January 3, 2014: Meet Harry Wilson. Hoffa appointed this Wall Street tycoon to the YRC Board of Directors. Now Wilson is making millions on the YRC concessions deal.

Hoffa appointee Harry Wilson has received, or stands to receive, as much as $15 million for dealing with distressed companies that bargain with the Teamsters since he was first tagged by James Hoffa to work on YRCW’s 2011 restructuring. This includes a $5.5 million bonus if YRC members approve the concessions and a bank deal is consummated.

Who is this man?

Wilson’s early career was with various hedge fund and private equity firms. He made it big on Wall Street and retired at age 36.

He entered government work, and served as a major player on the Auto Industry Task Force, working on the GM and Chrysler bankruptcy cases. Then Wilson, a Republican, went into politics. He unsuccessfully ran for Comptroller of New York State in 2010.

Soon after that political foray, Wilson formed MAEVA Advisors in 2011. MAEVA is a low-profile operation, with a one-page website (maevaadvisors.com) that lists nothing but a phone number and an email address.

Then he hooked up with the Hoffa administration.

On February 28, 2011, Hoffa announced that Wilson was joining the YRCW restructuring efforts on behalf of the Teamsters to “break the logjam between the company and the lenders’ group.” Wilson also had a role in the Hostess restructuring, with MAEVA reportedly receiving $200,000 per month over an extended period. In October 2013 MAEVA filed papers requesting payment of $3.5 million in the bankruptcy court in the case. If Hostess had survived, the company would have been required to pay MAEVA’s fees.

But YRCW was a bigger cash cow. Wilson’s initial YRCW work in early 2011 paid him $125,000 per month, plus a bonus of $1.5 million in July 2011. That was just weeks after Tyson Johnson excitedly told the Teamster Convention in Las Vegas of the YRCW restructuring, in which Hoffa named Wilson as an IBT appointee to YRCW's board. Sources claim that Wilson convinced his fellow board members to pay him an additional $1.5 million for his role in the restructuring, for a total payout of over $3 million for work that lasted only five months.

Wilson is paid $175,000 per year as a member of YRCW’s board.

During the November meeting of Teamster local officers in Dallas, YRCW’s CFO, Jamie Pierson, told the Teamster officials that they had evaluated various restructuring experts and determined that MAEVA was the best resource to lead the restructuring.

On February 1, 2013, the YRCW Board engaged fellow board member Wilson to lead a strategic initiative related to restructuring again the company’s deals with the banks. The engagement agreement (contained in SEC filings) explicitly states that the IBT approved of this arrangement! According to the contract Wilson is receiving $250,000 per month and is eligible to receive a completion bonus not to exceed $5.5 million if members approve the concessions and the deal is consummated. Wow.

It seems odd for a public corporate board to select one of the directors to function as the company’s investment banker. This is complicated by the fact that Wilson was appointed by the IBT in part to protect the interests of Teamster employees. But the deal he has engineered requires those Teamsters to accept new concessions. Add to that the extra $5.5 million Wilson has riding on the concession vote. That’s quite a web of potential conflicts.

One thing is certain: no concessions will be taken by Hoffa, Ken Hall, or their appointee, Harry Wilson.

Freight Teamsters: Don't Give Up. Step Up.

Millionaires like Harry Wilson are getting rich off the concessions that are destroying good union jobs. To take back the International Union, we need a united movement. Don't give up, step up.
 

About two months after YRC Worldwide Inc. invoked the threat of bankruptcy, the trucking company has announced a deal to reduce its $1.4 billion debt load by $300 million.

Overland Park, Kansas-based YRC said in a Monday, Dec. 23 statement that unnamed investors have agreed to pay $250 million in cash for new common shares in the company. YRC will use the proceeds to take out its convertible notes.

After YRC completes this debt reduction, it hopes to tap the senior debt markets to refinance its term loan and asset-based loans at more favorable interest rates, the company said.

The deal hinges on two conditions. YRC must secure a ratified memorandum of understanding from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the union that represents a contingent of YRC's employees, and it must also convince 90% of holders of its pension fund debt to amend and extend their debt.

The proposed deal would meet the Teamsters' demand that YRC must retire at least 90% of its Series A and B Convertible Notes. The Teamsters are expected to conclude their vote on the memorandum by Jan. 8. A Teamsters spokesman declined to comment on the proposed deal or the vote.

