James P. Hoffa: Happy 'Enlightened' Labor Day

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said this week that workers in the United States apparently don't want to join unions because of the "very enlightened management in this country now, treating employees better and employees have decided they don't want to pay the dues."

McConnell, R-Ky., husband of the most anti-union Labor Secretary in history, enlightened the rest of the country with his ridiculous reason claiming why no Republican will vote for the Employee Free Choice Act.

To borrow from Rep. Barney Frank, McConnell must spend most of his time on a planet that's much better than the planet the rest of us live on.

In truth, the Employee Free Choice Act is desperately needed on my planet, where 16 workers die on the job every day because managers ignore their health and safety. On my planet, field workers die of heat exhaustion. Laundry workers are killed by dangerous machinery. Exhausted airline pilots die in crashes. Full Story.........

TEAMSTER FREIGHT MEMBERS RATIFY YRCW JOB SECURITY PLAN

Hoffa Says Time For Banks To Step Up

Teamster members who work at the freight companies of YRC Worldwide Inc. Yellow, Roadway and Holland—have approved a Job Security Plan that provides economic relief for YRCW as it works to get through the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The modifications were ratified by a 58.5 percent to 41.5 percent margin, with 64 percent of members casting ballots. Ballots were mailed to union members on July 17 and counted today.

“Once again Teamster members at YRCW have shown great courage by making extraordinary sacrifices to help this company survive,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President.

The Job Security Plan provides YRCW with over $1.2 billion of cost savings over the remaining 44 month term of the agreement and greatly enhances YRCW’s financial position. While the wage reduction and pension terminations are effective immediately, they will not remain in effect unless:

1) YRCW and its bank group amend their loan agreements in order to provide the company with sufficient liquidity and flexibility to complete its restructuring and take advantage of the upturn in freight demand anticipated in 2010; and

2) affiliated Teamster Pension Funds approve the “deferral/termination” arrangement.

“Now YRCW, banks and other stakeholders have to step up and do their part to ensure the company’s long-term survival,” Hoffa said. “Do the banks want the fate of 35,000 YRCW workers, hundreds of thousands of retirees, and hundreds of thousands of other workers to be their responsibility if they do not significantly rework YRCW’s loan facilities?”

The plan calls for a reduction in gross wages of 15 percent from the full National Master Freight Agreement rates effective Aug. 1, 2009. This includes the 10 percent wage reduction previously ratified by the membership in January 2009.

Additionally, the plan will allow the company to terminate pension fund contributions effective from July 1, 2009 through December 31, 2010. During this time, employees will not earn additional pension accruals or credits. At the same time, they will not lose accrued benefits or credits previously earned during this period.

The plan also provides for the issuance of options for YRCW stock to Teamster members that would lead to employee ownership of an additional 20 percent of the company’s outstanding stock over and above the 15 percent that was negotiated at the end of last year.

“As the economy is just now showing signs of improvement our primary goal is to make sure YRCW’s other stakeholders, primarily the bank lending group led by JP Morgan, SunTrust, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Wells Fargo (Wachovia), Bank of America, Bank of Tokyo--Mitsubishi and US Bank, provide YRCW with the necessary liquidity to withstand this recession and ensure YRCW’s long term financial stability,” said Tyson Johnson, Director of the Teamsters National Freight Division.

“I commend our YRCW Freight Teamsters for doing everything that has been asked – over $2 billion in wage and pension relief since January. We’ve done our part to preserve members’ jobs and their benefits, now the other stakeholders have to step up to the plate.”

The vast majority of YRCW Teamsters, who made up 90 percent of the total vote, work under the National Agreement. A handful of separate “white paper” agreements, representing 10 percent of the total number of voters, rejected the plan. As with past contract ratification rejections, those issues will be dealt with on a local by local basis.

Teamsters Launch Campaign To Support Health Care Reform

Web Site, Ad Campaign, e-Activism Part of Unprecedented Union Effort

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa on Monday announced that the union will campaign vigorously for health care reform using a new Web site, an ad campaign, call-in days, e-activism and events planned throughout Congress's August recess.

The campaign will kick off with a new Web site today, teamstersforhealthcarereformnow.com, to mobilize members in the fight for health care reform. The Web site launch will be supported by a Web-based ad campaign on targeted state blogs and on-line publications.

Tens of thousands of Teamsters activists will be asked to call Congress on Tuesday to support quality, affordable health care for everyone now - part of a national call-in day sponsored by Health Care for America Now.

"Health care reform is too important for the labor movement to sit on the sidelines," Hoffa said. "The high cost of health care is burdening American workers, crippling U.S. companies, hurting the economy and adding to the deficit.

"I am personally urging Teamsters local unions to get out there and support President Obama's efforts to fix our broken health-care system. This is an unprecedented effort on our part."

The Web site features a toolkit for taking action, news, legislative updates and facts about the health care crisis facing America.

