Fedex Should be Nervous...

[Leftinbuilding]

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2007 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ --
The Teamsters Union praised
the House Transportation Committee for voting today to make it easier for
FedEx Express drivers, mechanics and other ground workers to improve their
lives by forming unions.

The committee voted overwhelmingly for an amendment to the Federal
Aviation Administration funding bill that would allow FedEx Express drivers
and mechanics to organize under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). They
have been wrongly covered by the Railway Labor Act (RLA) since FedEx
successfully got a provision slipped in legislation in 1996 to retain special
status as an airline, thus throwing up a major roadblock for its ground
workers to form unions.

"It's time to ground FedEx's labor act charade," said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters
General President. "The Teamsters Union commends the House Transportation
Committee for taking this important step today to help FedEx Express drivers
and mechanics who want to achieve the American dream. The legislation also
recognizes the mechanics' professional status and provides them a better
opportunity to organize."

FedEx Express workers under the RLA must win a nationwide campaign and
reach the unreasonable threshold of majority support of all eligible company
employees, not just those who vote. UPS workers, however, are under the NLRA,
which allows employees to form unions at individual work sites across the
country through a simple majority vote.

"FedEx's unfair advantage has allowed it to profit on the backs of its
workers, who have faced slower growth in wage increases, hikes in health care
costs and the demise of their pension plan," Hoffa said. "This important
provision protects the rights of workers and is in the interest of fairness
and competitiveness in the package delivery industry."

 

[loserupser]

Well its about time, the field is going to be level

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2007 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ --
The Teamsters Union praised
the House Transportation Committee for voting today to make it easier for
FedEx Express drivers, mechanics and other ground workers to improve their
lives by forming unions.

The committee voted overwhelmingly for an amendment to the Federal
Aviation Administration funding bill that would allow FedEx Express drivers
and mechanics to organize under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). They
have been wrongly covered by the Railway Labor Act (RLA) since FedEx
successfully got a provision slipped in legislation in 1996 to retain special
status as an airline, thus throwing up a major roadblock for its ground
workers to form unions.

"It's time to ground FedEx's labor act charade," said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters
General President. "The Teamsters Union commends the House Transportation
Committee for taking this important step today to help FedEx Express drivers
and mechanics who want to achieve the American dream. The legislation also
recognizes the mechanics' professional status and provides them a better
opportunity to organize."

FedEx Express workers under the RLA must win a nationwide campaign and
reach the unreasonable threshold of majority support of all eligible company
employees, not just those who vote. UPS workers, however, are under the NLRA,
which allows employees to form unions at individual work sites across the
country through a simple majority vote.

"FedEx's unfair advantage has allowed it to profit on the backs of its
workers, who have faced slower growth in wage increases, hikes in health care
costs and the demise of their pension plan," Hoffa said. "This important
provision protects the rights of workers and is in the interest of fairness
and competitiveness in the package delivery industry."

 

[Channahon]

A great win for the Teamsters

Your Teamster DRIVE dollars at work.

 

[Jove]

A great win for the Teamsters

Your Teamster DRIVE dollars at work.

....Lets see if Fred S (USMC) gives in to the commie teamsters

 

[samiam]

I'm sorry, really off subject, but can any one please inform me of how to start a new discusion thread. Any help would be great. Thank you for your time.

 

[moreluck]

If, for instance, you go to UPS Discussions, right below it says "member's List" and right below that there is a box that says "New Thread". Just click on New Thread and you must post a title for your thread and then your comment (post)

 

[GuyinBrown]

Glad it happened, but I'll get excited about this when the IBT actually manages to organize one of their sites (and that isn't likely to happen until well after our contract is settled). Lately it doesn't seem like they've managed to organize anything larger than a 6 person dairy operation out in the middle of nowhere....

 

[disneyworld]

Glad it happened, but I'll get excited about this when the IBT actually manages to organize one of their sites (and that isn't likely to happen until well after our contract is settled). Lately it doesn't seem like they've managed to organize anything larger than a 6 person dairy operation out in the middle of nowhere....

And the lunch ladies-"hogies and grinders, hogies and grinders-navy beans, navy beans....., sloppy joe, slop sloppy joe..........."

 

[Raw]

UPS may be in a hurry to take control of our pension before we realize we may be better off staying with Central States if the Teamsters organize FedX. ( Those of us who are with Central States ) .

 

[GuyinBrown]

UPS may be in a hurry to take control of our pension before we realize we may be better off staying with Central States if the Teamsters organize FedX. ( Those of us who are with Central States ) .

Even adding FedEx to the mix wouldn't save CS.

 

[Raw]

Even adding FedEx to the mix wouldn't save CS.

Oh yeah, I forgot!!

 

[scratch]

Even adding FedEx to the mix wouldn't save CS.

You got that right!!

 

[RockyRogue]

You got that right!!

