(2012-0743-F) United Parcel Service (UPS) Strike

120 folders, 3,596 pages

This collection consists of records related to the August 1997 strike at United Parcel Service (UPS). The strike lasted 15 days, and the repercussions of the work stoppage were felt worldwide with thousands of packages failing to reach their destinations. The central issue of the strike revolved around the widespread use of part-time employees by UPS. In the five-year contract agreed to between the Teamsters and UPS, provisions were made for 10,000 new full-time jobs. Though President Clinton initially refused to intervene, administration officials sat in on negotiations and encouraged both sides to stay at the negotiating table. This collection consists of correspondence, newspaper articles, memoranda, fact sheets, graphs, lists, email, handwritten notes, and reports.

The materials in 2012-0743-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related materials. FOIA 2012-0743-F contains correspondence, newspaper articles, memoranda, fact sheets, graphs, lists, email, handwritten notes, and reports dealing with the August 1997 strike at United Parcel Service (UPS). Lasting 15 days, the repercussions of the work stoppage were felt worldwide with thousands of packages failing to reach their destinations. Ron Carey, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) from 1991 to 1997, is generally recognized as the leader of the movement that persuaded employees to resort to extreme measures to get better benefits. In the words of an online encyclopedia article, the concessions workers received from management “represented the high-water mark for organized labor in the 1990s.” The central issue of the strike revolved around the widespread use of part-time employees by UPS. In the five-year contract agreed to between the Teamsters and UPS, provisions were made for 10,000 new full-time jobs. The WHORM Subject Files contain a considerable amount of correspondence between members of Congress and President Clinton. Representatives and Senators alike implored the President to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act and bring the UPS strike to an end. They complained about the adverse effect the walkout had on businesses in their districts and states. Staff and Office Files contain similar records, but the letters here come from constituents as well as businesses. For example, in the Counsel’s Office Bruce Lindsey’s materials are replete with correspondence addressed to him asking if he can either influence the President to remain neutral in the dispute or to use his power to clamp down mercilessly on UPS and get them back to work. Documents in the Files of Dorothy Robyn of the National Economic Council include handwritten notes pertaining to UPS conference calls in the midst of the strike, press releases describing the progress of the talks between the two sides, and memos detailing the initial impact of the work stoppage. Email from the Automated Records Management System and Tape Restoration project consist of press briefings, weekly reports, office correspondence between White House staff, correspondence from businesses and correspondence from constituents concerning the UPS strike. The collection primarily consists of correspondence from constituents addressed to the president@whitehouse.gov stating their position concerning the UPS strike.

Textual

Records that are responsive to this FOIA request were found in these collection areas—Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM Subject Files; Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files; Clinton Presidential Records: ARMS Emails; and Clinton Presidential Records: TRP Emails. The White House Office of Records Management (WHORM) contains a variety of series designed to organize and track documents and correspondence. The WHORM Subject File was compiled by the White House Office of Records Management and is a series of categories designated by a letter/number combination. Staff and Office Files were maintained at the folder level by staff members within their individual offices and document all levels of administration activity. WHORM Files are processed at the document level; whereas Staff and Office Files are processed at the folder level, that is, individual documents are not selected and removed from a folder for processing. While this method maintains folder integrity, it frequently results in the incidental processing of documents that are not wholly responsive to the subject area. The Automated Records Management System (ARMS) is a database that contains email records of the Executive Office of the President. This system maintained unclassified Presidential email. The ARMS database is comprised of six sub-series of email records called "buckets." The buckets generally represent a specific White House office. The buckets are titled: NPR for National Performance Review, OPD for Office of Policy Development, POTUS for President of the United States, WHO for White House Office, CEA for Council of Economic Advisers, and Default for emails not associated with an office. The OPD bucket contains email created or received by an individual with an Office of Policy Development (OPD) White House user account. The WHO bucket contains email created or received by individual with an Executive Office of the President White House user account not identified as CEA, NPR, or OPD. The CEA bucket contains email created or received by an individual with a Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) White House user account. The Default bucket contains email created or received by unknown or un-recognized email accounts. Email found within the Default bucket often includes email created or received by offices or individuals outside the Executive Office of the President. ARMS email are arranged by topic, there-under by bucket, and there-under chronologically by creation date. The Tape Restoration Project (TRP) is a database consisting of restored emails from the Automated Records Management System (ARMS) from July 1994 through June of 2000. The TRP is a database that contains email records of the Executive Office of the President. This system maintained unclassified Presidential record email. The TRP database is comprised of the same six sub-series of email as in ARMS. TRP email are arranged by topic, there-under by bucket, and there-under chronologically by creation date. FOIA 2012-0743-F includes WHORM records from this subject code: LA005 Labor-Management (Non-Government) Strikes – Work Stoppages - Arbitration.

Collection is open to all researchers. Access to Clinton Presidential Records is governed by the Presidential Records Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. Chapter 22, as amended) and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552, as amended) and therefore records may be restricted in whole or in part in accordance with legal exemptions.

Official records of William Jefferson Clinton’s presidency are housed at the Clinton Presidential Library and administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) under the provisions of the Presidential Records Act (PRA)

Staff Archivist, 2012. Previously restricted materials are added as they are released.

