When Yellow Trucking abruptly shuttered operations, it put 30,000 people out of work and owed the federal government more than $700 million in taxpayer loan debt. Just over six months later, the 99-year-old freight hauler completed a liquidation of its assets and recently paid back the pandemic loan. The same cannot be said of money the International Brotherhood of Teamsters seeks in pension contributions.
After closing the doors on July 30, 2023, Yellow’s fiscal actions incensed workers and politically motivated critics. The organization weighed its ledger sheet down with debt many saw as irresponsible. The notion that Yellow had paid its executives yearly bonuses during a rocky period only added fuel to the fire.
“It’s a slap in the face after all we have done for them,” Keith Stephenson, a 35-year Yellow employee, reportedly said at the time. “The working people of this country shouldn’t have to pay corporate America’s credit card off. There was a $700 million bailout. They owe $729 million to the federal government.”
It took just over half a year, but Yellow reportedly repaid its debt to taxpayers on Monday, Feb. 4. Not only did it pony up the $700 million, but the defunct operation also wrote a check to the U.S. Treasury Department for more than $151 million in interest as well. The repayment process may not have been quite as challenging as some expected. That’s largely because a Delaware judge approved bids tallying upwards of $1.9 billion for its real estate assets.
While taxpayers may feel better about Yellow repaying the Covid-related loans, union officials are not. Yellow shut its doors almost unexpectedly, leaving truckers stranded and out-of-pocket for expenses the company typically picked up. Leadership officials at the Teamsters union appear irate that its members didn’t get the first bite at the proverbial apple.
“The money Yellow boasts that it’s repaid the federal government is but a fraction of the $5 billion that hardworking Teamsters gave back to this mismanaged company in wage and pension concessions for more than a decade, money that the workers to this day have not seen,” A Teamsters spokeswoman reportedly stated. “Working people should have been first in line for relief during Yellow’s bankruptcy proceedings. Yellow may have kept its promise to the taxpayers, but it betrayed a loyal workforce. That fact will be its shameful legacy.”
According to reports, Teamsters pension fund officials and creditors are trying to recover debts from the remaining bankruptcy settlement money.
Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/05/bankrupt-trucker-yellow-repays-700-million-covid-loan.html
https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2024/02/05/yellow-cares-act-loan-interest-repayment.html
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