"Confessions of A Union Buster'

WhatCrass

Active Member
If you're interested in starting a union start at FedEx Freight or you're a warehouse worker at FedEx Ground start by watching this. This 3 part series on YouTube called "Confessions of A Union Buster" will show you every trick the union busters used against the workers at FedEx Ground in Brockton, MA last summer and trust me they will be used.

But what is the magic bullet that can win you a union? Inoculation. A lesson that was sadly learned too late.

Let your co-workers watch this and let them know in advanced that FedEx will be saying the "Dues, Fees, Fines, Assessment Fees" speech over and over. Let them know every half-truth FedEx will say in advance and what happens when you do start and pass card check.




More clips and tips to come...

Confessions of a Union Buster - YouTube

U1TV - Union Busting 101 - "Fear," Episode 1 - YouTube

Union Busting 101 - Episode 2 - YouTube
 

WhatCrass

Active Member
Wish we could take advantage of at least getting the IBT to pay attention to us at Express anymore.

Well you can thank the Democrats and Republicans that were paid off by Fred for making it extremely hard (but not impossible) to organize at FedEx Express. I can explain why it is if you don't know about why FedEx Express isn't covered by the NLRB unlike the warehouse workers at FedEx Ground or FedEx Freight division.

The IBT def has the resources to coordinate a union drive at FedEx Express. Honestly, you should contact your local union hall and tell them that you want to organize a union at Express. See what they say.
 

Ricochet1a

Well-Known Member
Well you can thank the Democrats and Republicans that were paid off by Fred for making it extremely hard (but not impossible) to organize at FedEx Express. I can explain why it is if you don't know about why FedEx Express isn't covered by the NLRB unlike the warehouse workers at FedEx Ground or FedEx Freight division.

The IBT def has the resources to coordinate a union drive at FedEx Express. Honestly, you should contact your local union hall and tell them that you want to organize a union at Express. See what they say.

The IBT will thank whoever asks them for their interest in organizing, give them some literature and a stack of union representation cards and then basically say: "Best of luck!"

Anyone who's read this forum for more than a few months knows what is going on in Express...

The IBT is focusing its efforts on Freight right now - they won't even touch Express until and unless they get all of the Freight semi drivers organized and under a contract - then can show the Express RTD's what the IBT can do and start working on them.

Given the recent procedural changes in how labor in a RLA covered company must petition for a vote - organizing Express is about as likely as an 90 degree day in Antarctica (in otherwords, if you are working for Express and want to have a future, GET OUT!). There are just too many useful idiots working for Fred that won't sign cards to enable an election to even be a threat to Express now.

The speaker that is in the above videos wrote a book about 20 years ago:

"Confessions of a Union Buster" by Martin Levitt

It can be had on Amazon, but since it is out of print, it can only be purchased used at a reasonable price.

Another old book (but valuable for those who don't know to what degree corporations will go to in order to fight unions) is a book by Nathan Shefferman, "The Man in the Middle" written in 1961. It is very hard to get, but it is a good start into looking at the tactics of how union busters work.
 

vantexan

Well-Known Member
Well you can thank the Democrats and Republicans that were paid off by Fred for making it extremely hard (but not impossible) to organize at FedEx Express.

Everyone knows the Republicans are anti-union. But the Democrats had complete control of the gov't from 2008-2010. That's when the money got spread around. The Democrats could have passed the FAA bill with the Express Employees Relief Act attached at any time in those two years but "mysteriously" chose not to. FedEx would be in the process of getting unionized, if not already completely unionized, right now but the Democrats sold us out. So let's give credit where credit is due. We can rail against Republicans all we want but at least they have the courage of their convictions.
 

Ricochet1a

Well-Known Member
But the Democrats had complete control of the gov't from 2008-2010. That's when the money got spread around. The Democrats could have passed the FAA bill with the Express Employees Relief Act attached at any time in those two years but "mysteriously" chose not to.

Not true...

The Republicans held a Senate filibuster capability (the Democrats didn't have 60 votes to override a filibuster attempt) - so the Democrats DIDN'T have "complete control of the government" from 2008 (actually 1/20/09...) through Jan 3 2011, when the 112th Congress was sworn in with the Republicans taking the House.

The House during the 111th Congress passed the FAA reauthorization in quick order (removing Express from the RLA); it was one of the top priorities of Rep. Jim Oberstar of MN. The bill languished in the Senate since Fred gave his marching orders to both Sens. Alexander and Corker of TN - both Republicans.

