YRCW Proposed Agreement Goes to Members

UPDATED September 30, 2010: The proposed agreement between YRCW and the International Union is headed for a membership vote, with ballots going out on October 7. Members will have a lot to consider because the concessions and trade-offs in the proposed deal are complicated, and the future of YRCW is on the line.

The full text of the agreement is available here.

Summary of Terms

  • The agreement with YRCW companies would be extended two years, to March 31, 2015.
  • The present pension withdrawal would continue until June 1, 2011. Then YRCW would make a contribution of 25% of the contract rate in effect on July 1, 2009, which is far below the present rate. (The rate was about $7 at that time, so 25% would be a rate of about $1.75 per hour). It is not clear if all the pension trusts will allow this, and what it would mean for members’ pension credits. That information should be forthcoming soon. By 2015 the contract pension contribution rate will be approximately $12 per hour.

So, Teamster members would get a $1.75 pension contribution. The new concessions would include:

  • Road drivers drop and hook at end-of-line terminals, even when yard crews are on duty.
  • A new classification of 4-hour cartage part-timers would be created, up to 10% of the seniority list with a minimum of two.
  • Teamsters with four or more weeks vacation give up one week per year.
  • Coffee breaks cut from 15 to 10 minutes, in states where legal.
  • Road casuals allowed everywhere, including the Central Region.
  • Lunch breaks 30 or 60 minutes, at the company’s discretion on a daily basis.
  • Sunday through Saturday flex work week, in all areas.
  • And some other work rule changes affecting certain locals.

The 15% wage concession would continue for 4.5 years, with annual increases of 40c-45c-40c-40c, minus the 15%. Health and welfare continue as at present, with annual bumps of 35c to keep it funded.

Ballots out October 7

Ballots are slated to go out on October 7 to all working and laid off YRCW Teamsters. New Penn Teamsters will be counted separately. The ballots will be counted on October 28 or 29. Independent member observers will be allowed, per a previous lawsuit by Teamsters for a Democratic Union members.

Stabilizing YRCW

The International Union has retained a corporate turnaround expert who explained to local officials meeting today that these provisions will likely stabilize YRC and allow it to return to profitability.

The agreement is conditioned on YRCW converting a significant amount of its debt to equity: that is, banks would accept YRCW stock in exchange for reducing the company’s debt, by December 31, 2010. And the company will be required to find new financing by March 31, 2011.

Members to decide

A bulletin issued on September 29 by the IBT falsely claimed that the proposal was “unanimously endorsed” at the meeting of local union leaders. Freight Director Tyson Johnson stated that “we are not asking you to recommend” the proposal. After TDU exposed this lie, the IBT website changed its story on September 30; it now says that Local leaders “agreed to a member vote.”

We will provide more detailed information as it becomes available. Stay informed, talk with your fellow Teamsters, and give us your feedback and ideas.

The full text of the agreement is available here.

Issues: 
Freight

Comments

amac256 replied on

I CAN'T BELIEVE WE ARE EVEN ENTERTAINING THIS BULLSHIT... ONCE AGAIN WE ARE BEING SOLD OUT

Sweatshop-on-wheels replied on

Just what I expected from you Teamster Brother Johnson...Did ya here the laughing when you signed this 3rd concession proposal brother...Yeah the company boyz was laughin out in da hall...I could still hear them laughing when I got your phone call...Well rank & file teamsters it starts again...Canned phone messages,bulletins,union meetings,Tele-conference,Teamster leaders who continue to give themselves raises tellin us how dire the company situation is and on and on...In the final vote count Teamsters will vote NO and the dues payers will vote yes...What a joke !

D952 replied on

WE STOOD ON THE PICKET LINE FOR 21 DAYS IN 1994 WE PUT A STOP TO THE PART-TIME ABUSE THEN AND NOW HERE WE ARE IN THE SAME FIGHT.THIS IS WHAT IT TOOK TO STOP THIS ABUSE (4 HOUR SHIFTS PART TIME/REGULARS)
75% OFF SALE OF YOUR PENSION CONTRIBUTIONS, AFTER 2- YEARS OF TOTAL RELIEF TO THE COMPANY. AND EXTEND IT TO 2015 ???
VOTING NO!

race2thebottom replied on

How can the leaders say they didn't endorse this? Why did they even show up to Dallas then? We knew it was bad before they even posted it. There has to be some give and take at this point and all I see is taking. I'm still going to vote yes though because thats what a good laidoff Teamster should do right?