YRC said Monday that certain noteholders and other institutional investors will pay $15 per share for their $250 million in new common stock.

The proceeds will go toward paying off the existing $69.4 million in 6% convertible notes due Feb. 15, 2014, and paying off or defeasing the outstanding $173.5 million in Series A Convertible Notes due Mar. 31, 2015.

Furthermore, holders of about $50 million in principal of the outstanding $68.2 million in Series B Convertible Notes due Mar. 31, 2015, will convert their notes to common stock at prices between $15.00 and $16.01 per share. The remaining Series B notes will remain outstanding through their original maturity date.

"These transactions will result in a substantial reduction of our debt and will position the company to address impending maturities, including the 6% Convertible Notes due in February 2014," YRC CFO Jamie Pierson said in the statement.

Eliminating the debt due in February would give YRC more breathing room, as the company's senior credit agreement requires that it must repay, extend, restructure or refinance those notes by Feb. 1.

If YRC fails to find a solution for those notes, it will be in default under its senior credit facility starting on Feb. 13.

A Monday regulatory filing noted that the investors behind the debt reduction may cancel their stock purchase agreements if the deal hasn't closed either by Feb. 13, or within five business days after satisfying the closing requirements.

That leaves YRC with just under five weeks between the Jan. 8 Teamsters vote and the Feb. 13 closing deadline to work out the details of the deal, including hammering out an agreement with the pension debtholders.

YRC CEO James Welch warned in an Oct. 30 letter to employees, "In the past, some companies in our position have simply declared bankruptcy," adding, "the better path is to refinance the debt before the due dates are upon us."

Credit Suisse AG and MAEVA Group LLC are advising YRC on its financing options and strategic initiatives.

Representatives from those firms were not available to comment.

In addition to its convertible notes, YRC has two first lien loans with JP Morgan Chase Bank NA as administrative agent.

The company has a term loan that bears interest at Libor plus 650 basis points with a Libor floor at 350, and matures on Mar. 31, 2015. The loan had $298.7 million outstanding as of Sept. 30.

YRC also has $222.2 million outstanding on a letter of credit due Mar. 31, 2015.

Some of YRC's major investors have cut their positions in the company in recent months.

Marc Lasry's hedge fund Avenue Capital Group disclosed a 17.75% stake on Aug. 19, then sold down its position in the company at the end of October. Avenue reported a 13.71% position in the company in a regulatory filing made Dec. 19. Carlyle Group LP disclosed a 13.3% stake on Dec. 19, noting that it had sold a $12.66 million principal amount of YRC's Series A 10% Convertible Notes for $11.76 million.

Another major investor, Cyrus Capital Partners LP, said it had cut its previously disclosed 17.2% stake to an 11% stake, according to an Oct. 18 regulatory filing.

And New York-based middle market debt investor CM Finance Inc. disclosed on Dec. 20 that, since Sept. 30, it has sold its $12.3 million investment in YRC's letter of credit facility.

Avenue and Cyrus declined to comment. Carlyle and CM Finance did not respond to requests for comment.

YRC reported a net loss of $44.4 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30.

As of Sept. 30, the company had $2.13 billion in assets and about $2.8 billion in liabilities.

At that time, its liquidity, including cash, cash equivalents, and availability under its asset-based loan facility, stood at $233.7 million.

YRC's debt woes stretch back to 2003, when the company paid $1.05 billion to acquire Roadway Corp.

YRC is listed on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol YRCW. The company's stock closed up 21.91% or $3.28, at $18.25 per share, giving it a market capitalization of $163.64 million.

YRC Worldwide Inc. announced on Monday a deal to raise $250 million in equity and trade another $50 million in notes for stock. The deal, which will allow the company to pay down debt, is contingent on getting union employees to approve a new labor agreement.

The Overland Park-based trucking company said it reached a deal on Sunday to sell a combination of common and convertible preferred stock to investors for $250 million in cash. The common stock will sell for $15 a share and the preferred stock for $60 a share, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In addition, YRC said that certain holders of its Series B Notes will exchange notes with an aggregate principal amount of $37.7 million for approximately 2.5 million shares of common stock. The company said the move would allow it to reduce debt by $50 million.

The agreements are contingent on two conditions: Holders of at least 90 percent of the $124 million of the company’s pension fund debt must extend an outstanding note, and members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters must ratify a new labor agreement that extends previous concessions through March 2019.

