MOST UPS DRIVERS BACK; LOST BUSINESS IDLES 15-20 PERCENT OF L.A. WORKERS.

Byline: David R. Baker Daily News Staff Writer

By 11 a.m. Wednesday, UPS driver Harry Slaughter already was sweating through his company's trademark brown uniform, hauling boxes to customers he hadn't seen in weeks.

After walking a picket line during the Teamsters' 15-day strike against United Parcel Service, Slaughter was glad he was back on his regular route.

So were his customers. They called out when he walked through the door and shook his hand like a long-lost relative.

``This is big news! We've missed you!'' said Beverly Phelps, a branch manager for American Pacific State Bank, as Slaughter carted a box into her Woodland Hills office.

``It's real good to be back,'' he said, smiling.

Across the country Wednesday, brown UPS trucks cruised streets and highways as the shipping company resumed operations following settlement of the strike. Late Monday, UPS and Teamsters negotiators reached a tentative agreement that would create 10,000 new full-time jobs from existing part-time positions.

But not all of the company's 6,900 Los Angeles employees were back at work Wednesday. UPS spokeswoman Candice Traeger said perhaps 15 percent to 20 percent of local drivers had been temporarily laid off, told not to come back to work until the company can determine how many customers it lost during the strike.

``We did not bring everyone back,'' Traeger said, ``and we won't be able to until we have the packages to justify it.''

Traeger said the company was handling a glut of packages Wednesday, parcels that had either been stuck in the UPS system when the strike hit or had been piling up in customers' storerooms. But volume is expected to level off during the coming week as the backlog of packages is delivered.

In a week or two, Traeger said, UPS will get a clear idea of how many former customers have switched to other shipping services and how many are willing to come back. Company officials then can determine the number of employees who can return to their posts.

``At UPS, packages equal jobs,'' Traeger said.

Jeff Fritz, a furloughed part-timer at the company's Van Nuys hub, wondered Wednesday whether the strike had been necessary and worthwhile, even if it secured better pay for part-time employees.

``Maybe in the long run it's better,'' he said, ``but in the short run, a lot of us are hurting.''

A supervisor said Fritz probably would get called back to work in 10 days, depending on the workload.

Slaughter, who has been with the company 10 years, hadn't approved of the strike. Pausing in the midst of his rounds, he said the union could have kept negotiating without a walkout, one that hurt drivers and the company. After going without pay during the strike, his next paycheck won't come for two more weeks, he said.

``Everybody lost,'' Slaughter said.

Still, he is pleased with the agreement. Although he said some part-time jobs - like unloading the trucks that come in several times a day - should remain part time, he's happy that the company also will add some full-time positions.

``From what I've heard about it, it sounds like a fairly decent contract,'' he said.

For Slaughter's customers, the past two weeks forced a scramble to find other shippers and couriers. Phelps said bank employees even had to pick up some local packages themselves.

``It hasn't been easy,'' she said.

At the nearby campus of the University of La Verne's law school, administrative assistant Pat Galasso said shipping through other services has cost far more than with UPS. The university regularly relies on UPS to send books between campuses, she said.

``A lot of our library is updated through UPS,'' Galasso said.

Signing for a box on Slaughter's electronic pad, she beamed at him. ``We're thrilled to have you back,'' she said.

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Photo

Photo: UPS driver Harry Slaughter is welcomed back to his route Wednesday by Lisa Espindola at American Pacific State Bank in Woodland Hills.

John McCoy/Daily News