Teamsters Send Ballots to YRC’s New Penn
This story appears in the Aug. 24 print edition of Transport Topics.
The Teamsters sent new ballots to union workers at the New Penn regional trucking unit of YRC Worldwide Inc. who last month voted down a second round of pay and benefit cuts.
The union, which negotiated the package of givebacks to help financially strapped YRC, told the New Penn workers that they would lose their jobs if they rejected the plan again. Most of the other YRC union members voted to accept the cuts.
Tyson Johnson, head of the union bargaining committee, asserted in an Aug. 17 letter to the regional carrier’s Teamsters that “the company indicated that it plans to call for a merger of New Penn into YRC,” saying such a move would cost hundreds of jobs. YRC declined through a spokeswoman to comment on that assertion.
New Penn Teamsters approved a 10% wage cut that took effect in January. However, they rejected the plan negotiated in July by the union and YRC that called for a further 5% wage cut and 18 months of skipped pension payments to minimize the cash drain from continuing losses. About 90% of the Teamsters at YRC work at the national trucking and Holland units that approved the changes.
Citing an emergency meeting on Aug. 11 with the company, Johnson’s letter also said that “because the merger could cost hundreds of Teamsters jobs, the majority of New Penn local unions have also requested a revote. Local leaders reiterated their desire for a revote.”
YRC said in an e-mailed statement that “the company has not filed any change of operations affecting the network status of New Penn.” A YRC spokeswoman declined to elaborate.
A change of operations is re-quired under the National Master Freight Agreement that covers union workers at New Penn and other YRC units whenever routes, job assignments and other working conditions are changed.
The new ballots were sent Aug. 19 to New Penn and are due back to union headquarters by Sept. 9.
YRC also stated, “The company and the Teamsters are addressing employee concerns for these smaller bargaining units to reconsider the modifications. New Penn continues to provide superior regional, next-day transportation services to its customers.”
The pension and wage changes are estimated to save about $45 million a month for YRC, whose unrestricted cash balance fell by nearly half during the first six months of 2009 to about $165 million. Coupled with an earlier 10% wage cut, the savings from the contract adjustments and company steps to reduce workers, terminals and sell, or lease, facilities are estimated to save $1.2 billion annually.
YRC currently has an estimated 35,000 Teamsters working, based on recent government filings. Before the economy soured and the company integrated its national less-than-truckload network, that total was about 45,000.
About 2,000 workers voted at New Penn in the first balloting, turning down the plan by a 2-1 margin, according to Teamsters for a Democratic Union, which opposes the current union leadership, led by President James Hoffa.
