UPS Marks Welfare Success With Visit by Bush, Daley

    CHICAGO--May 13, 2002--President George W. Bush, accompanied by Mayor Richard Daley, joined UPS CEO Mike Eskew and thousands of UPS employees here today for a special event recognizing the company's success in recruiting and hiring welfare recipients.
    Chicago was the latest of several stops around the country planned by the President to discuss with business and community leaders his plans for reauthorization of the 1997 welfare reform law.
    Several employees who have made the transition from welfare to well-paying jobs at UPS were on hand to share their experiences. Vivian Kimmons, a 19-year veteran of the welfare rolls before finding employment at UPS, joined Eskew and Bush on stage to share her personal story. Since joining UPS in 1998 as a package sorter, she has been promoted to part-time supervisor overseeing 10 to 15 employees who handle thousands of packages each day.
    "The drive shown by Vivian and thousands of other employees who have moved off welfare is tremendous. They are creating better lives for themselves and their families, and they are creating a better UPS," Eskew said in remarks prepared for the event. "Their determination and commitment is emblematic of the same spirit that flows throughout UPS..."
    Since the welfare reform act was passed in 1997, UPS has hired more than 52,000 people off welfare nationwide - more than 6,000 in the Chicago area. The success of UPS's welfare-to-work program in Chicago has been fueled by the company's partnership with the PACE Suburban Bus System, which provides 2,500 UPS part-time employees with flexible transportation to and from work. Many riders rely on PACE to bring them from their home in the city to work at UPS's suburban facility in Hodgkins, Ill.
    "Inner city residents without personal transportation are increasingly isolated from good paying, career-oriented jobs," said Rodney Carroll, president of The Welfare to Work Partnership, a national welfare-to-work organization of which UPS is a founding member. "The partnership that UPS and PACE have created exemplifies how private companies and government agencies can work together to create solutions that allow individuals on welfare to become financially independent."
    UPS works closely with thousands of community organizations across the country to recruit welfare recipients. In Chicago, the company works with more than 650 non-profit organizations, including Grand Boulevard, a "one-stop-shop" organization that helps welfare recipients find job training, child care, counseling and family support. In addition, UPS provides on-site classes for employees at its Jefferson Street and Hodgkins facilities through local colleges and universities for GED, ESL and even associate's, bachelor's and master's degrees.
    Part-time package sorters at UPS (the position in which welfare-to-work hires most often start) receive a starting wage of $8.50 to $9.50 an hour and one of the most generous benefit packages available in the country. The benefits cover all UPS employees and their families and includes full health insurance, paid vacations, holidays and access to a 401(k) plan. In some areas, part-time employees can take advantage of UPS's Earn and Learn program, which offers $3,000 in tuition assistance for college and $2,000 in forgivable student loans per calendar year.
    United Parcel Service , the world's largest express carrier and package delivery company, operates in more than 200 countries and territories and employs 370,000 people worldwide. The company's commitment to its employees has been recognized by several notable organizations including Your Money magazine ("America's Best Part-Time Job") and Fortune magazine ("America's Best Companies for Minorities"). In 2001, UPS won the nation's only presidential award for corporate leadership, The Conference Board's Ron Brown Award for Corporate Citizenship, in recognition of its employee programs. For more information about employment opportunities at UPS, visit www.upsjobs.com.