UPS Reports Results for 4th Quarter, Full Year

UPS today announced adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.83 for the fourth quarter, a 22% decline from the $1.07 adjusted diluted earnings per share for the same period last year. On a reported basis, diluted earnings per share were $0.25 and a loss of $2.52 for the fourth quarters of 2008 and 2007, respectively.

Reported results for the 2008 fourth quarter include the impact of a $575 million non-cash impairment charge primarily related to the UPS Freight business unit due to an extremely challenging LTL environment. Reported results for the 2007 fourth quarter included a $6.1 billion charge in the U.S. Domestic Package segment related to the withdrawal of UPS employees from the Central States Pension Plan. That withdrawal followed ratification of a long-term national master agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

For the full year, UPS posted adjusted operating profit of $6.0 billion and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $3.50, within the range the company provided mid-year. On a reported basis, operating profit was $5.4 billion and diluted earnings per share were $2.94.

"The severe decline in economic activity around the world resulted in sharply lower package and freight volumes for UPS," said Chairman and CEO Scott Davis. "Consequently, we're making the tough decisions necessary to adapt our enterprise to today's realities. This includes changes in organizational structure, compensation and network configuration."

For example, UPS has consolidated operating districts, reduced air segments and eliminated some package handling operations. The company also announced it is freezing management salaries and suspending the match for its 401(k) plans. It did not make any changes to its long-standing defined benefit pension plans. Full Story....

HOFFA HAILS DESIGNATION OF WILMA LIEBMAN AS CHAIRMAN OF THE NLRB

The following is an official statement from Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa.

“Wilma Liebman served the Teamsters with distinction for nine years prior to embarking on her distinguished career in public service. I am so proud that President Obama designated her to take on this vitally important role as chairman of the National Labor Relations Board.

“American workers desperately need the NLRB to restore balance and fairness in the workplace. Wilma is the right person to lead the board on that mission.

“She understands that the NLRB’s role is to protect the rights of employees who want to join a union – a responsibility the Bush-dominated board abandoned during the past eight years. Wilma understands the obstacles that American workers must surmount to join a union. She will bring her sense of fairness and decency to the job.

“President Obama must still nominate three additional members to the board. I am confident that his appointees will restore the board into the honest broker of differences between employees and their employer that it has been for most of the past 75 years.

“The labor movement is looking forward to an NLRB that is no longer stacked against workers.”

Arkansas Best Freight's biggest competitor on brink of bankruptcy

Arkansas Best Freight's biggest competitor is on the verge of collapse, but a deal with the Teamsters union could save 40 thousand jobs. ABF is based in Fort Smith. The Yellow Roadway Corporation is a freight company based in Overland Park, Kansas. facing economic hardship, the company has reached an agreement with union leaders for a 10 percent pay cut across the board. but that doesn't mean the employees won't benefit.

"Through this plan we have created a trust so the members get a 15 percent stake in the company," Teamsters spokesman Brett Caldwell told 5NEWS.

Union employees won't be the only ones tightening their belts. non-union employees will also be asked to make an equal sacrifice. There will be ten percent less in their paychecks. a spokesman for the international brotherhood of teamsters says a similar offer has not been extended to arkansas best freight at this time and the carrier doesn't seem to want one.

This statement was released Friday: "ABF has reviewed the details of the agreement between YRC Worldwide and the international brotherhood of teamsters. We do not believe that agreement is appropriate for our company. We are in the midst of evaluating its impact on our employees, our cost structure and our competitiveness."

Some have speculated that YRC will significantly undercut abf's rates to survive. but Tteamster spokesman Brett Caldwell says that's not the case.

"We want YRC jobs to be protected we want ABF jobs to be protected. In no way would we do this program in order to undercut another union employer."

Caldwell insists that YRC's survival is in Arkansas Best's...best interest.

"If yrc has problems the financial pressure is on ABF as a surviving company for those pension funds would be tremendous."

YRC worldwide teamsters will still have to vote on the contract changes which will likely be approved and take effect January first 2009.

ABF's statement went on to say that they will always act in the best interest of the company and work to ensure the preservation of employee jobs.

FedEx Agrees to Pay $26.8 Million to Settle Drivers Lawsuit

FedEx Corp. has agreed to pay $26.8 million to settle a California lawsuit over whether some drivers were independent contractors or employees.

The agreement, presented in a hearing Friday, requires court approval.

In 2007, the California Appeals Court affirmed a 2004 district court ruling that about 200 drivers who operated in the state six to 10 years ago were employees and therefore entitled to business-expense reimbursement.