Teamster local union leaders representing UPS Freight workers across the country have endorsed a new tentative national agreement. 

It provides for major economic improvements, including a $2.50 per hour wage hike, and protects work and jobs at a time when most less-than-truckload companies are cutting wages and benefits, according to the union.

Details of the new tentative agreement were outlined at the “two-person” meeting, in which two representatives from each local union participated.

The endorsement by local union leaders clears the way for a membership ratification vote to be held at local union halls Jan. 11 through Jan. 12, more than half a year after the original proposal was soundly rejected by the union.

The dissident group, Teamsters for a Democratic Union, is critical of this latest plan, claiming it differs little from the original proposal that was rejected.

The five-year pact covers come 13,000 UPS Freight employees and is separate from a contract covering UPS parcel workers.