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Small minority yet to approve negotiated wage, benefit cuts
As the Teamsters mull concession talks with ABF Freight System, YRC Worldwide is still trying to get some members to accept concessions approved last year.
About 10 percent of YRC Worldwide’s 34,000 Teamsters still reject the concessions, the company said in its annual 10-K report, released March 16.
The vast majority of the Teamsters at YRC Worldwide approved two rounds of concessions last year — a 10 percent wage reduction in January and an additional 5 percent wage cut in August, along with an 18-month suspension of pension contributions.
The concessions will save YRC more than $1 billion over the life of the National Master Freight Agreement, which expires in 2013.
In return, the Teamsters gained an unprecedented say in the running of YRC Worldwide, almost immediately blocking a partnership with a nonunion home-delivery firm.
But YRC in its report said employees representing less than 10.5 percent of YRC’s Teamsters still reject the concessions negotiated by the company and union last summer.
They were able to do so because YRC’s Teamsters don’t all work under one contract and for one bargaining unit. While most of them are covered by the NFMA — which also applies to ABF — some are not, making it difficult for the union and company to achieve “equality of sacrifice” throughout YRC Worldwide’s $5.3 billion organization.
In some cases, Teamsters that initially opposed the concessions came around. New Penn workers accepted the package in a second vote last fall, amid reports that YRC might shut down or sell the Northeastern carrier if its employees rejected the deal.
YRC Worldwide denied those claims, but they probably helped it secure a landslide second-round victory for the concession package at New Penn last September.
Two union locals in Chicago, one representing drivers and the other dockworkers, also resisted the concessions. The first local approved a modified version of the pension concession, while the other rejected the plan — in three rounds of voting.
In its annual report, YRC Worldwide said it believes it can impose the concession agreement on the dockworkers because their local was merged with a larger bargaining unit that already approved the package. But it would rather not.
“The company is working with these employees to determine if they will consensually approve the modifications to avoid a labor dispute,” YRC said.
The Chicago locals represent less than 5.5 percent of YRC Worldwide’s Teamsters.
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Mr. Cassidy: One can't help but wonder who in the YRC media communication department you receive your information from. You assist the corporation rolling out summaries of events that effectively condition a reader that labor won't play ball.The facts you present are spelled out in a corporate editorial fashion.You allow the company denial of any strongarm maneuvers such as reroutes or terminal shutdowns which effectively dismisses the events ever occurring. New Penn WAS given an ultimatum-resulting in your reported landslide 2nd vote victory.You express the Chicago locals as a Small minority... what is the percentage of systemwide freight that is handled through Chicago... when it is not being sent around because YRC doesn't do that sort of practice to its appreciated Teamster members. The January 2009 concession approved by ALL Teamsters provided over $200M in cost savings to YRC for the 2009 year. That was lost by a landslide in the 2009 first quarter. The second quarter produced continued huge losses, cease of company contributions to Teamsters pension funds nationwide and another concession request. This concession was being presented as an additional 5% wage reduction with a whisper of pension deferment through the end of 2010. The deferment (close to $800M saved) was the meat of the proposal yet Teamsters were being sold on just 5% more to keep your job.By the way, the union has fiduciary responsibility to insure that YRC contibutes to the contracted retirement funds.. UNLESS the members vote for a deferment.By the end of 2009, the savings in pension payments has also been lost. Everyone knows the company will be bankrupt if they are mandated to pay ...the members were being sold on 5% so the corporate and union executives could keep their jobs. Who knows, the provider of your info is probably sweating through the ABF talks... where will the next YRC story come from?