YRC Teamsters Near Deadline for Ballots

A top Teamsters union official stressed that all employees of YRC Worldwide will share “equal sacrifice” if proposed wage and benefit cuts are approved this week.

Teamsters at YRC, Holland and New Penn will decide the fate of the wage and benefit package as early as tomorrow — ballots had to be in Lanham, Md., by Aug. 6.

“We are hoping the vote count will be finished by the end of the day,” a Teamsters spokesman said.

However, a separate vote will be required for union workers at some YRC subsidiaries, a step not expected to slow the plan significantly if it is approved Aug. 6.

Union workers at YRC Glen Moore and Reddaway, former USF companies, will vote separately on the wage and benefits reduction package negotiated by the Teamsters and the company, Teamsters National Freight Director Tyson Johnson said in a memo.

Johnson responded to questions from Teamsters Local 41 in Kansas City, Mo., about whether the cuts would apply equally to union and nonunion workers at Reddaway, YRC Glen Moore and YRC Reimer as well as at YRC, New Penn and Holland.

Teamsters at YRC, New Penn and Holland work under the National Master Freight Agreement. Union employees at YRC’s other trucking subsidiaries, however, work under separate agreements, and in some cases for different wages and benefits.

In the memo, sent to all National Master Freight union locals, Johnson said union employees at Glen Moore and Reddaway would have to ratify the “revised job security plan” within 30 days of its approval by NMFA Teamster employees.

A similar process occurs when a new multi-year national contract is approved.

The “job security plan” calls for a 15 percent wage cut and 18-month cessation of pension contributions. It would save YRC Worldwide $45 million a month for the remainder of 2009 and about $50 million a month throughout 2010.

YRC Worldwide lost $309 million on $1.3 billion in revenue in the quarter ending June 30. The pact with the Teamsters is part of a broad turnaround plan the carrier is pursuing.

Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com.