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Ground Contractor Issues Relating to Express
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<blockquote data-quote="Ricochet1a" data-source="post: 546610" data-attributes="member: 22880"><p><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Answering “bbsam’s” question from another thread… It is virtually impossible to move from an employee-employer model, to an independent contractor-employer model. FedEx would have to lay-off every Courier, then attempt to contract for “independent contractors”. The employees would have a slam dunk class action suit against FedEx. The courts STRONGLY favor the employer-employee relationship, since the legal protections for employees are considerably greater than for independent contractors. This would be a non-starter for FedEx. This is why Express is going to move to a pre-dominant part-time Courier work force if they can successfully avoid unionization in the next months. The part-timers are still classified as employees, but would be reluctant to unionize, and usually will work for lower wages and benefits that a full-time career employee. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="font-size: 12px">As far as UPS Teamsters honoring a strike by potential FedEx Express Teamsters… That is a legitimate question. I’ve glanced over the master agreement, but haven’t cut it apart enough to be able to make what I’d call a definitive call on what the Teamsters would do. Most contracts have a “no-strike clause” within them, which prohibits the union from striking against the principle (UPS in this case) for the period the contract is in force. So at first look, the Teamsters wouldn’t call for a simultaneous strike against UPS. The Teamsters would have no “beef” against UPS, so striking against UPS wouldn’t really make sense. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="font-size: 12px">There is another question that is more interesting. Would the pilots of FedEx (who are unionized) honor the picket line of a potential Courier/RTD strike? Short answer is no or doubtful.</span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="font-size: 12px">The pilots actually DON’T want the Couriers and RTD’s to unionize. They see Couriers/RTD as low-skill, high turnover employees that have a low commitment to the company. They also see FedEx as a “zero-sum” situation. Every dollar the Courier and RTDs can pull out of FedEx through a union contract is one less dollar that they can pull out themselves. This would get into the politics between the ALPA and the Teamsters. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'"><span style="font-size: 12px">The UPS pilots used to be organized under the Teamsters, no longer. They have an independent union just for UPS pilots (IPA, Independent Pilots Association). They just successfully managed to avoid layoffs for their low 300 seniority pilots. All of their pilots agreed to voluntary individual reductions in hours, to maintain the low 300 seniority pilots on active status. </span></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ricochet1a, post: 546610, member: 22880"] [FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]Answering “bbsam’s” question from another thread… It is virtually impossible to move from an employee-employer model, to an independent contractor-employer model. FedEx would have to lay-off every Courier, then attempt to contract for “independent contractors”. The employees would have a slam dunk class action suit against FedEx. The courts STRONGLY favor the employer-employee relationship, since the legal protections for employees are considerably greater than for independent contractors. This would be a non-starter for FedEx. This is why Express is going to move to a pre-dominant part-time Courier work force if they can successfully avoid unionization in the next months. The part-timers are still classified as employees, but would be reluctant to unionize, and usually will work for lower wages and benefits that a full-time career employee. [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]As far as UPS Teamsters honoring a strike by potential FedEx Express Teamsters… That is a legitimate question. I’ve glanced over the master agreement, but haven’t cut it apart enough to be able to make what I’d call a definitive call on what the Teamsters would do. Most contracts have a “no-strike clause” within them, which prohibits the union from striking against the principle (UPS in this case) for the period the contract is in force. So at first look, the Teamsters wouldn’t call for a simultaneous strike against UPS. The Teamsters would have no “beef” against UPS, so striking against UPS wouldn’t really make sense. [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]There is another question that is more interesting. Would the pilots of FedEx (who are unionized) honor the picket line of a potential Courier/RTD strike? Short answer is no or doubtful.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]The pilots actually DON’T want the Couriers and RTD’s to unionize. They see Couriers/RTD as low-skill, high turnover employees that have a low commitment to the company. They also see FedEx as a “zero-sum” situation. Every dollar the Courier and RTDs can pull out of FedEx through a union contract is one less dollar that they can pull out themselves. This would get into the politics between the ALPA and the Teamsters. [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Calibri][SIZE=3]The UPS pilots used to be organized under the Teamsters, no longer. They have an independent union just for UPS pilots (IPA, Independent Pilots Association). They just successfully managed to avoid layoffs for their low 300 seniority pilots. All of their pilots agreed to voluntary individual reductions in hours, to maintain the low 300 seniority pilots on active status. [/SIZE][/FONT] [/QUOTE]
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