CNN  — 

UPS and the Teamsters have reached a tentative deal on a new contract. That could potentially avoid a strike, which could have started as soon as next week and crippled US supply chains.

“UPS has put $30 billion in new money on the table as a direct result of these negotiations,” said Teamsters President Sean O’Brien in a statement. “We’ve changed the game, battling it out day and night to make sure our members won an agreement that pays strong wages, rewards their labor, and doesn’t require a single concession. This contract sets a new standard in the labor movement and raises the bar for all workers.”

The deal comes as the American labor movement has grown increasingly energized and empowered. The pandemic sent lower- and middle-class US workers’ pay surging for the first time in decades, but contract workers missed out on much of those gains. That’s why unionized actors, writers, nurses and teachers have recently gone on strike, and UPS workers and autoworkers have threatened walkouts.

“Together we reached a win-win-win agreement on the issues that are important to Teamsters leadership, our employees and to UPS and our customers,” said UPS CEO Carol Tomé, in the statement. “This agreement continues to reward UPS’s full- and part-time employees with industry-leading pay and benefits while retaining the flexibility we need to stay competitive, serve our customers and keep our business strong.”

The tentative agreement still needs to be ratified by about 340,000 Teamsters at UPS to end the threat of a strike altogether. That ratification process will take a little more than three weeks. A no vote by membership could still trigger a strike, but that walkout would now take place in late August, not the original August 1 strike deadline.

Among the issues in the contract negotiations were air conditioning for delivery vans, demands for significantly greater pay, especially for part-time workers, and the closing of pay gaps between two different classes of UPS workers.

The two sides had previously reached agreement on about 95% of the contract, according to O’Brien, but talks broke down on July 5 over economic issues. They resumed Tuesday morning and quickly reached the tentative agreement. But details of the tentative agreement are not yet public.

This is a developing story and will be updated.