The following is a list of documents and folders processed in response to FOIA 2012-0743-F:
Box 1
Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM: Subject File
Category Case Number
LA005 229791
LA005 230159
LA005 239594
LA005 230617
LA005 230654 [1]
LA005 230654 [2]
LA005 230654 [3]
LA005 230654 [4]
LA005 230736
LA005 230834
LA005 230847
LA005 231058
LA005 231155
LA005 231350
LA005 231398
LA005 231401
LA005 231579
LA005 231648
LA005 231758
LA005 231771
LA005 231777
LA005 231800SS
LA005 231847
LA005 231968
LA005 232275
LA005 232712
LA005 232742
Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM: Subject File (Continued)
LA005 232936
LA005 232953
LA005 232958
LA005 233418
LA005 233762
LA005 234202
LA005 234206
LA005 234207
LA005 234209
LA005 234211
LA005 234214
LA005 234217
LA005 234228
LA005 234235
LA005 234239
LA005 234240
LA005 234243
LA005 234275
LA005 234276
LA005 234412
LA005 234413
LA005 234414
LA005 234415
LA005 234416
LA005 234417
LA005 234418
LA005 234420
LA005 234421
LA005 234423
LA005 234468
LA005 234469
LA005 234495
LA005 236000
LA005 236031
LA005 236033
LA005 236035
LA005 236079
LA005 236081
LA005 236082
LA005 236084
Box 2
LA005 236086
LA005 236087
LA005 236092
LA005 236093
LA005 236114
LA005 236137
Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM: Subject File (Continued)
LA005 236718 [1]
LA005 236718 [2]
LA005 237363
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Council of Economic Advisors
 Frankel, Jeffrey
 UPS [United Parcel Service] Strike/Part-Time Work [OA/ID 13716]
Counsel’s Office
 Lindsey, Bruce
 UPS [1] [OA/ID 14508]
 UPS [2] [OA/ID 14508]
UPS [3] [OA/ID 14508]
 NMB [National Mediation Board] – UPS [OA/ID 19522]
 UPS [OA/ID 19522]
 UPS Related News Articles [OA/ID 19522]
 White House Documents re UPS Strike [1] [OA/ID 19522]
 White House Documents re UPS Strike [2] [OA/ID 19522]
Box 3
 Racine, Karl
 Teamsters/UPS [United Parcel Service], 4/21/98 [April 21, 1998] [1] [OA/ID 14171]
 Teamsters/UPS [United Parcel Service], 4/21/98 [April 21, 1998] [2] [OA/ID 14171]
 Teamsters/UPS [United Parcel Service] Strike #230786 [1] [OA/ID 14171]
 Teamsters/UPS [United Parcel Service] Strike #230786 [2] [OA/ID 14171]
 Teamsters/UPS [United Parcel Service] Strike #230786 [3] [OA/ID 14171]
 Teamsters/UPS [United Parcel Service] Strike #230786 [4] [OA/ID 14171]
 Teamsters/UPS [United Parcel Service] Strike #236718 [OA/ID 14171]
Intergovernmental Affairs
 Cutler, Lynn
 UPS Strike [OA/ID 13542]
National Economic Council
 Robyn, Dorothy
 [Folder 2] [UPS [United Parcel Service] Strike] [August 1997] [1] [OA/ID 17404]
 [Folder 2] [UPS [United Parcel Service] Strike] [August 1997] [2] [OA/ID 17404]
Box 4
Clinton Presidential Records: Automated Records Management System [Email]
OPD [OA/ID 250000]
 [United Parcel Service and Strike]
 [08/07/1997 – 09/05/1997]
 [09/18/1997 – 09/22/1997]
WHO [OA/ID 500000]
 [United Parcel Service and Strike]
 [07/30/1997 – 08/04/1997]
 [08/05/1997 – 08/07/1997]
 [08/07/1997 – 08/10/1997]
Clinton Presidential Records: Automated Records Management System [Email] (Continued)
 [08/10/1997 – 08/11/1997]
[08/11/1997 – 08/12/1997]
 [08/12/1997 – 08/13/1997]
Box 5
[08/13/1997 – 08/15/1997]
 [08/15/1997 – 08/18/1997]
 [08/18/1997 – 08/19/1997]
 [08/19/1997 – 08/20/1997]
 [08/20/1997 – 09/10/1997]
 [09/15/1997 – 11/12/1997]
 [03/26/1998 – 05/22/1998]
Box 6
CEA [OA/ID 950000]
 [United Parcel Service and Strike]
[08/03/1997 – 08/08/1997]
 [08/11/1997 – 08/21/1997]
 [09/28/1997 – 04/30/1998]
Default [OA/ID 1100000]
 [United Parcel Service and Strike]
 [07/30/1997 – 08/05/1997]
 [08/07/1997 – 08/11/1997]
 [08/12/1997 – 08/19/1997]
 [08/20/1997 – 10/27/1997]
Box 7
Clinton Presidential Records: Tape Restoration Project System [Email]
WHO [OA/ID 500000]
 [United Parcel Service and Strike]
 [08/06/1997]
Default [OA/ID 1100000]
 [United Parcel Service and Strike]
 [07/30/1997 – 08/21/1997]
 [08/22/1997-04/17/1998]