I didn't listen to it, I read it. And here is what I came away with. Quote: "We spent a considerable amount of time over the past few years getting ready for this integration..." I only mention this because several of you have sworn that this is a spur of the moment decision, that you never thought these two would be combined. Well you were wrong!
Teamsters are part of a joint letter to customers outlining substantial benefits of integration.
The $200-million savings is based on a 5% savings in labor costs from line-haul, P&D and dock. That ain't no 20,000 workers. As Gaines says in the latest Yellow newsletter, many employees are significantly overestimating the impact of the integration on jobs.
When Roadway was acquired, others expected we would lose a significant amount of business, which didn't happen. The same things are being predicted all over this forum again.
We plan to be more aggressive in cost planning from Thanksgiving on. As you all know, this is SOP. They may tell you otherwise, they always do. But you know full well that they try and save a bundle ever holiday season by laying off and saving guaranteed holiday pay.
And let's not dismiss the fact that the original predicted numbers of 15-20 K was prematurely thought to just be labor jobs, i.e TEAMSTERS ! When in fact many of these jobs lost already, are in management, and back office as well... hence the reason for the inflated numbers.
And yes, LarryRetired is right..."Tis the season"...for the past couple years , YRC has cut hours, benefits, this time of year to save money. They cut my hours from 40 to 35 last year. And if It takes me more than 8 hours one day, instead of 7 , I am suppose to come in an "Hour later"... What a bunch of crap... And my holiday pay was for 7 hours , not 8 hours... What a bunch of crap...
Even my salary paid bosses were told they will not have any more contributions paid in buy the company towards their pension, until after Jan 2009 ( maybe )... My Teamsters asked if this was happening to me also. I said, No, I'm non-union hourly paid. They pay a nickel in, and I still get my nickel... Not like the salary people.....
No wonder everyone is so grumpy....
And the economy IS a BIG reason, for many layoffs lately... The dern freight JUST AIN'T There ! Look at yer own personal situation here. Are you still buy, buy, buy, like you were a couple years ago? Or are you now holding back, just a bit, and letting things go, and just doing with what ya got??
I know I am, holding back, and just letting things go, spending less, and doin' without.... and asking myself, do I really need this, or spend money on this right now?
We ( YRC ) did not lose any business, as Larry says, when the two companies came together in the first place. Business was booming ! If I take a look at at a couple of my regular customers... one make RV parts, yeah, who's buying an RV right now. One make parts for GM and Toyota. One makes suntan lotion, etc.... Sea Ray and Boston Whaler, anybody buying a BOAT TODAY ? Even my #1 customer, makes "over the counter drugs" for drug stores.... Suddenly, people don't seem to need that "scar gel" so much any more... It's the economic index.....