All attempts to bring the bill to the floor were stalled in Senate committee - due in no small part to the money being handed out behind the scenes to certain Senate members. The Democrats were more interested in getting the health care legislation moved at the time, so no real effort on a small rider to a piece of legislation that would only benefit Express wage employees was going to be expended.

FedEx would be in the process of getting unionized, if not already completely unionized, right now but the Democrats sold us out. So let's give credit where credit is due. We can rail against Republicans all we want but at least they have the courage of their convictions.

Again, NOT true...

The Democrats didn't "sell out" the Express employees - the Democrats had the Express language in the FAA reauthorizaton ready to go. What happened is that the potential Republican filibuster over trying to bring the FAA bill to the floor with the Express language included made the Democrats decide to fight other battles they could win. There was no Democrat "sell out", there was a realization among the Democrat leadership that they couldn't pick off enough Senate Republicans to achieve cloture (end a potential filibuster) and move the bill to a straight up or down vote.

Now, Sen. Rockefeller didn't expend any political capital of his own to attempt to move the bill, since there was no direct benefit to his state of WV.

Since there was no way of getting the bill to the Senate floor for a vote - the bill sat on the Senate "table" all through the 111th Congress.

Once the 112th Congress started, for all intent and purposes, the rider removing Express from the RLA was dead - it became a bargaining chip in the process of hammering out the bill which actually passed.

So, the "courage of their convictions" (referring to the Republicans) is courage fueled by PAC money and lobbyists (all paid out of Fred's checkbook).

You need to get your facts straight.
 

vantexan

Well-Known Member
Not true...

The Republicans held a Senate filibuster capability (the Democrats didn't have 60 votes to override a filibuster attempt) - so the Democrats DIDN'T have "complete control of the government" from 2008...You need to get your facts straight.

Not true!! Harry Reid at any time can invoke the "nuclear option" which would allow for a simple majority of 51 to pass any legislation. The reason they don't is because it'll blow up in their face if they ram through legislation that turns out to be extremely unpopular. Can result in losing control of the Senate and having the Republicans do the same to them. If the Supreme Court doesn't overturn Obamacare but the Republicans gain control of the Senate and the Presidency, better believe they'll use a simple majority to repeal it.
 

Ricochet1a

Well-Known Member
Do you really think Reid was going to remove the parliamentary procedure of cloture just to get the FAA reauthorization moved through the Senate?

You are out to lunch if that is your line of thinking.

The reason that cloture remains as a parliamentary procedure in the Senate is because all good politicians know one day they'll be in the minority - and they want to have some ability to stop legislation that doesn't have overwhelming support.

Reid changing Senate rules to get the FAA legislation moved in the Senate....

What a load of malarkey...
 

vantexan

Well-Known Member
And why is it that the money didn't start flowing until the Democrats got control? There was absolutely no chance of a union while the Republicans controlled at least half of Congress. But as soon as the Democrats were in power there was a very serious possibility of it happening. So Ricochet1A, do you think the money flowed into REPUBLICAN PACs to keep that from happening? Really?
 

vantexan

Well-Known Member
Do you really think Reid was going to remove the parliamentary procedure of cloture just to get the FAA reauthorization moved through the Senate?

You are out to lunch if that is your line of thinking.

The reason that cloture remains as a parliamentary procedure in the Senate is because all good politicians know one day they'll be in the minority - and they want to have some ability to stop legislation that doesn't have overwhelming support.

Reid changing Senate rules to get the FAA legislation moved in the Senate....

What a load of malarkey...

The reason the FAA bill was being held up was specifically because it had the Express Workers Relief Act attached to it that would have made it much easier for us and a number of other companies to unionize. Unions are hurting these days so you'd think the party that's supposed to represent the working man and is allied with unions would have made a stand. If not then, when? They sold us out.
 

DOWNTRODDEN IN TEXAS

Well-Known Member
And they probably sold us out for a 99 Daihatsu Charade and a half-eaten bacon cheeseburger. We, the barely getting by multitudes, are not real high on their list of priorities.
 

vantexan

Well-Known Member
And they probably sold us out for a 99 Daihatsu Charade and a half-eaten bacon cheeseburger. We, the barely getting by multitudes, are not real high on their list of priorities.

If we want to be exact about who got sold out look at the Teamsters and UPS. They were the ones pushing for passage of that bill and it was a big deal to them.
 
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