YRC Announces Tentative Agreement with Teamsters Union

YRC Worldwide said it has reached a tentative agreement with the Teamsters union to address “competitiveness issues, re-entry into multi-employer pension funds and progress toward [the company’s] long-term growth.”

Details of the agreement, which are likely to be released this week, are subject to approval of the Teamsters’ leadership and YRC’s board, the less-than-truckload carrier said in a statement,

Upon those approvals, the agreement will be submitted for ratification to YRC’s Teamsters employees, with a targeted completion date of late October, the company said

The tentative pact “is an important step toward the completion of our comprehensive recovery plan,” said Mike Smid, YRC’s president and chief operations officer.

“As our business continues to improve, the implementation of this tentative agreement will allow us to continue to provide our customers with a comprehensive portfolio of services that is competitive and reliable,” he said in a statement.

Last year, YRC gained the union’s approval for a 5% pay cut and to halt pension benefits for 18 months, on top of an earlier 10% pay cut, while allowing the Teamsters to take an ownership stake in the company. (Click here for previous story.)

The company said in a regulatory filing last month that its pension expense is at least $300 million a year.

YRC Worldwide is ranked No. 4 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.