‘One Yellow’ change of operations now to be resolved in Yellow national master freight talks

The Teamsters union and Yellow Corp., the union’s largest employer in the less-than-truckload (LTL) sector, will resolve their change of operations differences as part of their national freight contract negotiations of a labor agreement expiring next March 31.

That will give the Teamsters four national contracts to resolve in the next year—UPS (the Teamsters’ largest employer), ArcBest (parent of ABF Freight System (the nation’s seventh-largest LTL carrier), TForce Freight (formerly known as UPS Freight and Overnite Co.) and Yellow.

The idea to combine the change of operations difficulties into the national contract talks was the union’s idea, the company said.

It’s all part of Yellow’s transformational change from three regional freight carriers and a national long-haul network into “One Yellow,” its multi-regional carrier that serves both needs in the $58 billion LTL industry. Yellow controls about one-tenth the volume in the sector.

“On April 24, our board of directors voted to open our National Master Freight Agreement contract, something the IBT suggested several weeks ago,” Yellow said in a statement.

“Completing One Yellow is essential to our company’s modernization efforts and is necessary for us to maintain and strengthen jobs while we compete against non-union carriers. Opening the contract early requires agreement from both parties; we have notified the IBT of that board decision and await a response,” Yellow added.

The first change of operations involved merging operations in the Western region between YRC Freight and Reddaway. Yellow had expected the union’s cooperation with similar changes at regional carriers Holland in the Midwest and New Penn in the Northeast.

At that, the Teamsters balked.

These changes affect more than 200 terminals in the East, Central and South regions. Yellow would like to close about 28 terminals—about a tenth of its footprint—and use those proceeds to pay down about $1.6 billion of debt.

A Yellow spokeswoman said the 28 terminals are redundant facilities where Yellow has another terminal across the street or nearby. It is to reduce real estate holdings, she said.

A sticking point in negotiations has been the creation of additional utility positions. These all-purpose jobs often require drivers to work freight on the docks and at facilities within 175 miles of their home base. There would also be some changes in seniority lists.

The IBT claims it has given enough concessions over the past several years. This is an anathema to the union, which doesn’t like operational changes without opening the master contract.

“The concession stand is closed,” Teamsters National Freight Director John Murphy told members in an April 19 conference call. “The ball is in the company’s court.”

After the union announced that it was cancelling a scheduled April 7 hearing over restructuring operations that Yellow says is “vital” to the future of the company, the Teamsters accused the company of “falsehoods and baseless insults.”

In a March 30 letter obtained by LM from Bryan Reifsnyder, Yellow’s senior vice president for trucker relations, the company accused the Teamsters of “egregious falsehoods and baseless insults” in a “bad faith effort” by Teamsters leadership.

Yellow employs more than 22,000 Teamsters employees and is the largest employer in the freight sector.

“Throughout this entire process, the company’s single-minded mission has been — and continues to be — to modernize its network to meet our customers’ needs and position the company for the long-term success that is necessary to preserve 22,000 good paying Teamster jobs,” Reifsnyder’s letter said.

Yellow said it also “categorically rejects” the union’s suggestion that the proposed change is flawed and violates the National Master Freight Agreement (NMFA).

“I don’t know what the future holds and whether this company can run a good truck line,” the Teamsters’ Murphy said on the conference call with members. “I hope it can get its act together. I truly want it to succeed. We have great members at Yellow.

“The problem is the company’s to solve. It is totally unfair of the company to try and puts all its problems on us,” Murphy added.

But the ultimate solution now appears to be negotiating the changes of operation within the framework of the new NMFA in the next 12 months.