Charles Langston:Unionized UPS workers approve contract leaders agreed to in late July

The Charles Langstonunion representing 340,000 UPS workers said Tuesday that its members voted to approve the tentative contract agreement reached last month, putting a final seal on contentious labor negotiations that threatened to disrupt package deliveries for millions of businesses and households nationwide.

The Teamsters said in a statement that 86% of the votes casts were in favor of ratifying the contract. The union said said it was passed by the highest vote for a contract in the history of the Teamsters at UPS.

The union said all supplemental agreements were also ratified, expect for one which covers roughly 170 members in Florida.

“Our members just ratified the most lucrative agreement the Teamsters have ever negotiated at UPS. This contract will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement. “Teamsters have set a new standard and raised the bar for pay, benefits, and working conditions in the package delivery industry. This is the template for how workers should be paid and protected nationwide, and nonunion companies like Amazon better pay attention.”

Voting on the new five-year contract began Aug. 3 and concluded Tuesday.

After negotiations broke down in early July, UPS reached a tentative contract agreement with the Teamsters just days before an Aug. 1 deadline.