UNIONIZED FREIGHT CARRIERS REACH LABOR AGREEMENT
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters and negotiators for the four major unionized less-than-truckload carriers reached tentative agreement Thursday afternoon on a new five-year contract eight weeks before the current contract is set to expire.
The MFCA represents ABF Freight Systems, Roadway Express, Yellow Transportation and USF Holland. About 60 other LTL carriers piggyback on the National Master Freight Agreement signed by the Big Four either by signing the agreement, adhering to its provisions or using it as a model to negotiate similar contracts.
'We have reached an agreement that gives our companies the tools to provide expanded service offerings, provides job security for our employees and ensures uninterrupted service to our customers,' Tim Lynch, president of the Motor Freight Carriers Association, said in a prepared statement.
The agreement comes after the two sides broke off negotiations on a new National Master Freight Agreement Jan. 20 and a Teamsters announcement earlier in the week that more than 95% of rank-and-file members had authorized a strike if talks fail to produce an agreement. A new round of talks that began Feb. 5 in Chicago quickly produced the labor deal.
Negotiations on a new master freight agreement began late last year on regional supplemental contracts as LTL carriers hoped to avoid the specter of a potential strike that might force customers to switch carriers in advance of a last-minute agreement. In 1997 United Parcel Service endured a 15-days strike and renewed its contract with the Teamsters last year before the old agreement expired. But the memory of the labor action prompted many customers that did not want to take a chance on having their shipments disrupted to switch to FedEx and other carriers.
The Teamsters claimed they won the largest wage and benefits package ever in the freight industry, at a total value of approximately $1.7 billion, compared to $700 million in the 1998 contract. Wages will increase $2.25 per hour from the current base of $19.90 along with a $3.10 rise in health and pension benefits over the life the contract. About 85,000 truck drivers, clerks, warehousemen and other workers ultimately will be covered by the new contract, including 65,000 at the Big Four LTL carriers.
Teamsters President James Hoffa said in a statement: 'This is a very strong contract and a milestone in the history of the Teamsters Union. Today we end a decade of concessions in the freight industry.'
The average wage and benefits increase is 3.4 percent over the term of the agreement and the contract ensures that members will not have to contribute to their health care plans, according to a Teamsters statement. A previous proposal by the trucking companies would for the first time ever have required some union members to pay a share of their health-care premiums, something the union vigorously opposed.
Terms of the agreement, according to the Teamsters, include:
* A cost of living adjustment if inflation exceeds 3 percent.
* A prohibition on employers subcontracting any work in the United States to a Mexican carrier.
* A 2-percent reduction in the amount of cargo that can be diverted to rail carriers.
* Air conditioning for all city equipment and walk-in sleeper cabs for all sleepers purchased after April 1.
* Higher minimum-speed standards for trucks.
* Additional vacation for long-time workers.
* Improved grievance procedures and the elimination of arbitration.
* Pay premiums for sleeper teams and premium service.
Rank-and-file members must still ratify the contract, but a date for completing collection of mail-in ballots has not been determined yet, Teamsters spokesman Rob Black said.
Meanwhile, in separate developments, the Teamsters announced that about 600 drivers, warehouse workers and maintenance employees at co-op food distributor Associated Wholesalers Inc. in Robesonia, Penn., ratified a four-year contract and 400 drivers and warehouse workers at Local 1999 in Montreal ratified an agreement with Labatt Breweries of Canada.