[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 34 (Monday, August 25, 1997)]
[Pages 1257-1258]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the Tentative Settlement of the United Parcel Service Strike 
and an Exchange With Reporters in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

August 19, 1997

    The President. Good afternoon. I would like to compliment UPS and 
the Teamsters on resolving their differences and agreeing to a new 
contract. I think it is very much in the interest not only of the 
company and its employees but also of all of the people it serves and of 
the United States, and I'm very pleased about it.
    I also want to say a special word of thanks and appreciation to 
Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman, who I believe did a very fine job in 
working with the parties, trying to keep them working together and 
getting back together. I know that she deserves and will get some much-
needed rest today. But I think it's a good thing for the country, and 
I'm very pleased it's resolved.

Administration's Role

    Q. Mr. President, can you walk through your own evolution in this? 
The first 2 weeks were sort of hands off, and then on Saturday you gave 
them a little bit of a nudge, and then by the time you reached Martha's 
Vineyard, it seemed a little more like a push. Why, specifically, did 
you choose to engage at those two moments?
    The President. Well, first of all, the Secretary of Labor had been 
involved with this almost from the beginning. But I thought it was 
important to give the parties a chance to work out their differences. 
And obviously, I was getting reports about where they were. I just 
wanted to--when it was obvious that they were quite close--it's been my 
observation, not just from them but sometimes in our negotiations with 
Congress, for example--sometimes you get very close, and you've got 95 
percent of the issues or 99 percent of the issues resolved, and maybe 
just a little nudge in the right direction helps you go over the top. 
And I was just hoping to do that.
    They did the work, and they deserve the credit. They resolved their 
differences in a way that I think will be good for the company and good 
for the employees.

[[Page 1258]]

Significance of the Settlement

    Q. Mr. President, is this an outright victory for the labor 
movement?
    The President. I think it's a victory for the proposition that you 
can have a profitable, highly competitive company with good, solid labor 
relations providing good jobs and good benefits for the employees. 
That's what I think it's a victory for. It's not an outright victory if 
you mean it's also a defeat for UPS; I wouldn't characterize it that 
way. I think this company will go forward. It will do real well, and the 
workers will do well. And they've made some important agreements around 
the side about how they're going to work together to be even more 
productive and competitive, so I would say that it is a victory for the 
proposition that you can have good, strong labor relations and treat 
your employees well and make money in this economy of ours. That's what 
I wanted to prove from the time I became President, so I was very 
pleased by it.
    Q. Mr. President, how much of an economic threat would there have 
been if this strike had not been resolved when it was, if it had gone on 
much longer?
    The President. It's hard to say. That would depend upon something 
we'll never know, which is how quickly others could have absorbed the 
capacity. But it could have been very difficult for both the company and 
for its employees. So I think they were both advantaged by making the 
agreement they did before any irreparable harm was done to both sides. 
And that may well have been something they were thinking of.

The President's Birthday

    Q. On a more personal note, sir, how does it feel to be another year 
older?
    The President. Well, it feels good today. I've had a wonderful time 
here. I had a good day yesterday on the golf course, and this morning I 
got up, and Chelsea and I went jogging. That's the longest I've been 
able to go since I hurt myself. And the three of us are just going to 
spend the day reading and playing games and having fun with each other, 
and then we're going to go to a party tonight. So I feel very blessed, 
and I'm very fortunate to be here. And as far as I know, I'm in good 
health, and the country's doing well. That's the most important thing of 
all. So I'm very happy today, and I have a lot to be thankful for.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 12:43 p.m. at the press pool holding area.