CEO James Welch characterized the agreement as a momentous step toward a healthier financial situation for the company.

“With a positive ratification vote and an amended and extended pension fund note, the improved financial picture will allow the company to increase its investment in new tractors, trailers, technology and equally if not more importantly training and developing its people.” Welch said in a release.

YRC may face a challenge in getting the union to ratify the new labor deal. The union has not recommended voting yes or no, and locally-based Teamsters have said the agreement is not popular with rank-and-file members.

Welch has said he’s confident the union will ratify the agreement. On Monday, he said there will be consequences if the union does not ratify.

“If we are not successful, it would unfortunately mean some very difficult decisions for the company and its employees,” Welch said in a release.

Ballots have been mailed out to Teamster employees. Votes are due to be counted after Jan. 8.

YRC Worldwide Inc. (YRCW), the trucker seeking to refinance almost $1 billion in borrowings, rose the most since May after creditors agreed to cut about $300 million in debt, a step toward winning union contract givebacks.

The accord calls for some creditors and other investors to buy $250 million of new shares at a price of $15 each, YRC said today in a statement. Bond owners will convert $50 million of their holdings to stock in a price range of $15 to $16.01.

The shares surged 21 percent to $18.12 at 10:07 a.m. in New York. That followed a gain of 37 percent earlier today, the biggest intraday increase since May 6. Overland Park, Kansas-based YRC is rushing to complete the refinancing before a $69.4 million bond issue matures on Feb. 15.

YRC’s 26,000 Teamsters-represented employees will vote by Jan. 8 on extending their contract into 2019, maintaining terms that reduced wages by 15 percent and giving the trucker new operating flexibility. Creditors had sought the labor agreement before refinancing debt, while Teamsters leaders have insisted on concessions from bondholders.

YRC piled up $1.4 billion in debt from acquisitions and what Chief Executive Officer James Welch has called “numerous missteps” before he took the job in 2011.

As of Sept. 30, the company had about $170 million of cash. It has $952 million of bonds and loans maturing by March 2015, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The debt-reduction deal also hinges on getting holders of at least 90 percent of $124 million of pension fund debt to extend the maturity on that note, YRC said.

UPDATED December 19, 2013: Some 26,000 YRCW Teamsters are voting on a five-year contract extension with new concessions, and yet the leadership of their union never negotiated with the corporation. What’s wrong with this picture?

At the meeting of local officials held on December 6, IBT Freight Director Tyson Johnson was asked this question directly. His answer was that since he had heard loud and clear that the members didn’t want more concessions, he refused to bargain with the company. So, instead he sat for days with the company negotiators, but didn’t bargain on behalf of the members.

Then the Hoffa administration simply mailed the company’s proposal to the members, as a kind of, “accept it or watch your job disappear” ultimatum. What kind of leadership is that? None at all.

The union leadership could have told YRCW that they would negotiate at the same time that YRCW negotiated with their lenders, and so the union would have some leverage over the outcome. Not to ask members to first give concessions, then hope for the best from the bankers.

That’s why so many YRC Teamsters are speaking out against the concessionary deal, and many local officers are refusing to endorse it as well.

If you're a member of Facebook, you may want to see what YRCW Teamsters are saying there, you can check out the No More Concessions! page on Facebook. As well as Teamster brothers under YRC Worldwide want justice.

The lack of leadership from the Hoffa administration goes much deeper. For the past 15 years they have done nothing to defend our union or to organize in freight, or in carhaul or other trucking fields. They don’t have a strategy and don’t understand Teamster power. They have not organized; they have not defended the national master contracts or the members’ pensions.

So now YRC Teamsters are left to fend for themselves. Shame on you, James Hoffa, Ken Hall, Tyson Johnson, and Gordon Sweeton. 

To see if these IBT leaders have taken a 15% cut or given up their pensions, see the $150,000 Club report.

YRC Teamsters: Read the proposal before you vote

Read this report in the Kansas City Business Journal.

For the second time in less than four years, YRC Worldwide Inc.'s unionized workers will be voting on a contract as if their livelihoods depended on it.

Leaders of the Teamsters Union, which represents about 26,000 unionized workers at the less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier, on Friday approved a membership vote on the company's proposal to extend the current collective bargaining agreement through March 2019. Ballots will be mailed either tomorrow or Wednesday and will be counted around Jan. 8.

