/C for larger delivery trucks and air induction vents in the cargo compartments of package cars, after January 1, 2024.

The agreement covers U.S. Teamsters-represented employees in small package roles and is subject to ratification by union members, according to the Associated Press. Voting amongst union members runs from August 3 through August 22.

“Rank-and-file UPS Teamsters sacrificed everything to get this country through a pandemic and enabled UPS to reap record-setting profits. Teamster labor moves America. The union went into this fight committed to winning for our members. We demanded the best contract in the history of UPS, and we got it,” said Teamsters general president Sean M. O’Brien. “UPS has put $30 billion in new money on the table as a direct result of these negotiations. We’ve changed the game, battling it out day and night to make sure our members won an agreement that pays strong wages, rewards their labor and doesn’t require a single concession. This contract sets a new standard in the labor movement and raises the bar for all workers.”

A strike of all 340,000 Teamster members against UPS could have been the costliest in U.S. history, according to an analysis conducted by the Anderson Economic Group (AEG), which set the cost of a 10-day strike at more than $7 billion.