NEW PENN FREIGHT MEMBERS TO REVOTE JOB SECURITY PLAN

Teamsters say YRC Worldwide may close regional carrier unless workers approve wage, benefit cuts

Less-than-truckload carrier New Penn Motor Express may be merged into long-haul operator YRC unless union employees reverse course and accept wage and benefit cuts they rejected earlier this month, the Teamsters union said.

YRC Worldwide plans to merge New Penn into YRC unless the “job security plan” approved by YRC and Holland Teamsters is adopted at New Penn, Teamster executive Tyson Johnson said in an Aug. 17 letter to New Penn Teamsters.

Teamsters at New Penn will have the opportunity to vote again on the Job Security Plan, and ballots will be mailed on or about Wednesday, August 19, 2009 and will be due back September 9, 2009.

YRC Worldwide, which sought the labor concessions as part of a larger effort to restructure its operations and debt-ridden finances, did not respond immediately to calls for comment.

Teamsters at long-haul LTL carrier YRC and regional carrier Holland approved wage and benefits cuts Aug. 7 by a 58.5 percent margin.

Teamsters at regional carrier New Penn, however, who belong to a different bargaining unit, rejected the proposal.

At an Aug. 11 emergency meeting with the union's negotiating group, "the company indicated that it plans to call for a change of operations in the near future to merge New Penn into YRCW," Johnson wrote in the letter.

"Because the merger could cost hundreds of Teamster jobs, the majority of New Penn local unions have also requested a revote by New Penn members," wrote Johnson, who is co-chairman of the Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee.

New Penn, which became part of what is now YRC when Yellow Corp. acquired Roadway in 2003, has long been considered the best of YRC's regional subsidiaries. It employs more than 2,000 workers and has 24 terminals, primarily in the Northeast.

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.

YRC Worldwide expects union vote results Friday

Results of a union vote that will play a key role in YRC Worldwide Inc.’s future are expected Friday afternoon.

In a Thursday memo to freight local unions, Tyson Johnson, freight division director for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said an overwhelming number of ballots were cast regarding the concessions, meaning sorting would continue Friday morning, with a result announcement likely in the afternoon.

The concessions, the second proposed this year, include forfeiting 18 months of pension payments — which would not have to be repaid — and taking an extra 5 percent wage cut to save the trucking giant at least $45 million a month. YRC offered considerations such as options for an additional 20 percent stake in the company and a union-appointed board seat.

In a July 30 conference call, YRC executives expressed confidence in a positive outcome. Chairman and CEO Bill Zollars called it a “game-changing event” for YRC.

“All eyes now are on the Teamsters,” Jason Seidl, a Dahlman Rose & Co. LLC analyst, said in a Wednesday interview. “If this doesn’t happen, there is no Plan B. B probably stands for bankruptcy.”

In January, workers approved a 10 percent wage cut and were offered a 15 percent stake in YRC.

If the union concessions pass, then bondholders and lenders will have to do their part, and YRC will have to win back some of the business it lost, Seidl said Wednesday.

Last week, YRC reported a $309 million loss in the second quarter. The company has taken steps that include selling property, integrating subsidiaries, closing facilities, laying off workers and amending agreements with lenders in an attempt to ride out the recession.

YRC Worldwide, Teamsters find their fates hitched

The Teamsters didn’t mince words.

The more than $800 million in concessions that members are voting on should “send a message to the industry players who are slashing prices in an attempt to force (YRC Worldwide Inc.) out of business that (YRC) will have the resources to be here for the long haul,” Tyson Johnson, freight division director for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said in a statement this month.

The recession has wedged YRC and its union into an unlikely high-stakes partnership. In the pot: the fate of a massive trucking company, roughly 49,000 jobs (35,000 of them union jobs) and one of the last big Teamsters toeholds in the freight industry. YRC accounts for nearly half of the Teamsters freight division’s 80,000 members.

“If YRC were to go out of business, the Teamsters would be hard-pressed to replace those jobs,” said John Wagner Jr., president of North Kansas City-based logistics company Wagner Industries Inc.

The fragile alliance must navigate a rocky road. Union workers’ votes on whether to take an extra 5 percent wage cut and let YRC halt pension payments for 18 months, among other measures, are expected to be counted by early August. And those workers already accepted other pay cuts and pension payment deferrals earlier this year. YRC, meanwhile, lost $257.4 million in the first quarter. It also has been attempting to manage costs by integrating subsidiaries, laying off thousands and closing facilities. Other efforts have involved renegotiating debts and selling property, including its Overland Park headquarters. Full Story.....

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.

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.