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Shipping News LTL Strike Avoided
February 10, 2003
CHICAGO—The Teamsters union has announced it has reached a tentative agreement on a new five-year master contract with four major trucking companies that will boost wages and maintain health insurance coverage at no cost to drivers and other workers. The current contract with the Motor Freight Carriers Association expires March 31. The association comprises the trucking divisions of Roadway Corp., Yellow Corp., Arkansas Best Corp., and USFreightways Corp.. The tentative agreement would cover 65,000 truck drivers, dock workers and office personnel, and still must be approved by union members. Smaller freight hauling companies traditionally adopt similar contracts and employ another 20,000 Teamsters. The last Teamsters strike over the freight contract was in 1994, when the union walked out over a plan by the companies to give more work to low-paid, part-time workers and use more trains. The strike lasted three weeks. The trucking firms blamed labor uncertainty during talks five years ago for temporarily losing corporate customers to regional carriers, rail and other transportation sources. |
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