Teamsters approve pay cut to save company

KANSAS CITY, Kan., Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters voted to accept a 10 percent cut in pay to help save U.S. shipping firm YRC Worldwide.

"The pain has to be shared equally," said the Kansas trucking company's Chief Executive Officer, William Zollars, who made $5.7 million in 2007 and agreed to a 10 percent pay cut for six months to be followed by a 5 percent cut for the remainder of the year, The Washington Post reported Friday.

But, some union members, who make roughly $23 an hour, were disgruntled after the vote.

"If we're all in the same boat and we're sinking, why didn't management take the same cut we are," Manassas, Va., trucker Tom Sorrell said.

In the vote, 77 percent of the 30,000 union members who voted -- out of 40,000 members -- approved of the cut.

"We are facing the worst economy in our lifetime, so we needed to act now to protect our members and their families," said Teamster general president James Hoffa in a statement.

Seattle area trucker Chuck Deaver said it was take a pay cut or face unemployment.

"Ten percent seems like a small price to pay to keep your job," he said.