topgun replied on

The company is gonna pay 25% of the 2009 contribution rate into the pension in five more months??? For five years???What the hell is that??? Talk about trying to throw us a bone to get us to vote yes on this piece of shit!!! Whats that gonna do to our pension??? Five more years at a 15% pay cut, give back a week vacation, vote yes and turn our laidoff brothers into four hour casuals. I stood on the strike line against that! How about laying off some of the management thats tripping over each other in the office. This companies still top heavy!!! I can live with work rule changes that makes us more competative, but I'm not voting to turn my brothers into spares!!! What about our brothers at ABF? We're hanging them out to dry!!! ABF is gonna ask for the same concessions the day this thing ratified...Lets send this thing back to our leadership and tell them its time for 100% pension contributions, and our laidoff brothers do need to eat!!!...This is still a union job right???

teq21954 replied on

I've been a teamster since 1977 and worked for Yellow all of those years. I have voted no, on almost every contract put before me, and yet they would still pass. I agreed to accept these last concessions. At the time I think it was the right thing to do, but when will it stop? This plan will not work any better than the last one. What's next? They keep chipping away at the stone, and there's not much left of the stone. I just wonder what our brothers from 30 or more years ago would do. I know what I will do. We all knew this was coming, all of these give backs are doing is postponing the inevitable. When they do close the gates, every body will blame us (the rank and file). We've been forced to take so many steps backwards to keep this company operating we will never regain what we have lost!
TEQ

chimp to chump replied on

well guys....here's your chance to give it all back! Everything we ever had.... will be gone. Thge company knows this is their one chance to scare us into giving up anything the company didnt like about how we operate. You can throw a drowning man a toothpick and he grab it, knowing it wont save him. The company is setting back having a cocktail and waiting for us to give them things back that dont have anything to do with the actual profit ratio of our company. I thought we had to take the last concession package to keep this company operating. This time the company is giggling in secret saying" here take 5 minutes of their breaks...hahahaha" "yeah! just watch! we can change anything and they are so desparate to keep their jobs they will agree to ANYTHING"!!!!

Guys, I hate to say this but anybody who votes yes for this is a scared little sheep. The old-timer teamsters who fought for our jobs would be drawing the line right here. We gave you our pensions, we gave you our wages, and NOW ITS NOT ENOUGH!!!!!! I dont believe they are going to show any more profit with the biggest part of these concessions. But you supervisor will have even less respect for you and your floating 30 or 60 minute lunch, and your reduced by 5 minute coffee break!!!! How much revenue is that gonna save??? right! nothing! They are out to kick you in your balls because they think we are too chicken shit to vote No, no matter how petty their demands are.
Well, I cant speak for any of you. But, I am going out on my feet this time. NOT on my KNEES...like they are expecting us to!
Once they realise we wont bow our heads for them, they will realise it (quickly or they lose their jobs at that point), and GIVE US A REALISTIC OFFER!
In case I wasnt clear... I will be VOTING NO the second I open this ballot. Lets dont give it away guys. If we wont fight them for it now, who will show up later and fight for us then??? No one........ Go ask one of those old timers who you know when you first got into freight. Ask them who will fight our fight for us.... They will tell to try and work with them to stay in business, but there isnt any reason to give all our work rules away.
Lets see what their next offer looks like.
Thanks to my Brothers who read this. We stick together now, or its over.

pitbullguy replied on

The writing is on the wall for YRC. Start looking for a new career path people, dont rely on these crooks to determine your future. YRC is basically a non union job at this point, only difference is the dues every month that lines the pockets of the union politicians. I say just get it over with and shut the doors, the end is imminent anyway.

gsxrrider replied on

are shop is spending money like water and has been this hole time at one point having 8 formans for 40 guys.... we are throwing are money away by giving all are work to out scource companys (KDC).... in trade they send us free donuts on fridays.... being we have no one layed off they feel the right to send are 15% give back to them.... not by giving us a chance to earn it back.... they are fixing trucks that dont need to be on the road and selling 2005's!!!!! they are pulling the rug out from under us we are past the sheet of the head crap.... vote for it may work today.... but do you really think this is the end... the first time they asked lets vote for it everyone is hurting, but if they ask again hell nooooo... the second time they take the pension with out even a vote... we vote it down and they make us revote.... no means NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! please vote every vote counts show them by numbers we its not worth there time to vote a second time....
ps. take my 15% and buy lock for the gate!!!

