TEAMSTERS RATIFY LONG-TERM MOTOR CARRIER CONTRACT

TEAMSTERS RATIFY LONG-TERM MOTOR CARRIER CONTRACT    The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said late Friday that rank-and-file drivers ratified a new five-year National Master Freight Agreement negotiated in early February.
   The pact was negotiated between the Teamsters and a management team representing major less-than-truckload carriers ABF Freight System, Roadway Express, Yellow Transportation and USF Holland. The contract covers about 65,000 Teamsters, while another 20,000 are covered by separate agreements with smaller trucking companies modeled on the national contract.
   'This new labor agreement send a very strong message to the marketplace: these companies have the stability of a long-term labor agreement and all the tools necessary to position themselves as reliable, full service transportation providers,' said Timothy Lynch, president of the Motor Freight Carriers Association, in a statement.
   MFCA is the trade association that represents unionized trucking companies.