Yellow Corp. pointed the finger at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Wednesday evening, saying the union is responsible for its “inability to make its monthly contribution to Central States Funds.”
The less-than-truckload carrier made a request to Central States in June to defer upcoming benefits payments as it attempts to come to terms with Teamsters on changes to operations and seek additional funding. However, Central States notified plan participants employed by Yellow companies YRC Freight and Holland on Monday that the carrier was delinquent and benefits would be suspended on Sunday without payment.
Yellow’s (NASDAQ: YELL) news release said the request to defer payment with interest was “not without precedent” and that it was “regrettably” refused an extension “despite the funds’ healthy reserves.”
“Even more regrettably, Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien has blamed Yellow for failing its workers, but it is the Teamsters’ leadership who has failed the 22,000 Teamsters employed by Yellow as well as the 8,000 non-union employees who may soon become the Teamsters’ collateral damage.”
The Teamsters issued a strike notice on Tuesday, saying a work stoppage could occur as soon as Monday if the payment isn’t made.
Yellow contends the “union’s breaches of the collective bargaining agreement” have resulted in the missed payment. It recently filed a $137 million lawsuit against the union alleging Teamsters leadership didn’t have the authority to reject the proposed change of operations and it didn’t schedule a required hearing on the matter.
“In short, Teamsters’ leadership’s obstruction of One Yellow directly caused Yellow’s liquidity crisis and Yellow’s need to implement cash-conservation measures, including its benefit funding deferral request,” Yellow said.
Yellow accuses Teamsters of “freezing the company’s business plan for nine months” as it has made attempts to negotiate its proposed changes, which would consolidate terminals, create additional utility positions to maximize labor efficiency and lower its cost structure to allow it to compete with other carriers.
“For many months, Teamsters’ leadership has steadfastly refused to negotiate the company’s long-planned and necessary modernization effort that would enable Yellow, a 100-year-old company, to streamline and strengthen its operations to compete against non-union carriers,” Yellow said.
Yellow also said that it offered the Teamsters “a significant wage increase that aligns with its union competitors” last week. No further details on the offer were provided by Yellow.
However, the Teamsters referred to the offer as “a back-door deal to rescue [CEO Darren Hawkins] humiliatingly mismanaged freight company,” in a statement Wednesday evening.
“From July 12-13, Hawkins made informal offers to the Teamsters begging the union to return to the bargaining table well before the expiration of the current contract, suggesting the beleaguered freight company could offer workers hourly increases of just over $2 in the first year of a hypothetical new contract,” the statement read. “Shockingly, the communications from Yellow were stipulated on the Teamsters agreeing to a new five-year contract as quickly as possible.”
Previously, Yellow offered to pull forward contractual wage increases and implement an additional pay hike to expedite a deal. However, it acknowledged the increases would have to be approved by lenders when it refinanced its $1.5 billion in debt at a later date.
“It is not left to rank-and-file Teamsters to drag Yellow’s sinking ship to shore,” O’Brien said. “We are not going to agree to informal offers for new wages in the hopes of getting a fair contract next year when YRC Freight and Holland can’t even figure out how to pay their bills right now.”
The union’s statement ended with a reminder of the March 31 expiration date for the collective bargaining agreement.
Yellow said the Teamsters claim it can call a strike due to the missed plan contribution payment due July 15, “would be anything but lawful, as it would violate the parties’ collective bargaining agreement.”
“Commencement of meaningful negotiations with the Teamsters would set the stage for Yellow to reengage in comprehensive refinancing efforts with its lenders while clearing a path to advance One Yellow,” the carrier’s news release said. “All stakeholders — lenders, shareholders, employees and customers — need to see progress.”
Time appears to be running out for Yellow. In addition to facing a potential labor strike the company has been temporarily removed from some third-party freight platforms and shippers have been diverting freight to other carriers.
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Luis Amado
All this problem only gets hurts is as. Not the Union Members not the Yellow itself. Union still have they job.
Yellow CEO still have he’s money. But about as? I understand the Union point. I also understand the CEO point.
But right now both Mister CEO and Mister O’brien should thinking about all of was that get up everyday Monday thru Friday and put as live on line to keep our promise and serving the costumes nationwide, should sitting down and find a root to fix this. We get hurt not them….