nextteamsterpre... replied on

Lets look at some facts.If Zollars were to get his severence money of $7 million that would be 140 teamster jobs at $50,000 each..Zollars is picking his predecessor, do you think the new person will think differently? Some locals are already paying into the health care out of pocket will that be the next concession. Tyson Johnson originally stated that he would not re-open the NMFA. If approved the pension rate will change from around $220 +/- per month per year of service to 25% of that. The pension boards that have a rehabilitation plan in effect need more money to get out of the red zone not less. We went on strike about part timers in the past, is this any different? Other freight companies are giving back some of the concessions to workers but yrcw is still taking. Management can still recieve perfomance bonuses and pay raises to keep them from quiting, this does not seem to be equal sacrifice to me. Seems that they may want all the old timers to quit so they can fill the place with people that do not understand the true value of what we stand for. Jim Hoffa senior created the national master freight agreement to stop unequality and to level the playing field, and in doing so he created the middle class, our Hoffa is taking that away from us because he is afraid of causing finacial instability for his business, which is also our union.I did not vote for them to correct their errors with my families money in the past and I will not vote for that this time either.

PLEASE REMEMBER THESE WORDS..Whoever gives up a little freedom to gain a little security, deserves neither and will lose both..

Thank You Steve Patistea local 251 New Penn

zxyklon987 replied on

I see it everyday. My neighbors, my coworkers and my friends got over-extended on their finances the same way YRCW did and guess what Happens when they reach the end of their rope; they file for BK or just walk away from their mortgages. They are paying for their mistakes plain and simple.
What about YRC. Why didn't we let it go down from the beginning, I personally voted no twice... now I am planning to vote yes because I have been looking for a job and there is nothing out there. And even if I were to find something it would be around $5.00 per and up to $35,000 less than what I make now.
But my personal vote does not mean anything. this is what I think is going to happen: We are going to vote it down, YRC is going to shut down and the business is going to be absorbed by the competition including USF. A repeat of the CF and Conway fiasco, all because the Teamsters leadership allowed double breasting.
Some of us YRC Teamsters are going to be happy to work for a non-union company like USF and guess what, if we don't work we are going to be fired unlike now that we carry a lot of dead weight. There is to many leaches and free loaders in our ranks because the Union has defended them all the way. A lot of people were getting away with way to much and some of those work rules make no sense at all. Any work rule that is designed exclusively to make more work for somebody else instead of for being more productive is just dumb and I don't understand why the union went along, and promoted those rules.
For this sole reason I don't care if this company goes down, just the thought that this leaches will have to work in the future is a consolation.

usfspaj replied on

I am going to vote no. My Teamster leadership advised vote your conscience. My conscience says no. Not enough people were involved in the negotiations. My best interests were not kept in mind. When you only have two people. Tyson Johnson, and Jimmy Hoffa Jr. negotiating the proposal, I tend to think that my interests are not being represented. I will vote no and see if the YRC and Teamster leadership will open this up to more people to negotiate.

teamsterchuck replied on

My family has been UNION for 3 generations. My grandfather was BLACKBALLED for his organizing activities at Republic Steel in Youngstown Ohio and had to legally change his name to work at the company he helped organize.
My father worked 44 years at Packard Electric in Warren Ohio, My brother also worked there.
I work at YRCW, and cant comprehend what the hell has happened. We have been asked over and over again to give for the viability of this company, and for what? An continuous slap in the face. The company will be using the 4 hour workers to cut the boards, circumvent overtime, and destroy classification work. They are daily using subcontractors NOW, picking up and delivering our city frieght, not allowing our laid off men the oppurtunity to perform the work when they are signed up to do so, ignoring work rules, and the union is letting them! What does anyone think is going to happen if we concede to this?? Everone must think long and hard what the ramifications will be if we vote for this.
We all must realise that if we vote no, the company will likely close. If we vote yes, there is a good probability that it will still close.
In the event that it does survive, you all must realise how long it will take for us to regain what we have lost. REMEMBER what the International did to CHICAGO when they refused to take concessions? They shoved it down their throats! If this does pass, we must do everything we can to get rid rid of HOFFA and his cronies, and lets get some damn TEAMSTERS running this INTERNATIONAL. We cannot afford another term. My GRANDFATHER AND FATHER WOULD BE ROLLING IN THEIR GRAVES IF THEY SAW WHAT WAS HAPPENING TODAY! ITS A SAD SAD DAY!

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