An Arkansas judge has dismissed a lawsuit by ABF Freight System against rival less-than-truckload carrier YRC Worldwide that had sought to invalidate a labor agreement between YRC and the Teamsters union.
U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright late Thursday granted motions by YRC and the Teamsters to dismiss the suit due to lack of standing, the Kansas City (Mo.) Business Journal reported.
ABF said it was “disappointed” with the ruling and was considering its next step, including a possible appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, ABF said in a statement on its website.
After YRC and the Teamsters reached an agreement including labor concessions in late October, ABF filed suit for what it called violations of the National Master Freight Agreement collective bargaining agreement that covers most U.S. unionized trucking employees.
The Teamsters unions said it was pleased with the ruling.
“We have said all along that ABF took itself out of the National Master Freight Agreement and therefore has no right to bring the suit,” said Teamsters General Counsel Brad Raymond.
“The bench dismissal should send a strong message to ABF that its attempts to interfere with the contractual arrangement between YRCW and its Teamsters-represented employees must end,” he said in a statement.
ABF is a unit of Arkansas Best Corp, ranked No. 16 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers. YRC is ranked No. 4.
