Fedex Freight PUSHING FOR THE UNION
- Thread starter Avalon
- Start date
PiedmontSteward
RTW-4-Less
I haven't heard anything, other than some dated stuff from 2009-2011. I hope they're actually making progress and can get a toe-hold in FedEx.
Truth be told, we need to be organizing the FedEx Ground hubs. They can be organized under the NLRA (hub-by-hub until we organized enough of them that we can shut down the entire system if Fred S won't bargain in good faith) and that's where all the volume is going these days.
Truth be told, we need to be organizing the FedEx Ground hubs. They can be organized under the NLRA (hub-by-hub until we organized enough of them that we can shut down the entire system if Fred S won't bargain in good faith) and that's where all the volume is going these days.
Brownslave688
You want a toe? I can get you a toe.
I really think if the teamsters wanted to they could get all of FedEx. They aren't willing to get on the ground and do the dirty work though.
Wonder how much Fred S is paying. Hoffa to stay away? I wouldn't be surprised!l
PiedmontSteward
RTW-4-Less
I can understand IBT not wanting to pursue Express because of the RLA exemption.. but not going after FedEx Freight/Ground is a mistake, in my opinion. They don't want to give FedEx a headline if a station were to vote down a unionization effort.
barnyard
KTM rider
Wow.
It is mind boggling how little you know about organizing.
Right now, Ground is all independent contractors. Most have very few employees. Very, very few buildings have only one contractor, that means dealing with more than one group at every building. Any idea how much that would cost???? Plus, if a contractor does unionize, it is probable that the contractor would lose their contract.
Going after individual Freight terminals is the only way to get a union foot in the door.
It is mind boggling how little you know about organizing.
Right now, Ground is all independent contractors. Most have very few employees. Very, very few buildings have only one contractor, that means dealing with more than one group at every building. Any idea how much that would cost???? Plus, if a contractor does unionize, it is probable that the contractor would lose their contract.
Going after individual Freight terminals is the only way to get a union foot in the door.
PiedmontSteward
RTW-4-Less
What's mind boggling is that you didn't understand I was referring to the Ground hubs, not the drivers. The drivers are 1099'd Independent Contractors, the employees in the FedEx Ground hubs are not.
The FedEx Ground network is expanding and FedEx is sinking tons of revenue into expanding existing facilities as more and more volume shifts over to ground. The hub workers at FedEx Ground hubs perform similar jobs as those that work in UPS facilities and they are covered under the NLRA rather than the RLA. We can't go after the drivers until the independent contractor model is finally ruled illegal by the courts or individual state legislatures. However, we can go after the ground hub workers right now and did so in Brockton, MA back in ~2011 but pulled out before the election.
Brownslave688
You want a toe? I can get you a toe.
U kno Fred ain't no dummy. This is why he pays his part timers so well I think. Money isn't the only thing but its the most important thing. Teamsters have a hard sell when your telling a FedEx worker how great the ups part timers have it and they are already making $5 an hour more than the ups workers.
PiedmontSteward
RTW-4-Less
You're right. And the PT'ers at Ground get more hours, to boot. However, they don't get any health care benefits (unlike the PT'ers at Express) or paid holidays. They receive personal days and marginal raises; one of the Ground hub guys I was in contact with told me he received a 10 cent raise earlier in the year.
Notretiredyet
Well-Known Member
I go into a FedX ground facility at least twice a week to pick up our packages that end up in their trailers at bulk shippers. Always take the opportunity when asked about the benefits of being a union member, there's a lot of people inside working the belts and sorts. They pretty much run the same way as our facilities, only they get paid a few dollars less. IMO the only problem in organizing these places is the fact that there's really not a large enough difference in pay for inside people to be willing to risk their jobs to unionize. If the Teamsters were really serious about organizing FedX they needed to take care of the PT'ers at UPS first with a reasonable wage and make the difference enough to use as an example of what FedX workers could earn if unionized.
PiedmontSteward
RTW-4-Less
This is actually a pretty valid point. From what I've read/heard, starting pay is roughly $10.50/hr at Ground and caps out at $14.50/hr after 4 years, which is still better than PT'ers at UPS (without factoring in pension and H&W). They also face the same problems with a lack of opportunities to go FT as UPS PT'ers do. The four-year pay scale effectively mirrors pay at UPS for PT'ers, presumably to lessen the threat of unionization in the hubs.
Providing a side-by-side comparison between how much they receive in H&W and pension contributions ($0) and how much even a UPS PT'er receives (several hundred dollars per week for H&W for FT'ers in my area, not including pension contributions) would definitely help make the case. It won't be easy, but I consider organizing Ground/FedEx Freight absolutely necessary to our continued survival. Look at what deregulation did -- and with it the rise of the owner-operator model (along with dirt bags like IBT GP Frank Fitzimmons allowing union companies to create double-breasted scab subsidiaries like Conway) -- to unionized freight.