Folks, FDX has very poor management. If their bread and butter Express division went union, I can't see them being around in the same form 2 yrs later. IMHO. That's where they're making the money to keep the Ground and Home Delivery divisions running. My understanding is FDX's margins aren't very good anywhere but in the Express division. -Rocky

 

[tieguy]

interesting issue. So at last its happened.

the questions I ponder:

1) Can the teamsters actually organize fdx? Despite the advent of hundreds of SCS fractions of companies at by UPS the teamsters have yet to organize any of them. FDX employees especially the express drivers and handlers are actually compensated pretty well if you look at their overall package and not just their top wage rate. Morale amongst the express folks seems to be pretty good and you have to wonder if they will organize.

2) Will Fred S continue the magic and therefore continue to avoid the union threat. Even with the RLA provisons gone Fred seems to have a way to get what he wants where he wants as he has shown over the years. Will he therefore continue to find ways to avoid being organized.

3) how would organizing affect the teamsters relationship with UPS. Some have speculated that the teamsters actually treat ups well because we are their bread and butter. Will organizing a fdx mean the teamsters would be less concerned about the economic welfare of UPS? Theoretically a weakening UPS and a strengthening fdx would mean the jobs would move to fdx and stay with the teamsters where the teamsters would have lost those jobs in the past. Does this mean the teamsters could be much tougher in negotiations since they do not have to worry about losing those jobs?

Be carefull what you wish for.

 

[beentheredonethat]

interesting issue. So at last its happened.

the questions I ponder:


3) how would organizing affect the teamsters relationship with UPS. Some have speculated that the teamsters actually treat ups well because we are their bread and butter. Will organizing a fdx mean the teamsters would be less concerned about the economic welfare of UPS? Theoretically a weakening UPS and a strengthening fdx would mean the jobs would move to fdx and stay with the teamsters where the teamsters would have lost those jobs in the past. Does this mean the teamsters could be much tougher in negotiations since they do not have to worry about losing those jobs?

Be carefull what you wish for.

I had similar opinions on this. It wasn't too long ago the the UAW had control over the Big Three; GM, Ford, Chrysler. When they went to get a contract they would target one of the companies, strike if necessary, which it often was then "win" their contract. The other two companies followed suit. In this way each worker only had to strike once every 3 strikes since they rotated which company was targeted. It worked pretty good, until the US auto company couldn't effectively compete against the foreign manufacturers. Both the mgmt and union (IMO) were responsible for the demise of the US auto industry. Would this same problem happen to us if FDX were to become 100% union? I agree, be careful what you wish for.

 

[GuyinBrown]

One of the problems with comparing UPS to the auto industry is the level of efficiency. We are so efficient compared to them it's almost unimaginable ( or maybe it isn't. The cost of a new car reflects their inefficiency pretty well... ). However, your comment about them being able to strike against one to force the hand of the other two certainly seems to be a big reason for this. One of my best friends works at a nearby Chevy stamping plant. His father, sister and sister-in-law work there as well. His father is a die maker and makes quite a bit more per hour than we do (But generally only has to do any work when something breaks). My friend works on one of the stamping machines and makes a wage very similar to ours ( +/- a dollar or so, I forget exactly) He readily admits that we work much harder than he does and he once relayed this story to me about how his day went....

There are 5 "stations" on the machine and he spends 30 minutes at each one before being rotated to the next.

Station 1- You sit at the machine and press a button that feeds a piece of sheet metal into the machine. Another button is pressed to stamp the metal into the part you're making. Pressing the first button again ejects the part from the machine and onto a set of rollers while feeding another piece of metal into the machine to start the process over again.

Station 2- You stand by the rollers and make sure that none of the parts fall off. Yes, that's it. The company argued that placing rails on the sides of the rollers would work just as well, but the union wouldn't let them eliminate the job.

Station 3- ( This is the station that actually requires some effort ) You remove the parts from the rollers and stack them into a bin.

Station 4- You count the parts in the bin and write out a tag listing the part number and number or parts in the bin. I asked him how many of these he had to do during a 30 minute session and he said it depends on how fast the line was running. If they were really pumping out the parts, they might have to write out 5 or 6 tags per session....

Station 5- Break. As in... rest up from all the work you've done before you have to return to the grueling task at station 1.


So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I agree with you. If the teamsters were allowed to take the kind of hard line with UPS that the UAW used to take with the Big Three, it might be great for us in the beginning but we'd have to pay the piper eventually. Look at the sorry state of the domestic auto industry today. It's great that we have union protection, but when those protections become abusive to the point that it costs the company unnecessarily, it's bad for everyone involved. We need to get what we can get, but be realistic in our demands. It's a fact that UPS has much higher overhead than FedEx due to our wages and benefits but through efficiency, they still manage to remain a strong viable company that posts healthy profits. I'd love to see the IBT organize FedEx and put the overhead on a more level playing field, but not at the expense of our future. However, I don't see anything like that happening for a long, long, time. Look at DHL ( formerly Airborne ) what percentage of that company is organized and how long have they been at it? I can't imagine things moving any faster with FedEx.