Teamsters

The end game regarding the unsettled labor situation between Atlanta-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider UPS and the Teamsters may be getting closer to an end result this week, with local unions representing UPS Teamsters conducting in-person voting for strike authorization.

The Teamsters union has come out guns blazing in the first of four separate negotiations with freight companies in the United States and Canada over the next year. In what is likely merely a negotiating ploy, the Teamsters negotiating committee said a strike authorization had been approved by members covered under ABF Freight’s National Master Freight Agreement (NMFA).

Quarterly revenue—at $22.9 billion—was off 6% annually, and adjusted earnings per share—at $2.20—fell 27.9%, for the same period. Consolidated quarterly operating profit came in at $2.5 billion, which was off 22.8% annually on an adjusted basis.

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.

In a supplemental update, the Teamsters said that it put UPS on notice during supplemental bargaining meetings throughout the country last week, refusing the “company’s outrageous insistence on cost-neutral agreements,” and adding that while some progress was made on various proposals by the union, the Teamsters also saw some disturbing backsliding by the company.

After the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) announced that it was cancelling a scheduled April 7 hearing over restructuring operations that Yellow says is “vital to the future of our company,” the company has fired back with a letter to Teamsters National Freight Director John Murphy accusing the union of “falsehoods and baseless insults.”

The Teamsters union and Yellow Corp., the union’s largest employer in the less-than-truckload (LTL) sector, aren’t wasting any time throwing shade on each other. The Teamsters’ labor agreement with Yellow does not expire until March 31, 2024. But hard feelings over the “One Yellow” terminal reorganization may be poisoning the waters well before negotiations even begin.

A key theme in Atlanta-based global freight transportation and express delivery and logistics services provider UPS’s fourth quarter earnings call yesterday centered around its contract with the Teamsters, which is set to expire on July 31. On the earnings call, UPS CEO Carol Tomé made it clear where UPS is coming from, in. advance of its negotiations with the Teamsters, noting that the Teamsters have very important to the company for the better part of the last 100 years.

Yellow Corp., which controls 10 percent of the $46 billion less-than-truckload (LTL) market, has begun a proposed change of operations that CEO Darren Hawkins says will make the carrier much more efficient and easier for shippers to use.

The long-simmering problem of how to correctly classify trucking industry workers—either as contractors or employees—has arisen once again. In a precedent-setting move, the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) general counsel is alleging two trucking companies are misclassifying drivers as independent contractors in violation of federal labor law.

XPO Logistics misclassifies, exploits drivers with independent contractor schemes designed to deny workers basic rights, benefits, consequently, XPO port and rail truck drivers are seeking to form a union representing essential links in the nation's supply chain.

​The insurgent team of Sean O’Brien from Boston and Fred Zuckerman from Louisville has earned an overwhelming victory to become the next president and vice president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) for the next five years.

For the first time in 23 years, someone other than a Hoffa will lead the 1.4 million- member Teamsters union in a closely watched election this fall that could have implications for shippers in the freight and small package sector. Ballots will be mailed out Oct. 1. The winner is expected to be announced around Nov. 15.

For the first time this century, a man named Hoffa will not be leading the 1.4 million-member Teamsters union come 2022. James P. “Jim” Hoffa began the end of an era for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, telling The Detroit News he will not seek reelection just as the nation’s largest labor union last week makes a historic exit from government oversight.

The Teamsters said that this contract raises wages, restores a week of vacation, and protects benefits. This contract covers roughly 25,000 YRC Freight workers at its YRC Freight Holland, and New Penn subsidiaries and was approved by a 60% to 40% margin. While the votes are in, the contract will not go into effect until the YRC Freight Teamsters Joint Council 40, who rejected the contract, has the required votes.