The International Brotherhood of Truckers (International Brotherhood of Teamsters) leadership approved a preliminary agreement with the American trucking company ABF Freight System.
This initial contract includes an hourly increase of 3.50 dollars (8.75 cents per mile) from July 1 and a five-year agreement period of 6.50 dollars (16.25 cents per mile).
The union said the contract raised wages by $2 per hour, giving small trucking company union employees a big raise, and only the first year's increase was more than the previous contract's entire five years combined.
the contract also retains a profit-sharing bonus, the amount of which will increase as ABF's annual operating ratio falls, to 4 per cent if the operating ratio falls to 87 per cent or below. ABF said it would pay union employees a 3 percent contract bonus based on the 2022 operating rate.
Under the agreement, ABF is required to ensure that U.S. trucking companies will not deploy driverless technology without the consent of the union. The technology would require written consent from truckers to deploy driverless trucks, and even then, it would not lead to union job losses.
"With this new agreement, we reset the bar and set a new course for the entire trucking industry," Truckers Federation President Sean M. O'Brien said in the statement. "The results achieved at the negotiating table are a testament to our strength and commitment to revamping and rebuilding the freight sector."
Raise standards
In addition to raising ABF Teamsters wages, the tentative agreement raises standards for two other union LTL carriers: Yellow and TForce Freight. Yellow is the largest employer of truckers in the LTL industry, with 22000 union workers, while TForce Freight (formerly the UPS Freight) has about 7000 truckers.
this week, Truckers began surveying Yellow's members about their priorities and demands for new or amended contracts. Yellow's contract doesn't expire until March 31, 2024, but amid a clash with the truckers union over a planned restructuring, the company has offered to advance talks.
"Just as your company needs your input to succeed, so does your union," said the Teamster notification letter signed by National Freight Director John A. M. "Only with your help can we win a new agreement that will improve the lives of all cargo truckers working in Yellow."
TForce Freight, a unit of Canadian transportation holding company TFI International, is in contract talks with the truckers union, which is expected to resume on June 26 after the company's truckers union this week approved a strike.
Yellow,TForce and ABF are the third, sixth and seventh largest LTL providers in the United States by revenue, respectively. They are also the only large union LTL supplier. However, according to research by SJ Consulting Group, their total annual income is $1.2 billion, which is about 2% of the total annual LTL income in the United States. "
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