ABF Lawsuit
In case anyone hasn't heard.
November 02, 2010 12:00 AMABF Freight System Inc. has sued rival YRC Worldwide Inc. and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, saying a new contract between YRC and the union violates a national collective bargaining agreement.
ABF operates a service center in Manteca. YRC, known for its Yellow and Roadway trucking brands, has a terminal in Tracy.
YRC announced Saturday that its Teamsters employees had approved a new labor agreement with concessions to help keep the company afloat.
In filing suit, ABF claimed Monday that that deal and two previous pacts violate the National Master Freight Agreement, a trucking industry pact covering most unionized employees.
Union officials immediately rejected the company's claims.
"The NMFA applies equally to every company that signed it and quite simply, with these three amendments, it does not do that," Wesley Kemp, ABF's president and CEO, said in a statement. "We need a long-term, industrywide solution that is fair to all NMFA parties."
"After initial review of the ABF lawsuit and grievance, the Teamsters Union finds each of them to be frivolous and without merit," said Brad Raymond, the Teamsters general counsel. "The Teamsters will vigorously defend against the lawsuit and grievance and will withhold further comment until we have thoroughly reviewed the documents."