YRC executives and union officials met on Friday both in person in Dallas and by conference call to discuss the contract proposal. During the meeting, YRC executives stressed that the company may go out of business by Feb. 1 unless the company's lenders agree to restructure about $1.4 billion in debt, according to a communiqué from the Teamster dissident group Teamsters for a Democratic Union. Ratification of the labor contract extension is essential to the restructuring effort.

The first principal payment of $69 million is due Feb. 15. Overland Park, Kan.-based YRC said today it expects to save $100 million a year through the contract's provisions and other so-called corporate initiatives.

James L. Welch, YRC's CEO and president of its YRC Freight long-haul LTL unit, said today he was not at the Friday meeting and was unaware of comments made by his executives of such a drastic step. Welch said he remained confident that workers would ratify the agreement, adding that it would be hard to find jobs elsewhere in the LTL sector as well-paying as YRC's. The LTL industry is overwhelmingly made up of nonunion carriers whose compensation is generally below that of YRC and its unionized rival, ABF Freight System Inc.

In late October, ABF's rank-and-file ratified a new five-year agreement that called for wage cuts and productivity improvements that would save the trucker between $55 million and $65 million a year over the contract's life. The agreement narrowed the cost differential between YRC and ABF, which had the LTL industry's highest cost structure, and made ABF more cost-competitive in the eyes of many shippers.

In a filing today with the Securities and Exchange Commission, YRC said that it "may be unable to refinance or restructure" parts of its debt that mature in 2014 without an extension of its current agreement. The rank-and-file's failure to ratify the compact would have a "materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations," the company said.

In 2009, YRC's rank-and-file approved a series of extraordinary contract concessions that helped keep the company out of bankruptcy protection. After close brush with bankruptcy at the end of 2009, YRC appeared to be making slow headway under Welch, who was named CEO in mid-2011. However, the company's struggles have resurfaced, most recently in the wake of a major YRC Freight network restructuring that did not go well. The outcome led to the dismissal of then-YRC Freight President Jeffrey A. Rogers and Welch's assumption of the YRC Freight post.

Under the contract proposal, union workers would receive, in lieu of pay raises, $750 in annual bonuses over the first two years of the extended contract. After that, they would receive net annual raises equal to 34 cents an hour. Vacation pay would be capped at 40 hours per week or 1/58 of annual earnings. Three-week paid vacations would only be available to workers with 11 years seniority.

The first bonus would be paid in early 2014 should employees ratify the contract extension and lenders agree to the debt restructuring, Welch said.

Profit-sharing programs will kick in if YRC Freight achieves a 97-percent operating ratio per year starting in 2015. Workers will share in a larger percentage of profits should the unit's ratio decline further. For YRC's profitable regional units, profit sharing would begin at 94.1 percent. Operating ratio is the ratio of expenses to revenues and is a measure of a transport company's efficiency and profitability. YRC Freight's third-quarter operating ratio stood at 101.2, meaning it spent a little more $1.01 for every $1 in revenue. The company said its ratio in the quarter was impacted by problems surrounding the network revamp. YRC Regional's third-quarter operating ratio stood at 95.5.

In addition, the contract would allow YRC for the first time, to subcontract out 6 percent of its driver work, with supposed protections for all currently employed drivers. Some drivers have voiced concern that the protections would only apply to the originating drivers on a multistop trip. As a result, "relay" drivers, (or those drivers other than the originating driver who pick up loads at various points) could have their work subcontracted out, they warn.

Welch said the use of "purchased transportation," another term for subcontracting, would be confined to markets like Chicago where the company is facing a driver shortage. "We will not use it in place of existing rank-and-file drivers," he said.

Pension contributions, which were suspended in mid-2009 and resumed in 2011 at one-fourth their prior amount, will be fixed at the current levels through the life of the extended compact.

December 5, 2013: Tomorrow Teamster local officials will meet in Dallas to hear directly from company representatives their proposal for a five-year contract extension. 

Management has met with the Hoffa administration’s top freight people, Tyson Johnson and Gordon Sweeton, regarding the proposed contract.

If the local officers approve a proposal to put the issue to the members, a vote could come soon. The IBT constitution requires a majority vote of approval by the 26,000 YRCW Teamsters for any contract extension. Members should have a chance to discuss and evaluate any proposal before it is mailed out for a vote.