"Our e-activist effort is only the most recent in our ongoing mobilization of our members as we pursue our priorities: protecting and expanding American jobs and improving the quality of life for American working families," Hoffa said.

YRC chief pulls back statements in letter to Teamsters

YRC Worldwide Inc. CEO Bill Zollars appears to be pulling back from recent comments that have sparked the ire of union workers.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters on its Web site has posted a Tuesday letter from Zollars. In the letter, he apologizes for comments to the Kansas City Business Journal that nonunion workers probably would not take further compensation cuts, even if union workers agree to an extra 5 percent wage cut and the forfeiture of 18 months of pension payments, because current cuts had been extended and nonunion workers took more of a cut to health and benefits.

Teamsters members are voting on whether to accept the new concessions package, valued at $825 million.

“YRCW is committed to the principle of ‘equal sacrifice’ and will require that our nonunion employees take as much, if not more, cuts in wages and benefits” as outlined in the tentative concessions agreement, Zollars wrote.

The Teamsters had explained to members that the concessions package included provisions that nonunion employees would “have further adjustments made to their total compensation package to bring their total wage and benefit package in line with what reductions are proposed” in the concessions.

The Teamsters Web site said Zollars’ note was a response to a Monday letter from union General President James Hoffa demanding “an immediate clarification” about public statements that contradicted the tentative agreement. A Teamsters spokesman said the union wouldn’t comment beyond what it posted online.

Zollars also said in the letter that YRC was retracting a Monday announcement about extending its delivery services to homes and businesses through a partnership with Specialized Transportation Inc. (STI), forming YRC Residential Solutions.

“YRCW will not subcontract bargaining unit work to Specialized Transportation Inc. or any other company” in violation of union agreements, Zollars wrote. “We recognize that, with more than 8,000 Teamsters on lay-off, residential delivery work must be offered to the bargaining unit.”

The Overland Park-based trucking company (Nasdaq: YRCW) has laid off thousands, closed facilities, sold property, amended bank agreements and taken other steps to avoid bankruptcy amid a drawn-out freight recession.

BILL ZOLLARS' RESPONSE TO GENERAL PRESIDENT HOFFA

General President Hoffa contacted Bill Zollars at YRCW yesterday concerning recent statements and announcements that are contrary to the NMFA and the recent MOUS and demanded an immediate clarification.

The response from Zollars to Hoffa’s letter is here.

Ballots Mailed To YRCW Teamsters

Ballots were mailed July 17 to all YRCW Teamsters regarding the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee (TNFINC) believes the MOU is the best effort to protect tens of thousands of Teamster members’ jobs, wages, and health and pension benefits into the future.

Ballots must be received by the Lanham, Maryland post office by August 6.

Audio Of YRCW Teamsters Conference Call Is Available

On July 16th, thousands of YRCW Teamsters participated in a conference call about the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with General President Jim Hoffa, General Secretary-Treasurer C. Thomas Keegel and Freight Division Director Tyson Johnson. The conference call was meant for members to hear directly from IBT leaders about the MOU and to ask questions.

Click here to listen to the conference call.

The Teamsters Are Not to Blame for YRC Wordwide's Current Desperation

Implications

YRC Worldwide has too much debt, has lost nearly $2 billion in the last nine quarters, is downsizing its network and has outdated work rules. Of all those shortcomings, probably only the latter can be blamed exclusively on the Teamsters' union. Yet an article in Today'sFinancialNews.com tries to blame all of YRC's shortcomings on its union, and very little to management's buying binge earlier in this decade that saddled the company with an unrealistic debt load.

Analysis

YRC Worldwide, the nation's largest trucking company by revenue, is facing a financial showdown with its consortium of bank lenders. It has a liquidity crisis that may cause it to file for bankruptcy or liquidation.

If it is lucky, YRC's consortium of lenders will continue to throw the company more financial rope. If it is lucky, its customers will continue to enjoy the deep discounts it is offering for its services. If it is lucky, the economic downturn will finally turn around and the company may survive.

But none of these circumstances would have happened without the cooperation and, yes, enlightened labor relations approach showed by its 50,000 Teamsters members and its president, James P. Hoffa, son of the legendary Teamsters leader.

The Teamsters have shown remarkable flexibility in helping YRC stay afloat. They have approved one wage giveback of 10 percent and probably are close to approving another 5 percent shave. These wage cutbacks are saving the company approximately $250 million a year.

Furthermore, and maybe more importantly to freight Teamsters whose average age is about 60, the Teamsters have OK'd a pension contribution freeze to allow YRC to remain financially viable. In the first quarter alone, that pension payment deferral was worth about $83 million.

Now that YRC's shares have sunk to about the buck-a-share level, a reporter, Andrew Snyder of Today'sFinancialNews.com, has written that all this is because of stubbornness by the union.

Mr. Snyder writes: "In YRC's case, the Teamsters are maintaining their infamous negotiating might and bargaining themselves right out of a job."

That is exactly, precisely, and stunningly, 100 percent wrong, Mr. Snyder.

