Teamsters Ratify Five-Year Pact
LTL Execs Hail Labor Flexibility
By Daniel P. Bearth, Staff Writer
This story appears in the Feb. 18 print edition of Transport Topics.
Teamsters union members voted 2-to-1 to ratify a new five-year National Master Freight Agreement with major less-than-truckload carriers that trucking industry executives said gives unionized companies new flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions.
“This agreement gives us a solid foundation to build on,” said Bill Zollars, chairman of YRC Worldwide, the nation’s largest LTL carrier group.
Michael Smid, president of YRC’s North American Transportation division, said the contract “gives us the tools to serve our customers in what is an increasingly dynamic industry environment.”
The NMFA covers about 50,000 drivers, dockworkers and mechanics at Yellow Transportation, Roadway, USF Holland and New Penn Motor Express, all owned by YRC Worldwide, plus 9,000 workers at ABF Freight System and another 11,000 workers at a dozen or so shorthaul, regional LTL and specialized truckload carriers.
ABF President Robert Davidson said the increased labor flexibility in the agreement “will improve the services offered to customers and provide additional value in the LTL marketplace.”
Although ABF had negotiated separately with the Teamsters, the company agreed to what union officials described as National Freight Industry Standards that are essentially identical to terms in the NMFA.
Teamsters President James Hoffa said the contract will allow the largest unionized carriers “a chance to better compete” with nonunion rivals and provide “a more secure future” for union members.
Representatives of the Motor Carrier Labor Advisory Council, a multi-employer bargaining association for a group of LTL and specialized truckload carriers, also agreed on Jan. 31 to be bound by the same national standards.
These so-called “me-too” agreements provide the same improvements in wages, benefits and working conditions as those covered by the NMFA, Teamsters officials said.
The new contracts take effect April 1 and run through 2013.
A key provision in the contract is the creation of a new category of utility employee, who can work on the docks or drive a truck and can work across local jurisdictional boundaries.
The contract also allows employers to expand the use of part-time or casual dockworkers.
YRC’s Smid said the ability to use four-hour casual employees will enable the company to better match labor to business volumes and “respond to short-interval, high-speed network design with variable start times.”
Part-time dockworkers hired after April 1 will be paid $14 an hour for the duration of the contract.
Over the life of the contract, a cap on the percentage of linehaul miles that can be obtained from outside providers increases to 28% from 26%, but the percentage that can be provided by rail drops in steps to 19% in 2012 from 24% in 2008.
Smid said the new contract language allows for growth and expansion of truckload service offerings by LTL carriers.
Teamsters members earlier ratified a separate national contract with parcel carrier UPS Inc. Under that agreement, UPS was allowed to withdraw from the Central States Pension and Health and Welfare Fund, the largest of nearly two dozen multi-employer pension and benefit funds, and to create a company-funded pension plan.
Under the NMFA, all freight carriers will continue to contribute to the Teamsters multi-employer funds with annual increases of $1 an hour over the life of the contract.
Meanwhile, bargaining continues between the Teamsters and representatives of DHL Worldwide Express on a new national contract for workers in DHL’s package and freight operations in the U.S.
DHL workers previously were covered by contracts negotiated by various union locals.
Looking ahead, Teamsters officials are preparing for the start of contract talks with major auto haulers. The National Automobile Transporters Agreement, which covers about 12,000 carhaul drivers, expires at the end of May.
Negotiations are expected to focus on Allied System Holdings, the nation’s largest auto hauler, which emerged from bankruptcy last year and has proposed taking over Performance Transportation Services, the nation’s second-largest car hauler.
Both companies are owned by Yucaipa Cos., an investment fund headed by investor Ron Burkle.
This story appears in the Feb. 18 print edition of Transport Topics.
Teamsters union members voted 2-to-1 to ratify a new five-year National Master Freight Agreement with major less-than-truckload carriers that trucking industry executives said gives unionized companies new flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions.
“This agreement gives us a solid foundation to build on,” said Bill Zollars, chairman of YRC Worldwide, the nation’s largest LTL carrier group.
Michael Smid, president of YRC’s North American Transportation division, said the contract “gives us the tools to serve our customers in what is an increasingly dynamic industry environment.”
The NMFA covers about 50,000 drivers, dockworkers and mechanics at Yellow Transportation, Roadway, USF Holland and New Penn Motor Express, all owned by YRC Worldwide, plus 9,000 workers at ABF Freight System and another 11,000 workers at a dozen or so shorthaul, regional LTL and specialized truckload carriers.
ABF President Robert Davidson said the increased labor flexibility in the agreement “will improve the services offered to customers and provide additional value in the LTL marketplace.”
Although ABF had negotiated separately with the Teamsters, the company agreed to what union officials described as National Freight Industry Standards that are essentially identical to terms in the NMFA.
Teamsters President James Hoffa said the contract will allow the largest unionized carriers “a chance to better compete” with nonunion rivals and provide “a more secure future” for union members.
Representatives of the Motor Carrier Labor Advisory Council, a multi-employer bargaining association for a group of LTL and specialized truckload carriers, also agreed on Jan. 31 to be bound by the same national standards.
These so-called “me-too” agreements provide the same improvements in wages, benefits and working conditions as those covered by the NMFA, Teamsters officials said.
The new contracts take effect April 1 and run through 2013.
A key provision in the contract is the creation of a new category of utility employee, who can work on the docks or drive a truck and can work across local jurisdictional boundaries.
The contract also allows employers to expand the use of part-time or casual dockworkers.
YRC’s Smid said the ability to use four-hour casual employees will enable the company to better match labor to business volumes and “respond to short-interval, high-speed network design with variable start times.”
Part-time dockworkers hired after April 1 will be paid $14 an hour for the duration of the contract.
Over the life of the contract, a cap on the percentage of linehaul miles that can be obtained from outside providers increases to 28% from 26%, but the percentage that can be provided by rail drops in steps to 19% in 2012 from 24% in 2008.
Smid said the new contract language allows for growth and expansion of truckload service offerings by LTL carriers.
Teamsters members earlier ratified a separate national contract with parcel carrier UPS Inc. Under that agreement, UPS was allowed to withdraw from the Central States Pension and Health and Welfare Fund, the largest of nearly two dozen multi-employer pension and benefit funds, and to create a company-funded pension plan.
Under the NMFA, all freight carriers will continue to contribute to the Teamsters multi-employer funds with annual increases of $1 an hour over the life of the contract.
Meanwhile, bargaining continues between the Teamsters and representatives of DHL Worldwide Express on a new national contract for workers in DHL’s package and freight operations in the U.S.
DHL workers previously were covered by contracts negotiated by various union locals.
Looking ahead, Teamsters officials are preparing for the start of contract talks with major auto haulers. The National Automobile Transporters Agreement, which covers about 12,000 carhaul drivers, expires at the end of May.
Negotiations are expected to focus on Allied System Holdings, the nation’s largest auto hauler, which emerged from bankruptcy last year and has proposed taking over Performance Transportation Services, the nation’s second-largest car hauler.
Both companies are owned by Yucaipa Cos., an investment fund headed by investor Ron Burkle.
