UPS, pilots talks in recess: mediated talks in Washington between carrier, pilots end without a contract.(Transportation: Air & Expedited)(UPS Airlines and Independent Pilots Association; FedEx Corp. and Air Line Pilots Association's negotiations)

After failing to reach an agreement, UPS and Independent Pilots Association are taking a break from formal contract talks after 32 months of increasingly tough negotiations.

The National Mediation Board ordered the recess in the talks June 23 following two weeks of negotiations in Washington that failed to produce an agreement.

The recess allows both sides "to go back and review the proposals that they have on the table and start looking at where they can make some shifts or changes ... and prepare ... for that next step when the NMB calls them back," said UPS spokesman Mark Giuffre.

The recess is indefinite, however. "There is no date ... or timeline" for a restart, said IPA …