Six hours before the July 31, 1997 strike deadline, FMCS entered negotiations between United Parcel Service and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. It required three weeks of mediation to bring to an end the largest national strike in two decades.

UPS employs 185,000 members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the second largest private sector bargaining unit in the country, and handles about 85 percent of the package express industry market. Never before in the 90 year history of the company had there been a national strike.

Director John Calhoun Wells and Commissioner Sweet convened a joint meeting of the bargaining committees and asked that the leaders of each side meet in "off-the-record" discussions to try to overcome the issues in dispute. At the request of the Director, the Teamsters postponed their strike deadline for three days, and bargaining continued at FMCS headquarters, sometimes around the clock. Still unable to bridge their differences, the Teamsters struck at 12:01 a.m. Monday, August 4.

The Director reconvened the off-the-record discussions, but the union and company still were not ready to reach agreement on a contract. Talks broke off for four days. The Director and the U.S. Secretary of Labor communicated frequently, and on August 14, jointly called the parties back together. With the Secretary of Labor’s continuous presence at the negotiations reflecting the Administration’s strong desire for a settlement, the FMCS Director, Deputy Director and field mediator led the parties through 80 hours of bargaining over five days. Finally, just after midnight on August 19, agreement was announced on a new, five-year contract.