Trucking firm Yellow confirms laying off 1,000 NC workers – 200 in Triangle

RALEIGH – Trucking firm Yellow Corp, which shut down Sunday after a long-running labor dispute, has officially said it is laying off its 1,000 employees across North Carolina.

A mass layoff notice filed with the North Carolina Department of Commerce confirms layoffs in these cities and the number of jobs at each of its six terminals:

Morrisville, 200
Rocky Mount, 150
Fayetteville, 150
Charlotte, 200
Jacksonville, 150
Wilmington, 150

The closures are “permanent,” the WARN notice filing says.

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act is designed to “[help] ensure advance notice in cases of qualified plant closings and mass layoffs,” according to the U.S. Labor Department.

However, in the notice, Yellow said “was not able to provide earlier notice of the Shut Down as it qualifies under the ‘unforeseeable business circumstances,’ ‘faltering company,’ and ‘liquidating fiduciary’ exceptions set for in the WARN Act.”

Yeloow added that had hoped to complete one or more transactions and secure funds and business to prevent the closing of these locations but was unable to do so.”

The “effective date” for the layoffs was Sunday, July 30. The state received the notice on Tuesday and a public listing of notices was updated Thursday to show the filings.

A 99-year old trucking company that was once a dominant player in its field, it halted operations Sunday and lay off all its 30,000 workers.

The unionized company has been in a battle with the Teamsters union, which represents about 22,000 drivers and dock workers at the company. Just a week ago the union canceled a threatened strike that had been prompted by the company failing to contribute to its pension and health insurance plans. The union granted the company an extra month to make the required payments.

Yellow Corporation is also being sued by a former employee over the layoffs.

A lawsuit filed Tuesday by a former California-based Yellow worker says the carrier violated the WARN Act by terminating nearly 30,000 employees without giving them the 60-day notice the Act requires.

The lawsuit is intended to be a class action suit and demands 60-days of wages and benefits that all Yellow employees should have gotten.

CNN contributed to this story.