ABF, union reaches tentative deal

   ABF and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters have reached a tentative, five-year contract agreement.
   Details of the contract have not been released because local unions have not decided whether to endorse it.
   Word of a potential agreement reached local unions last week, and they were subsequently directed to not take a strike vote.
   ABF and the Teamsters began talks toward a new contract in January, with the carrier demanding a 6.5-percent wage reduction along with cuts in pension and health care benefits, according to the union. The two negotiated until the current contract expired on March 31, passing two contract extensions before finally reaching a deal.
   After the second contract extension, ABF released a statement saying it had been negotiating in good faith and needed to stand firm on its contract requests to make up for a reported $250 million in losses over the past three years.
   “We have taken a balanced approach to the negotiations and have specifically avoided proposing the meat-axe wage and benefit cuts that our competitors have been forced to adopt,” according to a statement on the ABF Website. “Our goal has been to achieve the bulk of the cost reductions through changes in work rules and flexibility, but there is more to do.” – Jon Ross