YRC in talks to revise labor contract following union's rejection of earlier proposal; struggling company's shares had lost a third of their value following workers' Jan. 9 vote

Cindy Allen

January 16, 2014 (Thomson Reuters Corp.) – Struggling trucker YRC Worldwide Inc said it was in talks to revise a labor contract, after an earlier proposal was rejected by Teamsters union workers. YRC Worldwide shares shot up as much as 22 percent early on Thursday morning. They had lost nearly a third of their value until Wednesday since workers voted down the contract on Jan. 9.

"We understand that simply re-voting the same proposal is not an option," Chief Executive James Welch said in a statement on Thursday.

The Teamsters union and a YRC spokeswoman could not be immediately reached for comment.

YRC, which faces repayment of over $1 billion in debt from February, had to call off a meeting with bankers on Jan. 10 after 61 percent of its Teamster union workers rejected the proposal.

The company said in December it struck a deal with some investors to write off about $300 million in debt, contingent to union members extending the labor contract.

The Overland Park, Kansas-based company's shares were up 20 percent at $15.31 on the Nasdaq. (Reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani and Sweta Singh in Bangalore)

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