December 4, 2008: Many YRC Teamsters are willing to take concessions to help save the company, which is in trouble.

However you plan to vote, you deserve the truth, not a sales job, about what you are voting on.

The proposed concession agreement with YRCW contains a headline declaring “Equality of Sacrifice” (Section 3). But the fine print tells a different story. A careful reading of the actual language reveals:

• CEO Bill Zollars is not actually required to take any reduction in salary.
• Management can continue to pay itself bonuses.
• YRC management may not have to actually take any cuts at all.

These scenarios are all possible or even likely, because the Equality of Sacrifice is chock full of loopholes.

First, the cuts are not across the board, but aggregated. Thus Zollars can cut the pay of janitors, secretaries, sales people, or security guards and count that toward management’s 10 percent Equality of Sacrifice reduction.

Second, management gets to count cuts in benefits already made by nonunion employees’ in health coverage, retiree health coverage, pensions and 401(k)s. Do you get to count pension and retiree health care cuts you suffered earlier toward your 10 percent cut?

Third, management can continue to pay itself bonuses. Performance-based compensation” is at the discretion of management as long as they maintain “Equal Reduction” overall.

The union is supposed to monitor all this and keep it on the level. Hopefully they will. But don’t bet your shorts that it all works out to be true Equality of Sacrifice.

A Dollar for Zollars?

The Big 3 auto producers’ CEO just agreed to take a $1 annual salary during any bail out period. Should Zollars do the same?

And what about the top Teamster officials who negotiated this deal?

Hoffa’s compensation went up by $77,000 last year, including a COLA of $12,000. Freight Teamsters got no COLA this year, and we may give up our COLA for the next four years. Will Hoffa, Tyson Johnson and other top Teamster officials take a 10 percent cut and give up their annual COLA through 2013? Should they?

Click here to tell us what you think.

Click here to find out more about the TDU Freight Committee.