International Brotherhood of Teamsters members at ABF Freight are willing to strike if their bargaining demands are not met as the current contract’s June 30 expiration approaches.
The 8,000 unionized employees at the carrier voted by 97.7% to authorize a strike, Teamsters National Freight Director John Murphy said in a notice to members Wednesday.
“The members’ support comes at a critical time as we head into the final phase of bargaining,” Murphy wrote.
The secret ballot vote at ABF Freight is an escalation of tactics for the union’s freight division, which is also muscling up in negotiations for new union contracts for its members at Yellow Corp. and TForce Freight.
The union’s demands for ABF Freight include wage and pension improvements, as well as contractual protections against purchased transportation, inward-facing cameras, in-cab monitoring and AVs.
ABF Freight's parent company, ArcBest Corp., did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has previously declined to comment on updates during the ongoing negotiations.
Hundreds of ABF Teamsters members rallied in support of the union’s bargaining committee members during a previous round of bargaining in Chicago, the Teamsters said in a May 12 update on the talks.
“The parties currently remain far apart on economics,” the union said in the update.
