YRC Won't Apply for Bailout Funds
YRC Worldwide Inc. said it has begun a new effort to enlist U.S. government help in addressing multi-employer pension issues but that it will not be asking for a federal bailout.
“Fixing the pension fund with the help of the Federal government is really what we are after,” said CEO William Zollars in a video presentation sent on Thursday. “We are not asking for a bailout. We don’t want any money from the Federal government.”
A report last month in the Wall Street Journal said the company would apply for federal Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, money to help pay pension costs that are about $500 million a year. TARP money has been given to automakers, banks and auto industry suppliers.
YRC inherited pension costs of unionized workers from failed less-than-truckload companies and currently makes payments to 36 pension funds for those workers, as well as its own retired employees.
“Unfortunately, fixing the pension situation requires some government help,” Zollars said. “What we have begun to do now is start a dialogue around that to see if we can’t fix the unfair disadvantage we carry around in the marketplace.”
The company didn’t immediately provide any additional details about its pension initiative.