On November 20-21, management presented a laundry list of concessions to the IBT Freight Division. Members have reacted with anger, and hope that the proposal will be modified before coming to a vote.

The National Freight Negotiating Committee for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters is scheduled to meet with IBT local union leaders Dec. 6 to review a proposal from YRC Worldwide Inc. to modify an existing restructuring agreement that expires March 31, 2015.  The Teamsters, which represents 26,000 workers at the Kansas-based company, said in a statement Nov. 27 that local union leaders will decide after the meeting whether to submit the proposal to its membership to be voted on in a mail ballot referendum.  Complete details about the proposal haven't been released. Neither the Teamsters nor YRC Worldwide would provide details about the proposal when contacted Nov. 29 by Bloomberg BNA.  “This meeting and the subsequent vote, which we believe will be ratified, is another important and positive development in our long-planned refinancing process and the continued implementation of our turnaround plan,” James Welch, chief executive officer of YRC Worldwide and president of YRC Freight, said Nov. 26 in a statement. “We are grateful to our union and non-union employees who have made significant sacrifices to keep our company moving forward and our customers who have shown solid support in this process.”

Based in Overland Park, Kan., YRC Worldwide is the holding company for YRC Freight, YRC Reimer (in Canada), Holland, Reddaway, and New Penn.
Talks About Financial Future

YRC Worldwide officials met with Teamsters officials in Dallas Nov. 5 to discuss the trucking company's financial future. The purpose of the meeting, the company said, was to update local and national Teamsters leaders about YRC Worldwide's “recent performance, future prospects, corporate refinancing opportunities and the need to proactively align multiple stakeholders in advance of 2014 debt obligation deadlines.”

YRC Worldwide wants to extend its current contract with the Teamsters for five years from ratification, the company said in a Nov. 12 statement, to “achieve cost savings for YRC Freight, Holland, Reddaway and New Penn.”

Welch said Nov. 6 that a contract extension with IBT beyond the current agreement's expiration in 2015 would be an important step in providing customers with the service they deserve and in “providing our employees long-term job stability, competitive industry-wide wages and outstanding healthcare benefits.”

“In addition to securing the jobs of over 26,000 union employees,” he said, “it will substantially increase the likelihood of a holistic refinancing solution to address the debt maturities in 2014 and 2015.”

Previous IBT Concessions

YRC Worldwide and IBT in July 2011 separately announced the completion of the company's restructuring plan at that time, saying it would provide IBT-represented employees with a 25 percent ownership stake in the company and provide the firm with added financial stability. Prior to the 2011 restructuring announcement, IBT members employed at YRC had agreed to two rounds of concessionary contract modifications, in October 2010.

Logistics conglomerate YRC Worldwide and its workers have been caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place for at least five years. Now the squeeze is getting even more uncomfortable for both sides, and it could soon come to a crisis point for the second time in four years.

YRC Worldwide, the company that owns Yellow Freight, New Penn, USF Reddaway and several other trucking and logistics brands, has asked its unionized drivers, dock workers, mechanics and other employees to make concessions, likely to include forgoing raises and contributions into a Teamsters pension plan, in order to help the company survive another financial crisis.

Teamsters’ National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee leaders will meet with locals that represent YRCW members on Dec. 6 to review a forthcoming proposal from YRC Worldwide that modifies the existing restructuring agreement.

If the Teamsters and YRC Worldwide management do not agree to a deal, the company could be in danger of going under, ending the jobs of some 26,000 employees, including between 1,000 and 1,500 in San Bernardino and Riverside counties

Many retired workers in the Inland area are covered by the company’s medical plan and could lose those benefits.

Teamsters have a contract with YRC Worldwide that runs through 2015. But workers have modified that contract several times, giving up raises and pension payments, to help the company remain solvent.

Now they are being asked to do it again.

Tuesday, Overland Park, Kan.-based YRC Worldwide released a statement saying the company asked for the Dec. 6 meeting to give local labor leaders a proposal concerning their contract and benefits, which they would review and decide on submitting to the membership for a ratification vote.

“This meeting and the subsequent vote, which we believe will be ratified, is another important and positive development in our long-planned refinancing process and the continued implementation of our turnaround plan, James Welch, CEO of YRC Worldwide, said in the statement. “We are grateful to our union and non-union employees who have made significant sacrifices to keep our company moving forward and our customers who have shown solid support in this process.”

