Big Changes Coming Soon at Yellow Roadway
November 14, 2008: Our union needs to protect Teamster jobs and seniority as Yellow and Roadway merge their operations.
In November, Yellow Roadway is merging about 60 city terminals, after the Teamster Change of Operations Committee approved the move on Nov. 11.
Now the two big changes, that will impact some 35,000 Teamsters, will soon follow.
Two More Phases
In December, YRC will submit its proposed change for the next phase, which will be the merger of almost all pick-up and delivery operations. Management wants to implement that change in January.
Then will come the final step, a proposed change that will merge the break bulks and road network. This is bound to be the most problematic, for the company and for the affected Teamsters. YRC wants implementation by March.
The first change established the rule that the dovetailed lists will include active and laid off Teamsters: the full seniority lists will be dovetailed, by classification of work.
The union leadership has been fully supportive of YRC’s merger and moves to trim costs, including the loss of some 4,000 Teamster jobs that YRC hopes to eliminate in the merger.
Now it is time for our union to carefully review the upcoming company proposals to protect Teamster jobs and seniority rights in the biggest trucking merger in history.
Needed: Strong Leadership 
We all want to save good Teamster freight jobs and to see YRC prosper.
But YRC is going to look out for management’s interest. We need our union leadership to protect our jobs, seniority, and working conditions in these tough times.
Chuck Deaver, Yellow Local 174, Seattle
This was inevitable. YRC cannot keep operating like it has and survive. We will loose jobs and so will management. This is the nature of Unoinized trucking. Anyone going into it must understand this. I understood this 20 years ago when I went to work for Yellow. I was 15 years gettig a decent bid, now I am back to signing the bid that will get me a full week. YRC needs to do this so the jobs that are left will be secure.
its inconceivable that the union will stand buy and let 4000 teamsters lose there jobs I am very disappointed in the teamsters union
hello from the eaglesnest
how many utility divers are there going to be? im a road driver. how many road drivers are going to be left? we need to know so if we have to make the move to utility to keep a job at yrc.we can not let them go any more than 220 miles for a utlity driver.if they are going to change that we have to know now so we can decide