Teamster members are not the only ones concerned that Hoffa would undercut the National Master Freight Agreement by negotiating a substandard deal at UPS Freight (Overnite).

The CEO of Yellow-Roadway, the largest employer of Freight Teamsters, recently warned that any deal between the Teamsters and UPS Freight, covering one terminal of 125 workers in Indianapolis, will 'set precedent' for the National Master Freight Agreement. Yellow Roadway employs 50,000 Teamsters.

Yellow-Roadway CEO William Zollars made this statement to Traffic World, a leading freight industry publication.

Because Hoffa's "card check and neutrality" agreement covers only one terminal, Zollars expects any contract that UPS Freight would accept will fall far short of the NMFA, and will not allow the employees into the Central States Teamster Pension Plan. That's why Yellow-Roadway plans to use it as precedent to gain concessions in the NMFA.

This scenario is what scares many Teamsters and leaders in the freight industry. Hoffa announced the "neutrality" agreement with great fanfare as part of his reelection effort, but bargaining with less than 1 percent of UPS Freight organized is from a position of weakness, not strength.

UPS Freight spokesman Ira Rosenfeld emphasized to Traffic World that the Teamsters would be bargaining for "one location only" and that the neutrality deal is then void.

[Click here to read the Traffic World article]

“Reprinted from www.leedham2006.org”