#business​ #career​ #howmoneyworks​
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UPS drivers are grabbing headlines across the country for being awarded salaries of ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY thousand dollars [$170,000] a year for doing deliveries. It sounds amazing… but if this is even true, it’s a good news story covering up a trend that has cost you dearly…There is a reason these delivery drivers are making six figures and you AREN’T.

Last month the union representing three hundred and forty thousand [340,000] UPS employees including drivers threatened a major strike unless the company renegotiated contracts around pay, benefits and conditions. The company came to a compromise over all of these points. The union wanted air conditioning in all vehicles and the company compromised by offering air conditioning in all NEW vehicles. The union wanted clear language about drones and driverless vehicles that could take workers jobs. The company can still use these new technologies but now it needs to inform workers and the union before it does and most importantly, the union wanted a significant pay rise for workers which the company did agree to, but it will come into effect over the next five years.

According to data from the US Census Bureau, wages for average Americans have been stagnant since the 1970’s and according to a Bankrate survey of two thousand five hundred [2,500] Americans people need a salary of two hundred and thirty-three thousand dollars [$233,000] a year to feel financially comfortable. That’s more than three times the median household income, which is $71,000 a year, but it is in line with the amount that the average household would be earning if wages kept up with productivity.

If that did happen, the one hundred and seventy thousand dollars [$170,000] that UPS drivers negotiated would make then below average earners, like you would expect unskilled drivers to be, but instead their incredible earning power is making headlines. There are three reasons why UPS drivers are making this much money and three reasons why YOU are NOT.

The first reason is that the earnings of UPS drivers have been exaggerated but not in the way you would expect. That might be a distinction without a difference but there is a reason you have been hearing so much about it. The union wants to broadcast this success because it is a great result for their members, and it can attract more people in the industry to join the union to negotiate for the same deal. UPS the company is also doing a lot of press around these negotiations because they know it is great publicity for their company when it’s getting harder to attract new workers in difficult blue-collar jobs like trucking.

Most of the stories don’t mention that most UPS delivery drivers are not full time and won’t receive the same benefits. The strong earning potential of full-time drivers is the best tool the company has to keep it’s part time workforce happy with limited hours, limited benefits and limited pay because they are holding out for the hope that one day they can become a full time driver and make the money they kept hearing about. Even drivers that do make it to full time are going to work extremely hard for their money. To make the $170,000 package that is getting so much press a full time UPS driver needs to work an average of fifteen hours of overtime every week. Delivery drivers and truckers already work unusual hours so reports of these roles putting significant strain on family life and a healthy lifestyle are common. Now maybe YOU already work overtime in a stressful job and the only difference is that you are not getting paid any overtime for it.

So it’s time to learn about economy and jobs to find out if delivery drivers earning one hundred and seventy thousand dollars a year should be the new normal instead of grabbing headlines.

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