In fact, Teamster flexibility and willingness to work with management are the only reasons this company is still afloat. Time after time when YRC officials have gone to the Teamsters asking for concessions, they have obtained them.

Now, I'm not going to go as far as saying the Teamsters have been blameless in other unionized trucking companies' demise. After all, more than 500,000 Teamsters jobs in the freight sector have disappeared since the industry was deregulated in 1980.

But those closings have nothing to do with YRC's current plight. YRC is in the trouble it is in because of its overwhelmingly high debt load.

David Ross of Stifel Nicolaus has estimated YRC has $1.427 billion of total debt, including $728 million to its group of bank lenders. Those banks have chosen to keep YRC alive.

That $1.427 billion of debt is perhaps three times as much as an $8 billion-a-year company such as YRC can afford in lean times such as this. It suffers under that debt load because of a pair of ill-timed acquisitions -- Roadway Express in 2003 for $1.1 billion and USF Corp. in 2005 for $1.2 billion -- highly leveraged acquisitions that have been costly to YRC in the long run.

The Teamsters didn't have a darn thing to do with deciding to make those acquisitions, Mr. Snyder. The decision to plunge ahead with those debt-laden acquisitions lies squarely with YRC's management, specifically its Chairman and CEO Bill Zollars.

Even Zollars has admitted publicly that the Teamsters have been helpful in giving the company flexibility to survive. Mr. Snyder is correct in labeling YRC as a "high-risk, speculative play" for investors. But it is high risk because of management's decisions, not labor's.

TEAMSTERS AND YRCW REACH TENTATIVE AGREEMENT

The Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Subcommittee announced today that a tentative agreement has been reached with YRCW that addresses the Company’s immediate cash concerns and long-term competitiveness while protecting Teamster members’ jobs and benefits once the company returns to profitability.

Details of the Tentative Agreement will be made available to the membership after being explained to Local Union leaders early next week.

“In the midst of the worst economic recession in our lifetime our Union negotiators have crafted a Tentative Agreement with YRCW that requires shared sacrifice while preserving good jobs and benefits for 35,000 YRCW workers and their families and tens of thousands Teamster retirees,” said James P. Hoffa, Teamsters General President.

“This is a tough situation for the company and our members,” said Tyson Johnson, Teamsters Freight Division Director and co-chairman of the TNFINC. “Our members should know our Freight leaders, Pension Fund trustees, Teamster staff and independent experts have worked tirelessly to evaluate the situation and develop a solution that protects our members and allows the company to survive the worst freight recession in several generations. We are confident this Tentative Agreement balances the need to provide job security while maintaining good quality jobs.”

“This Tentative Agreement should also send a message to the industry players who are slashing prices in an attempt to force YRCW out of business that YRCW will have the resources to be here for the long haul,” Johnson said.

Teamsters Conference Call Availible Online

Thousands of YRC Teamster members listened to a YRCW conference call at 9 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, June 25. If you were not able to listen to the call, you can hear it here.

Hoffa discusses troubled YRC

With trucking company YRC Worldwide Inc. struggling to survive, Teamsters general president Jim Hoffa said he understood the concerns of the company’s drivers and dock workers.
“I’m frustrated and worried about this company, too,” Hoffa said last week at the Teamsters union hall in Kansas City. “How do we get back to a strong economy that allows them to be successful again? This recession is taking away their customers.”

Hoffa was in town on Friday to give the union’s endorsement of Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, a Democrat who has announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 2010.

YRC, which operates carriers employing more than 1,000 area Teamsters, said last week that it was negotiating with its lenders and the union’s pension funds about putting real estate up as collateral in place of pension payments. Those monthly pension payments ranged from $34 million to $45 million, depending on the number of people working.

That drew criticism from YRC hourly workers, who three months ago accepted a 10 percent wage cut to help the company preserve cash in the midst of the weak economy and declining loads. Rank-and-file union members were planning to protest with an informational picket at YRC’s Overland Park headquarters last Friday until it was learned that such an action would violate the national contract.

Last week Hoffa said he was monitoring the situation, although any changes YRC had proposed regarding pension payments would be negotiated with the various trustees of the funds. Hoffa did confirm that YRC made a payment to the health-and-welfare portion of the pension funds at last week’s deadline, preventing the suspension of those benefits that would have occurred this week.

On Monday in a regulatory filing, YRC said it had come to an agreement with its lenders that would allow the company to defer pension payments until at least Jan. 1.

The Kansas City area has thousands of current workers and retirees who belong to the Central States Pension Fund. After UPS Inc. withdrew from the fund last year, YRC became the biggest contributor.

Hoffa said YRC was the only national contract in which the Teamsters union had agreed to concessions during this recession. The union had worked with the carrier hoping to keep the company operating, he said.

“It’s a big employer, with 40,000 of our members,” Hoffa said. “Including families, you’re talking about more than 100,000 people who would be affected by a shutdown. We’re doing what we can, but we can’t go out and find customers for them. That’s up to the company.”