Jackie Kay Reiff
Zack ryan …
Heres a thought for you how would you like it of i took 4 dollars out of your pocket for every hour you work stripped you of health insurance refused to contribute to your retirement fund and ran your work place into the ground …then turned around and asked you to take another psy cut and psy nearly 600 dollars a week for insurance that is part of your benifits in the contract you signed with your employer would you judt sit by and let them keep taking from you while the run through money wrecklessly 700 million dollars in a little over a year yellow has squanderd from the tax payers pockets they were given to bring the company out of the hole they dug by mis managing the compay then the came in a stripped every experienced mangement and freight dispacher employee from holland which was the only company that was thriving tore apart its infastructure and bled it dry to and you have the nerve to blame the union pull your head out of your butt and look at yellows gross abuse of funds total lack of experienced management over management 12 managers at one terminal here in south bend indiana freight being mis routed 2 and 3 drivers being sent to pick up the same freight routes being chaged so they are intersecting with each other instead of having one driver doing the dedicated runs and pick ups in the same citys they are delivering to now two drivers doing the same town one doing deliverys one doing pick ups for 5 or 6 skids of freight.. do you really even know what your talking about because you obviously must not by what your saying find a teamster that works for yellow or hollad or new pen or any other company hollad owns and ask them what they have has to endure ask my husbands co worker who has terminal cancer how he fells about having his health insurace taken away with her on kemo the union stood up for its employees and continues to do so they have been giving back to yellow for years while they have taken and taken from them they have no idea how to run a profitable ltl company all they know how to do is waste money fu**everythig up and destroy every thing they touch and now yet again the employees are paying for it with their livelihood even if the union did say strike theres no way yellow could survibe at the rate they have been blowimg through money borrowing money hiring managers with no experience with ltl and creating a piss poor reputation for themselves by not giving quality service to their coustomers the union didnt do this yellow did this to them selves
Bryan
Hawkins blamed union 100% of the way. Who lost in court? Never was a breach of contract on the unions part. To all of those bad mouthing the union and it’s workers have probably never once seen all letters and proof who was in the wrong the whole way thru. Really sad to see this place go, has been good to me with all considered. Truth be told we finally got someone who cares about the workers and contract agreements, O’Brien. Hoffa would not have blinked an eye to keep giving to cooperate greed, it happened for far to long and Yellow was use to getting there way. Sad it takes something like this to happen. Maybe now they will see the real problems, Hawkins you need fired or by some miracle yellow stays afloat, resign so yellow can once again sail, face it, it’s the ONLY way yellow has even a remote chance. Hawkins has to go, hope all of those lenders etc… get the books and see for yourself
Jackie Kay Reiff
My husband works for this company when holland was holland the company was thriving they were moving freight and making money after yellow took over and stripped every bit of holland managemet and dispachers from the company as well as screwed up the entire freight billing system by sending it ti aput side company not even in the us the volume of freight decreased to less thsn a 3rd of what the company was moving hawkins has no idea how to run a trucking company and their management is clue less as to how to properly route the teamsters rejected their proposal because there was no direction as to what their plan was for restructure and what they had submited as far as combineing terminals made no since what so everthars why it was rejected
Marie
This place is whoring itself for yelliw. Mass malfeasance in corporate is to blame. Let’s see your staff give up 4.00 an hour and w a promise you’ll get it back 14 years later still not back n the company sponsors a NASCAR the whole time you owe them money. This place is turning into a rag mouthpiece for gawking Hawkins. Kiss balls much?
Peter C.Ely
The Teamsters look after their members
Zach Ryan
Seems as though FreightWaves only wants to tell the Teamsters side of the story and help Sean O’Brien push 30,000 people out of their jobs. Post the letters and show the world how the IBT doesn’t really have their member’s back. The IBT is willing to let 22,000 of their members be unable to put food on their family’s table, pay their mortgages, healthcare, etc. All because he wants to pump his reputation and ego. Not sure how this “truth” is doing anything more but hurt efforts to organize other companies… how do any other workers know they won’t be sacrificed after the union bleeds them and the organizations that provide their livelihoods dry?
The Cat has 10 lifes
Show the letters from 7-12-23 and 7-13-23. They are being shown to all in the company now and I even hear on Facebook.
Let the truth be known.