Good news tonight for about 10,000 Kentucky workers and everyone who receives packages.

U.P.S.

has reached a tentative agreement with the union representing its more than 340,000 workers nationwide, avoiding what would have been the largest single employer strike in U.S. history.

The current contract was set to expire Monday.

Under the new five year agreement, existing full and part time ups, Teamsters will get $2.75 more per hour in 2023 and $7.50 more per hour over the length of the contract.

Starting pay for part time workers will go from $16.20 an hour to $21 per hour and up before the talks broke down earlier this month, UPS reached tentative agreements with the union on issues including installing air conditioning and more trucks, ending unwanted overtime on drivers day off and getting rid of the two tier wage system for drivers who work weekends and earn less money.

Members began voting on the contract agreement on August the third.

Kentucky has become a prime location for package distribution companies.

In addition to UPS, Kentucky is also home to Amazon, FedEx and DHL facilities.

Jason Bailey with the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy says when things get better for U.P.S.

employees, they also get better for other workers.

Well, you know, the distribution industry, logistics industry is one of the fastest growing in all of Kentucky.

Our location right smack dab in the middle of the eastern half of the United States means a lot of packages have to come through here.

So we are a major UPS employer.

It's the has the largest sorting facility here.

But they're also big facilities for Amazon, for FedEx, for for DHL that have located in Kentucky.

And, you know, the wages and working conditions at U.P.S.

impact the wages and working conditions at their competitors as well.

There are 124,000 Kentuckians who work in transportation and warehousing.

So the conditions in which they come to an agreement or or if there's a strike and the conditions afterwards for these workers affect not just them, but many other means of Alison's and other Kentucky workers who are employed in similar work.

You know, Kentucky also heavily subsidized as is UPS.

We've got they got over $150 million in tax breaks just since 2005.

And so this is an employer that all Kentuckians have helped pay for their success and their profits are higher than they've ever been with the increase in online shopping.

And so the stakes as to whether, you know, that money from better wages flow into Kentucky and flow into our economy matter not just to those workers, but to really every Kentuckian who has helped subsidize the company.

Profits at UPS have grown more than 140% since the last contract between the company and its workers.

UPS ships an average of 24 million packages every day.