Teamsters demand Yellow’s previous $11-per-hour offer

A Tuesday letter from Teamsters leadership to local unions representing all of Yellow Corp.’s network said emergency negotiations that began on Sunday haven’t yielded an agreement. The union says its “bottom-line proposal” seeks the $11-per-hour wages and benefits hike previously offered by the company.

A July 12 letter from Yellow’s (NASDAQ: YELL) CEO to the Teamsters general president said the less-than-truckload carrier was willing to raise total compensation by $11 per hour over a five-year term if the union would acquiesce to its proposed change of operations. Yellow’s efforts to implement those changes, which it says are required for its survival, had been rejected by the union.

Yellow has also said that its lenders want to see full implementation of a company overhaul dubbed “One Yellow,” which includes the proposed operational changes, before restructuring its bloated debt load, $1.3 billion of which comes due next year. The carrier is in dire need of a financial reset and has said it will be out of cash at some point this month.

It recently missed required contribution payments to health, welfare and pension funds at Central States. The delinquency prompted a strike notice from affected Teamsters at YRC Freight and Holland, threatening a work stoppage on Monday. At the union’s behest, Central States granted the company a 30-day extension on the payment, agreeing to keep union members’ insurance coverage intact in the interim, thus averting a strike.

The Teamsters letter said the company previously informed the union it would miss payments to other funds as well.

Starting Sunday, Yellow and the Teamsters have met “nearly around the clock” to come up with a long-term solution that Yellow could show to lenders, which would allow the carrier “to obtain financing and restructure its debt,” according to the letter.

In the proceedings, the union asked for the $11-per-hour package. Yellow rejected and countered with “a proposal that was less than what it had told the Union and the members as recently as late as last week would be available.” The union rejected the counter and said the $11 increase is “its bottom line.”

“Yellow has not yet responded to the Union,” the letter said.

Company officials were not immediately available to provide their perspective of the negotiations.

The two parties stuck on the amount of the increase is odd given Yellow told Teamsters at the end of May that it wouldn’t be able to fund an increase as small as 60 cents per hour without approval from lenders. The Tuesday letter shows the two parties are haggling over a number that the company can’t pay without a capital infusion in order to get an agreement it hopes to sell to lenders.

All the while, the company is operating in a diminished capacity. Its customers have diverted freight and load boards have removed it as a carrier option. On Tuesday, an internal document showed it was “limiting pick-up operations in all terminals.”

“The Union stands ready to work with and assist Yellow in its effort to secure financing to avert a shutdown provided Yellow agrees to TNFINC’s [Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee] proposal. While we await Yellow’s response, we ask that you remain the professionals you are famous for,” the union’s letter concluded.

Shares of YELL were off 24.3% Tuesday compared to the S&P 500, which was up 0.3%.

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