Here's a little history lesson for both of you. The organization effort failed in 1996-97 because Fred S successfully had the Express Carrier Exemption language snuck into the FAA Reauthorization Act literally at the last minute by his political buddies. This let the RLA live-on, at which point the Teamsters just vanished. It was not the extra money tossed at topped-out couriers that made the difference, it was the legislation.
I had approached our Teamsters local back in 1995 along with 2 of my fellow disenchanted couriers. We met with 2 of their reps several times over lunch, and I met with their entire organizing team because my route had the IBT office on it and it was easily accessible to me on break. I'd park around the corner, and walk a block so management wouldn't see a FedEx van parked in the IBT lot.
We were assured legal support if we were fired, and placement in a Teamster job if necessary, so we began "informational meetings" at local halls and sometimes at neutral locations like restaurants close to stations. Attendance averaged 15-20 people, with an occasional manager or unknown person we would ask to leave, and then physically eject, as needed. All of the managers we caught were busily scribbling down the names of people they recognized. The biggest fear was that managment would retaliate against those in attendance, a very real possibility.
Soon after, I began to be followed, both on my route, and in my personal vehicle. Once, I was able to get behind the following vehicle, and was led to the home of a manager from another station, whom I knew. Let's just say they were surprised when I rang the doorbell and told them they needed to stop tailing me. Eventually, I found out this manager had been assigned to monitor me, and had to give weekly reports to the MD and Memphis. My two other friends were similarly harassed.
At work, I began to get extra stops, and my performance was monitored very closely. I had to be very careful to do everything on the up and up. The same held true for the other two "leaders".
We kept holding meetings, and despite Teamster assurance that a rep would be there, they never showed. They had promised that reps would be outside stations handing out cards and information...never happened. Even though the national had decreed that there was an organization drive, the Teamster effort was weak, at least in my location.
One day, the MD walked up to me on the belt and mentioned the raise topped-out people received, and he asked me if that would be enough to stall the drive to organize. I said "no". and walked away.
Shortly thereafter, Fred successfully got his special language inserted into the FAA Bill, and the Teamsters disappeared. I was really starting to get harassed, and I wanted to take them up on the offer of a Teamster job. "No longer on the table", was the answer. Me and my two friends were hung out to dry. One of them got canned after being targeted for a long time, and the other barely kept his job. No legal support...nothing.
Here's the point, which is the IBT plays dirty too. I hate that they are the only game in town and that they have been so weak and wavering on the whole issue of organizing Express. They don't understand the Express culture, which is like WalMart in that it means bad things if you are identified as an organizer. The IBT simply doesn't understand this, and I don't think they ever will.
Until we overcome the intimidation game that Fred plays, we won't get a union. The status quo R1a mentions seems firmly in-place for the time being. If the IBT really is the only game in town, we have to play by their rules, even if it means holding our noses as we do.It's possible, but unlikely that another union will be interested because the IBT has a corner on "drivers". Signing cards and sharing information are both key, and we cannot stop the effort.
Anything we do to thwart Fred is a good thing.
