What Happens to My Seniority If I Transfer Buildings at UPS?

Transferring to a new building is one of the most common questions UPS Teamsters ask, and the answer matters: it affects your layoff protection, vacation picks, run/job bidding, and how long you have to wait before you can transfer again. The short version is that you almost always keep your company (length-of-service) seniority for benefits, but you usually go to the bottom for building/center-level bidding and layoff for a period of time. The exact rules depend on which supplement, rider, or addendum covers you — so this article walks through the common patterns and points you to the specific contract language.

The big picture: two kinds of seniority

UPS contracts generally treat seniority in two layers, and a transfer affects each one differently:

• Company / length-of-service seniority — used for things like the number of weeks of vacation you earn, holiday eligibility, and benefit purposes. This typically follows you when you transfer.
• Building / center / classification seniority — used for daily bidding, layoff and recall, and vacation week selection at your location. This is the one that usually changes when you move.

The National Master Agreement spells this out for part-time educational/non-educational transfers: your job-classification seniority is end-tailed (you go to the bottom), while company seniority is retained for the number of weeks of vacation, holiday eligibility, and benefit purposes ^[10][12]. That two-layer split is the pattern you'll see repeated across riders and supplements.

"End-tailed" vs. "dovetailed" — what those words mean

These two terms decide where you land on the new building's seniority list:

• End-tailed means you go to the bottom of the relevant seniority list at the new location.
• Dovetailed means your seniority is merged in by date with the existing employees, as if you'd always been there.

Which one applies depends on why and how you move.

When you voluntarily request a transfer to another building, you generally end-tail for bidding/layoff purposes — at least for a while. For example, the Southwest Package Rider provides that a transferring employee retains company seniority for fringe benefits but is placed at the bottom of the center seniority list for layoff, rehire, and vacation selection — and after one (1) year their seniority is dovetailed ^[11]. The same one-year-then-dovetail rule appears for Local 631 automotive and maintenance mechanics who transfer within their jurisdiction ^[11].

By contrast, when the company moves your work — a center closing or a Change of Operations — you generally follow your work and your seniority is dovetailed at the new center ^[7][9][1][8]. That's a much better outcome than end-tailing, which is why the distinction between a voluntary transfer and a company-driven move is so important.

If you voluntarily transfer to another building

Most voluntary building-to-building transfers run through a posted transfer list / Master Transfer Roster process and carry these common features:

• A seniority/service requirement to sign up. Full-time package car and feeder drivers in the Western Region need one (1) year of seniority to use the transfer roster, with the list posted in October and effective January 2nd of the following year ^[4][6]. Part-timers under several riders likewise need one (1) year before they can request a transfer ^[2][5][12].
• You keep company seniority, but bid from the bottom at first. Under Local 344's part-time geographical transfer language, the employee uses the date of transfer for part-time job bidding for one (1) year, and for two (2) years for full-time job bidding ^[5]. Under the Local 135 part-time transfer procedure, once a transfer is honored the employee must stay in that job for one (1) year ^[2].
• A "stay put" period before you can transfer again. Local 344 requires a feeder driver who transfers to stay in the new area twelve (12) months before becoming eligible to transfer again, and the same twelve-month lock-in applies to classification transfers ^[3]. Local 631 mechanics must remain in the new location one (1) year before using the transfer language again ^[11].
• You generally pay your own way. The National Master makes the part-time transfer subject to the condition that moving and other expenses are the employee's responsibility ^[12]. The Western Region language and Article 15 similarly leave the employee responsible for moving costs in ordinary transfers ^[10].

This matches what members report from real-world experience: one UPSer who transfered noted, "You lose building seniority, you will maintain pay and all entitlements" — i.e., your pay and benefits carry over but your spot on the local bid list resets ^[13].

If your work is moved (center closing or Change of Operations)

This is where seniority generally protects you the most. The National Master Agreement's Change of Operations language (Article 38) provides that when a center is closed and the work is transferred to another center, affected employees are entitled to follow their work and have their seniority dovetailed at the new center ^[9][7]. The North Dakota & Minnesota supplement and the Kentucky Rider contain parallel dovetailing language for centers that are opened, closed, or partially closed ^[1][8].

For partial closures (excluding feeder drivers), the affected employees may either follow their work and dovetail in the new center, or exercise their seniority in their present center and displace the least senior employee in their classification ^[7][9]. Feeder drivers have their own follow-the-work option in a Change of Operations, and employees transferring under that section may be eligible for moving expenses under Article 38, Section 2 — a key difference from a voluntary transfer where you pay your own way ^[7].

These disputes — seniority application, health and welfare, pension, and layoff questions — are resolved by a Regional Joint Change of Operations Committee, with unresolved issues going to the Joint National Committee and, if needed, expedited arbitration ^[9].

Watch your benefits and pension when you cross jurisdictions

Transferring can change which health and pension plan covers you. The Western Region supplement warns that an employee moving from a Company-administered health plan into an area covered by a jointly administered Taft-Hartley Trust Fund plan must satisfy that fund's eligibility requirements and may have a coverage gap (with a COBRA notice and COBRA payments being the employee's responsibility) — so you should contact both Local Unions to arrange uninterrupted coverage ^[6].

On pensions, the National Master provides that an employee who transfers out of their original area where they're covered by a Teamster Pension Trust Fund into another fund's jurisdiction remains in their original pension trust fund, with the Employer paying the required contributions there ^[10]. It's also the employee's responsibility to verify all benefits — medical, dental, vision, retiree medical, and pension — at the new location before transferring ^[12].

What if my transfer fails or I'm still under a year?

Members often worry about transferring before hitting the one-year mark or about failing to qualify ^[14]. A few contract points help:

• For classification transfers, Local 344 provides that a feeder driver who transfers into package and fails to qualify can return to the feeder department and retain their original bid date (though not necessarily their original bid run) ^[3].
• For part-time-to-full-time moves, Local 135 gives a disqualified employee the right to re-qualify within one (1) year, with longer waits after repeated failures ^[2].

Generally speaking (this is background, not a specific clause in these excerpts), in unionized seniority systems your underlying service/company date doesn't disappear just because you change locations — it's typically your list position at the new spot that resets ^[15][16]. But the precise protections depend entirely on your contract language, so don't rely on general rules of thumb.

A note on the wide variation between supplements

There is no single national rule for every situation. Compare just a few:

• Southwest Package Rider: bottom of center list for layoff/rehire/vacation, then dovetail after one year ^[11].
• Local 344: part-time geographical transferee uses transfer date for one year (part-time bidding) / two years (full-time bidding), with a twelve-month lock-in before transferring again ^[5][3].
• Western Region: detailed Master Transfer Roster with one-year sign-up requirement and October posting / January 2 effective date ^[4][6].
• Kentucky Rider: center seniority prevails, with dovetailing when a center is opened, closed, or partially closed ^[8].

Because the differences are real and consequential, you must read the language that actually covers your building.

What to do next

Before you sign a transfer list, talk to your shop steward or Business Agent and confirm exactly how your supplement or rider treats company seniority vs. building/classification seniority, how long before you can bid normally, and what happens to your health and pension coverage. Get everything in writing. And you can ask TeamstersGPT with your specific supplement selected to pull the exact transfer and seniority language for your local before you commit.