YRC Worldwide’s Teamster workers approve contract

Implementation of the national agreement, which is retroactive to April 1, is delayed until a supplemental contract with Joint Council 40 is resolved.

   Teamster-represented workers at three less-than-truckload carrier YRC Worldwide (YRCW) units voted to ratify the five-year national master portion of the YRCW National Master Freight Agreement by a 60 percent to 40 percent margin, the union announced Friday.
   All but one of the 27 supplemental contracts were approved. Joint Council 40, which has 15 affiliated local unions in Pennsylvania and one in West Virginia, was the only supplemental agreement that was rejected, and the national agreement cannot be implemented until the Joint Council 40 supplemental contract is resolved.
   YRCW on Monday said it will work to address the supplement before the current contract expires on May 31. The contract was extended in late March after the Teamsters and YRC Worldwide reached a tentative agreement.
   “As we work to finalize the one outstanding supplemental, it will be business as usual for our companies as we focus on providing our customers with the service they need,” said YRCW CEO Darren Hawkins in a statement.
   The national agreement covers about 25,000 workers at YRCW’s YRC Freight national unit and regional carriers New Penn and Holland. 
   The contract, which is retroactive to April 1, includes a $4 wage increase over five years, which is “an 18 percent increase for most drivers and dockworkers,” the Teamsters said. It also includes prohibitions against using driverless trucks, improved language to “curb excessive executive bonuses,” restores a week of vacation and an increased YRCW contribution to health and welfare benefits.