The NMB considers a three part test for such employees.
Do they provide services principally for an RLA carrier? (No)
Are they an integral part of that affiliate? (No)
Do they provide services essential to the RLA carrier's operations? (No)
The general rule of thumb used by the NMB is that a contractor shouldn't even bother seeking RLA classification if 80% of his business doesn't come from an RLA carrier.
UPS sought to have their ground drivers classified as RLA because they transport most of the air packages. Didn't work. Guess you'll have to try something els
It's not really an argument. One side has studied the issue and posts relevant court decisions and labor board decisions. The other side doesn't care about any of that and just screams its talking points over and over.
As usual, you gain very conveniently forget to mention that FedEx Express has changed it's basic business model.UPS Ground Drivers were already NLRA, which you forget to say, and the whole point of reclassifying FedEx drivers is to bring them INTO NLRA status. So, I guess you'll have to agree that ALL FedEx drivers should now be NLRA, just like UPS.
Forget about the RLA, because it no longer should apply to the new Grexpress ,sir. As others have said, including numerous legal experts, the move to have Ground deliver Express packages should result in Express losing it's RLA status. The legal system moves slowly, but it will eventually catch-up to this issue. Raj can claim Ground only delivers X% of Express packages and that it doesn't meet the NMB threshold of Y%, which essentially seems to be what you are claiming. Is FedEx keeping Ground's share under 50% in order to claim a legal technicality in order to keep the unions out? Perhaps, but isn't this just another example of FedEx gaming the system to eke out a very weak rationale that what they're doing isn't a violation of labor law? Or another case of creating a business "playing field" which is tilted entirely toward FedEx and away from UPS?
It's like taking a tabletop hockey game and inclining it 45 degrees to one end and then calling the ensuing game "fair". And on another level, it's "bait and switch", because FedEx customers tender (and pay for) an expected service they are not receiving. Again, Raj is still charging these same folks rates and surcharges Express packages that will never see the interior of an aircraft, nor be treated as premium freight. We've already seen how Ground has failed to provide a similar level of service to Express.
When you order your new Tesla from Elon and he sends you a pedal car with a 9V battery, just shut up and pay your money.
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