Canadian truckers told not to report for work as U.S.-based Yellow shuts down

globalnews.ca:

The apparent shutdown of one of the biggest trucking companies in the U.S. is having an impact north of the border, with the union for over 100 affiliated Canadian truckers claiming they’ve been told not to report for work.

Yellow Corp., formerly known as YRC Worldwide Inc., has ceased operations and is filing for bankruptcy, according to the Teamsters Union and multiple U.S. media reports, putting roughly 30,000 jobs in jeopardy.

Unifor Local 4209, which represents 128 truckers and linehaul drivers working for Canadian Yellow subsidiary YRC Freight Canada, said in a statement Monday its members were “simply told not to report for work.”

“The news is devastating for our members,” the local’s president Don Lajoie said in the statement, which warned of the human impact of “moving numbers around a page.”

“There are hundreds of families who are left with very little information right now.”

Yellow Corp. did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Global News, and has also not answered similar requests from many other media outlets over the past few days.

No bankruptcy filings had gone live as of Monday, and the company’s website made no mention of a wind-down of operations, although a banner at the top of the homepage directed customers to reach out to its customer care office about shipments in progress.

YRC Freight Canada’s own website directed unionized and non-unionized workers to notices posted to their private employee portals and linked to Yellow’s customer care office, but otherwise showed no indication of a shutdown Monday. A request for comment was also not immediately returned.

Global News has reached out to Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan’s office and Employment and Social Development Canada for a