ABF, Teamsters Agree to 15% Wage Cut
ABF Freight System and the Teamsters union have reached agreement on a 15% wage reduction to help the less-than-truckload carrier cope with losses triggered by the recession.
The plan, still subject to ratification by union members, includes a provision that managers and other non-union workers receive the same percentage reduction, including the benefit, pension and wage adjustments that already have taken effect for those workers.
The agreement also provides for gradual restoration of the cuts for union workers as ABF’s profitability improves.
ABF becomes the second LTL carrier to win a wage concession deal from the union, following YRC Worldwide, which won concessions from its workers last year due to recession-related losses.
Leaders of union locals recommended approval of the plan after hearing details Monday in Chicago. The union said ballots will be sent out April 29.
“Local union leaders understand that we need to take a bold step to help ABF get through this terrible economy and that we must act now to prevent far worse problems down the road,” Tyson Johnson, director of the union’s National Freight Division, said in a statement on the Teamsters’ Web site.
ABF Freight System is a unit of Arkansas Best Corp., ranked No. 18 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.
By Rip Watson
Senior Reporter
