We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • Parcel Forum 2022
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • Parcel Forum 2022
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
Home » YRC Teamsters offer further concessions in return for CEO's ouster
newsworthy

YRC Teamsters offer further concessions in return for CEO's ouster

September 10, 2010
Mark B. Solomon
No Comments

The Teamsters union will allow troubled trucker YRC Worldwide Inc. to forgo annual pension contributions for the next five years in return for the ouster of YRC Chairman and CEO William D. Zollars and a pledge from YRC's lenders to acquire more equity in the company in exchange for debt, according to a communique posted late Thursday on the website of a Teamsters dissident group.

The proposal, which appeared on the website of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), calls for Teamster leadership to ask YRC's unionized rank and file to agree to the five-year pension contribution waiver, which would save the company an estimated $350 million a year. Currently, YRC is scheduled to resume annual pension contributions on Jan. 1, 2011, after already obtaining an 18-month waiver on payments from its union workers.

In return, union leaders want YRC to terminate the contract of Zollars, who has been at the company's helm since 1999. In addition, the union will ask YRC and its lenders to negotiate more equity-for-debt swaps so banks would own more stock and reduce YRC's debt load, according to the communique.

At the end of 2009, YRC's lenders agreed to swap $530 million in debt for about 1 million shares of newly issued equity. The move was pivotal in helping YRC avoid a bankruptcy filing and possible dissolution.

The latest proposal would mark the third time in 18 months the company's 23,000 unionized workers have been asked to make concessions to keep YRC viable. Last year, workers agreed to two separate wage cuts totaling 15 percent, as well as to the pension waiver. The wage reductions are scheduled to run until March 2013, when the current National Master Freight Agreement governing employees in the less-than-truckload (LTL) industry expires.

Through a spokeswoman, YRC declined comment. Teamster officials were not available for comment at press time. TDU President Ken Paff, who has criticized Teamster leadership for agreeing to the concessions and has publicly predicted YRC would be unlikely to resume full pension contributions in January 2011, declined comment other than to say the information on the site was obtained from a reliable source within the Teamster hierarchy.

Though it has significantly cut costs to remain competitive, YRC, the nation's largest LTL carrier by sales, has struggled with sluggish demand in the LTL sector, cutthroat price wars, and lingering shipper concerns over its survival. YRC stock closed Sept. 10 at 28 cents a share.

David G. Ross, transport analyst for Baltimore-based Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., said it would be difficult to drum up sufficient support among YRC's rank and file for a third round of concessions. Ross noted that the second round of concessions, approved last August, narrowly passed by a 58-42 percent vote. The first round of concessions was approved by a vote of 77-23 percent.

Ross added that labor and management negotiators would be hard-pressed to convince YRC's lenders to acquire any more equity in a company with such uncertain prospects.

The Stifel, Nicolaus analyst also said YRC could experience further customer freight diversion until the vote takes place, which seems likely to be next month. With YRC's labor issues back in the headlines, rivals will aggressively court its customers by highlighting the company's financial instability, Ross said.

Transportation Trucking Less-than-Truckload
KEYWORDS YRC Worldwide
  • Related Articles

    ABF sues YRC, Teamsters over concessions

    YRC to submit revised contract offer to Teamsters; no re-vote slated on initial proposal

    YRC CEO confident Teamsters will ratify extension to current contract

Marksolomon
Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.

Recent Articles by Mark Solomon

Coming together for road safety: interview with Joshua Girard

Off the rails

Freight rate spikes shaking up the C-suite

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Fred Smith is not worried about Amazon

  • Outlook 2023: What’s in store for logistics/supply chain?

  • Ports, maritime operators see tide turning as ocean freight tsunami subsides

  • In Person: Steve Beverly of Penske

  • InPerson interview: Rob McKeel of Fortna

Now Playing on DCV-TV

89cfed30 8aac 4284 960d c8c8c1886e16

Have you checked your read rate lately?

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
No reads. Unaccounted for boxes. Boxes sent to the wrong place. A logistics nightmare! But this nightmare doesn’t have to come true. SICK’s linear line scan camera is what dreams are made of for your logistics operations. And if you’re worried about motion and vibration from conveyor belts...well, there’s no reason...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • The five best applications for robotic lift trucks in warehouse environments

  • Fulfillment Facility Improved Efficiencies by 4x

  • 3PLs: Complete Orders Faster with Flexible Automation

  • Reusable Packaging for the New Wave of Supply Chain Automation

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2023. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing