Mark B. Solomon DC Velocity May 22, 2013 View the original piece A tentative contract between less-than-truckload (LTL) provider ABF Freight System Inc. and the Teamsters Union, unanimously approved late yesterday by leaders of Teamster locals, would for the first time allow ABF to subcontract driver work, according to language in the agreement. Under the proposal, ABF could subcontract out roadwork up to the equivalent of 6 percent of its total miles, according to a...

Tim Hill Labor Notes May 20, 2013 View the original piece The Teamsters and UPS reached agreement on a five-year contract April 25. After that, it was all rumors till May 7, when the IBT revealed the changes at its “two-man” meeting (two reps from each UPS local). Chief negotiator Ken Hall said that he’d preserved our “excellent health care benefits” while “protecting them into the future.” The Teamsters website touted “substantial pay raises,” a...

Valerie Strauss The Washington Post May 18, 2013 View the original piece Karen Lewis, the fiery leader of the Chicago Teachers Union who led a strike last year and became a nationally known anti-school reform figure, has been elected to another three-year term as president. Today she will lead the first of three days of protests against Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to close 54 public schools. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that according to preliminary results,...

Mark B. Solomon DC Velocity May 17, 2013 View the original piece Leaders of the largest Teamsters union local representing UPS Inc. workers urged the local's 9,300-member rank and file to reject a tentative five-year contract covering the company's small-package operations, calling the agreement "not worthy of ratification by the membership." The pact would cover 240,000 UPS small-package workers. The executive board of Teamster Local 89 also advised members working for UPS Freight, UPS's less-than-truckload...

Mark B. Solomon DC Velocity May 10, 2013 View the original piece Less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier YRC Worldwide Inc. said today it had made a preliminary proposal to acquire Arkansas Best Corp., a deal that ostensibly would include its unionized LTL division, ABF Freight System Inc.; its nonunion expedited transportation business; its truck brokerage operations; and other units. According to a source close to the situation, a preliminary offer of $18 per share was—and may still...

YRC Worldwide May 09, 2013 View the original piece YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) confirms that it had made a preliminary proposal to acquire Arkansas Best Corp.  In response, President and CEO Judy McReynolds stated that she had shared the proposal and discussed it with the company's board of directors but declined to enter into talks with YRCW because "timing was not right to consider such a transaction."  James Welch, chief executive officer of YRCW,...

Mark B. Solomon DC Velocity May 09, 2013 View the original piece Less-than-truckload carrier YRC Worldwide, Inc. approached Arkansas Best Corp., the parent of ABF Freight System, Inc., in late March with an interest in buying the Arkansas Best LTL unit, but was subsequently rebuffed, Arkansas Best said tonight. In a statement e-mailed to DC Velocity, Arkansas Best said YRC expressed an interest in "exploring an acquisition of ABF," which accounts for about 80 percent...

Sam Hananel The Associated Press May 08, 2013 View the original piece The Republican-led House is poised to approve a bill that would give private sector workers the option of choosing paid time off instead of cash wages for working overtime. The measure would allow employees who work more than 40 hours a week to save up their earned time off for use weeks or months later. GOP lawmakers say they want to give busy...

JOC Staff The Journal of Commerce May 08, 2013 View the original piece U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J., today reintroduced legislation designed to keep bigger, heavier trucks off all highways. S. 876, the “Safe Highways and Infrastructure Preservation Act of 2013,” would apply existing federal truck size and weight limits — a maximum of length of 53 feet with a weight of 80,000 pounds — to the entire National Highway System. Currently, these restrictions...

Jane Slaughter Labor Notes May 06, 2013 View the original piece Charley Richardson passed away on Saturday, six years after his diagnosis with cancer. The well-deserved tributes to his work and memory are many, but I want to focus on what made him stand out among labor educators—and among union leaders. That was his devotion to the workplace, to life on the job: to helping workers figure out how to wrest control from management’s clutches...