Ricochet1a
Well-Known Member
No, one this one, you are wrong. The Teamsters know that stations in the Northeast US would organize in a snap if the RLA was lifted - the IBT knows they have a willing base there if the RLA is lifted. The issue is the dilution of the pool with the statons in the mid-west, south and west. This is where the resistance to the Teamsters is and this is where Fred gets his guaranteed "no vote" if a nationwide certification election were to ever happen (snowball's chance under RLA).
Union organizing has always been a tough fight, especially against a well oiled machine like FedEx. I became an OLCC magnet leading up to my planned departure - officially due to minor issues, in reality due to my breaking cover and beginning to openly advocate signing union cards. There will have to be enough who are willing to lose their job in the process in order to get anywhere. I constantly fought the resistance of the Couriers who didn't want to stick their head up and make their opinion heard - they wanted all the benefits and perks of union membership, but they weren't willing to fight in order to get there. I still aid and assist whenever possible, but I still maintain "cover" in this forum since I want to protect my former co-workers from the retaliation which I experienced first hand. Most of them aren't in a position to jump ship at this time, so I keep in contact with those I know who have access to information and try to do some coordinating outside any official union capacity.
Who abandoned who in the '90s is subject to debate, but in the larger picture, that is all water under the bridge. The present is all that matters. Right now the IBT isn't going to expend any real resources to get Express to unionize as long as the RLA is in place. Look at the Teamster primary source of information to the employees of Express, FedEx Watch and the mechanics site. FedEx watch has been boarded up for a long time and the Teamsters pretty much gave up any real updating of info on the mechanics site in January - it has been over 4 months since ANY update has been made to that site.
If the RLA were lifted, the IBT would dive in - in particular the NE U.S. and possibly key locations on the west coast. In the meantime, Express employees will need to make the decision to "come to the Teamsters" on their own, continue to put up with what Fred has to offer or hold out hope for a "Choice C" which will never come. Right now, on a national basis a majority are willing to put up with Fred, followed by those wanting Choice C, then by those who want the Teamsters. Even among those who want the Teamsters, they are evenly split between those who are willing to sign union cards right now and those who want to sit on the sidelines waiting for something to happen.
From my experience and those I coordinated with in various stations, Express doesn't have a snowball's chance of organizing - mostly due to the RLA, but also due to the complete lack of willingness on behalf of Couriers to think beyond their immediate self interest and think in terms of a greater interest and being willing to take personal risks in order to achieve a common goal which may not meet 100% of their personal goal.
Most had a list of things they had to have "guaranteed" in some sort of non-existant document which they would achieve if they were to sign an IBT card. Trying to get Couriers to take the risk of signing union cards, then waiting until there was a majority in craft with signed cards, then having a certification vote, then trying to get Express to bargain with the union, then go through the process of the craft determining what the contract demands were going to be.... Almost without exception, they wanted no part of it. They saw all risk and no reward.
Union organizing is much like being an entreprenuer. The the rewards are potenially high, but the risks to get to that reward is often more than most are willing to endure. As pissed off as Express employees are, they are still more scared than pissed off. There has to come a point where the majority overcome their fear, decide they have far more to gain than lose in signing a union card and go for broke. I know that Express employees aren't there yet - and unfortunately will probably never be.
All that realistically can be done is try to get enough information out there so that some can make plans to depart Express on their terms rather than waiting for Fred to make them depart on his terms. The pension is gone, and absent a union, it will soon be a distant memory. Each day Express employees work under the PPP rather than a defined benefit plan, they lose more and more ground. Possibly in the near future, when enough Couriers look at their PPP statement in mid-summer (after the end of FY addition of funds) and realize that they don't have a pension, they have what amounts to a medical savings account to pay for their medical expenses between retirement and when Social Security and Medicare kick in, they'll get sufficiently pissed off. In the meantime, the majority will be longing for a never to happen Choice C, while the Teamsters conserve their resources while stating, "come to us, and we'll work together - don't come to us, and best of luck with Fred". I honestly can't blame the Teamsters for taking that approach.