A company representative did not return calls to The Press-Enterprise to elaborate on that statement. In a Nov. 12 conference call with equity analysts, Welch said the company needs “a more competitive contract” with the Teamsters.

The current union contract expires on March 31, 2015. An official statement on the union website said “any modification to that would need to be ratified by the affected membership in a secret ballot referendum,” and did not elaborate.

Randy Cammack, secretary-treasurer of Rialto-based Local 63 of the Teamsters and vice president of Joint Council 42, the umbrella group for 144,000 Southern California members, said the union is publicly taking a neutral stance about YRC Worldwide’s request for more contract concessions. Ultimately, the 26,000 workers who are covered by the contract will be the ones making the decision, he said.

Cammack said that there will probably be a lot of mixed emotions on the part of the members, pointing out that six years after the start of the Great Recession, “these are not the best of times” for a blue-collar workers in Inland Southern California.

“The feeling is, and I don’t know how deep that runs, is that people are concerned about being unemployed,” Cammack said.

Union leaders were incensed when, earlier this year YRC Worldwide’s executives said they wanted to buy competing trucking company Arkansas Best. Teamsters, including President James Hoffa, said YRC Worldwide should not be spending on acquisitions when workers’ contracted raises and pension contributions had been mothballed for four years.

Cammack said some of the mixed emotions involve disappointment combined with frustration about the company’s inability to get onto solid financial footing.

“There is anger that the company has not done what it needs to do,” Cammack said. “They’ve made bad decisions.”

YRC Worldwide first ran into trouble with its debt load in 2009. The trouble traced back to a situation that was caused by a period when YRC bought out competing trucking companies in the early 2000s. In 2009 the Teamsters agreed to accept 10 percent pay cuts and to give up the cost-of-living increases written into their contract, accepting stock in the company in exchange for the concessions.

The company almost went under in the last days of 2009. A deal with Wall Street bondholders to exchange corporate debt for stock kept the firm alive.

Earlier this month, a Southern California Teamsters executive said the union has already given YRC Worldwide some $3 billion in deferred wage and pension payments over the past four years in an effort to keep the company going.

According to public records, YRC Worldwide owes its creditors more than $1 billion, money that must be paid in 2014 and 2015.

“That’s debt with extremely high interest rates,” Cammack said. “It’s like the credit card debt you get when you make minimum payments every month.”

The publicly traded company reported on Nov. 12 that it lost $44 million in the third quarter. Management and operational issues, and a shortage of drivers that slowed the company’s network were said to be among the reasons for the weak quarter.

Those problems sent a lot of customers to competitors. Cammack said one reason the Teamsters are handling this crisis in a low-key way is that they do not want to give impetus to other competing freight companies.

UPDATED November 27, 2013: The Freight Division has scheduled a two-man meeting for December 6 in Dallas to review proposals made by YRC to extend the current MOU. All locals representing YRC Teamsters have been asked to send representatives for the meeting.

On November 20-21, YRC negotiators presented proposals to the Teamsters Freight Division for a five-year contract extension. While they are not proposing any wage cuts, they are asking for other concessions.

Reports indicate that YRC’s proposals include these:

• Continued annual wage increases in 2015 and beyond, but with no increase in 2014.

• Overtime pay after 40 hours per week, instead of after 8 hours.

• Change H&W language so that a partial week of work will not pay for a full week of H&W coverage.

• Work rule changes, including outsourcing some maintenance and use of outside contractors for certain road work.

Reportedly the IBT Freight Division has not agreed to anything yet, and talks will continue.

YRC management is firm that they need to get an extension with labor cost savings in place soon to be able to re-finance their substantial debt in order to lower interest payments and keep the company on track.

One question that comes up is why can’t YRC negotiate with the banks and the Teamsters simultaneously, so that the banks – who want YRC to keep making payments – could agree to refinance terms at the same time as IBT negotiators agree to submit a contract extension for a vote.

YRC CEO James Welch is taking the case to members, with a DVD mailed to every Teamster’s home. Reportedly the company will follow that by creating a website for Teamsters to access information and the company’s viewpoint.

The IBT constitution requires a majority vote of approval by the 26,000 YRCW Teamsters for any contract extension. Members should have a chance to discuss and evaluate any proposal before it is mailed out for a vote. TDU will continue to post information as it becomes available.