Trucking Company Yellow Lays off Workers, Blames Teamsters Union for Financial Turmoil
Yellow (NASDAQ: YELL), the third-largest less-than-truckload company, which is currently under financial turmoil, has announced layoffs of an undisclosed number of office employees. Yellow, based in Nashville, Tennessee, has a 99-year history and employs around 30,000 workers. Of these, approximately 22,000 are represented by the Teamsters union.
This decision, revealed in voice-only calls, predominantly affected non-union workers, such as technology employees, customer service personnel, and various sales divisions among others.
Tensions have been escalating between Yellow and the Teamsters union for several months over modifications to key work regulations at the trucking fleet, while sources cited by Yahoo Finance speculate that Yellow is on the verge of filing for bankruptcy. Chief Commercial Officer Jason Bergman, in a call with the Yellow sales teams, blamed the Teamsters’ unwillingness to negotiate for the company’s precarious financial situation and indicated the need for further reduction of non-union staff.
“Since last January, we have made every attempt to meet with the IBT. The IBT’S refusal to negotiate for nine months, its freezing of our essential business plan, One Yellow and, finally, its strike authorizations caused customers to find alternative freight carriers and it’s had a catastrophic effect on our business,” he said.
The Teamsters union, however, blamed Yellow’s management for the company’s financial distress, stating that despite years of concessions and a substantial government bailout loan in 2020, Yellow might not be able to handle its massive debt. “Unfortunately, despite more than a decade of concessions totaling billions of dollars given to the Company by Teamster members as well as a massive government bailout loan in 2020, Yellow may finally be succumbing to its enormous debt burden,” the union wrote in a memo cited by FreightWaves.
Information for this story was found via the sources mentioned within the article. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
