I'm going to say the latter...
OK... Let's just assume there is a tiny element of truth to this....
1. Why did the IBT keep pushing through late 2010 (just 2.5 years ago), to get Express out from the RLA and under the NLRA? To put on a 'good show' after they had been bought off? Why did Fred and company pay MILLIONS in lobbying in 2009-10 to make sure it stayed under the RLA - after supposedly paying off the IBT or Hoffa Jr???
2. If Fred and company shuffled cash to either the IBT or Hoffa Jr. personally, there would be a paper trail of that expenditure in the books oF FedEx (publicly traded company) - which would've shown up long ago. The IBT is audited annually, and if the IRS were to only conduct one audit of a personal return in 2013 (or in any year before), it would be the return of Hoffa Jr. Where's the cash? If the IBT got some money in 2009-10, others in the Obama administration would've had to been paid off to keep them from investigating. Did Holder (US Attorney General), get paid off? Are there aliens living on Mars???
3. The IBT does have its own 'internal culture', but if some sort of 'payola' such as this ever supposedly occurred, there would be someone making a call to either the FBI, IRS or media outlet to get the story out.
Occam's razor
Occam's razor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
To put it briefly:
"The simplest explanation for some phenomenon is more likely to be accurate than more complicated explanations."
So... what makes more sense.
There was a grand conspiracy involving FedEx putting large sums of cash into either the IBT's or Hoffa Jr's hands....
OR
FedEx legally and 'above board' paid off members of Congress with targeted contributions to their re-election campaigns and managed to keep the RLA classification. Then once having accomplished that, the IBT realized that given the huge expense of trying to organize under RLA rules COMBINED with the sheepish nature of Express Couriers, that they'd be better off walking away?
They (IBT) get paid union dues from their members to represent THEIR interest - and a lot of the time they don't do that too well. They don't get paid to represent YOUR interest (when was the last time you paid IBT union dues)?
Two words: Politics and......
If a spokesman from the IBT were to get on here and make ANY statement in regards to Express organizing - it would make national news. An organization won't make a statement like you are wanting, UNLESS they have something to gain from making that statement. It gets back to the old - you've got your problems, they've got theirs, making your problems theirs won't do them a damn bit of good.
Whenever you try to anticipate the actions of another, you have to ask yourself: "What would they have to gain from taking action?". In the case of the IBT making ANY statement in regards to Express Couriers. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
You have the first part of your answer.
Money... as the second part.
UPS drivers receive 13% of their gross (up to 45 hours/week) in pension plan contributions from their employer invested at market rates.
Express employees receive 5% of their gross (if they are younger than 50) in a pension plan from their employer which is invested at the whopping return of 4% currently. FedEx Corporation holds that cash, and is able to use it for their own purposes until an employee quits and cashes out - or they are due payments if they elect an annuity.
I'm confused... which is the better deal again....
Ok... you can't even get people to sign an IBT representation card (costs them nothing out of pocket), and you want to form an independent union?
I'm going to say this with all due respect, Are you delusional??
Forming an independent union costs money. NO ONE is going to provide 'seed money' to start up such a venture - no way, no how. When independent unions are formed, the potential members (that would mean Express Couriers) would pony up the cash to get the organization funded and rolling. So let's say this mythical union would need a total staff (administration, field organizers, consultants, attorneys - you name it) of say 200. Just 200.
There would need to be enough cash at startup to cover expense for about 3 years until Express Couriers were organized and paying dues (to cover ongoing operating expenses then trimming staff once the union went from 'organizing mode' to 'ongoing operations' mode). How much cash would it take to provide for 3 years of operations without any revenue coming in (union dues)? If one uses a figure of $100,000 average per employee per year (salary, benefits, expenses, overhead, etc). It would take an absolute MINIMUM of:
200 employees * $100,000 per year * 3 years = $60,000,000
And yes, with all the expenses a potential union would incur, the average employee expense to that organization would be $100,000 per year. Within that figure would be all expenses, travel, hand bill literature, attorneys (they get paid a lot), the senior staff, building leases, media relations, you name it. People like this don't get paid $40,000 a year - not by a long shot.
And let's just say that 10,000 Express Couriers would pony up the cash to get this organization going... (can't even get them to sign rep cards for free, thinking they will pony up cash is laughable).
$60,000,000 divided by 10,000 Couriers = $6,000 per Courier.
You're not going to get ANY Courier to pony up $600 to get an independent union going, forget about $6,000.
Uh, no... The RLA makes it extremely difficult and expensive for a union to organize a covered company's employees, NOT 'prevents'. The Couriers of Express are more of an obstacle to their organizing than the RLA is. The RLA just makes it so that a
union will not attempt to start a national organizing campaign, due to the cost and history of Express Couriers in regards to organizing. The RLA doesn't do a DAMN THING to prevent Express Couriers from signing rep cards, sending them in, starting a grassroots organization and continuing to get more and more cards sent in.
The list of existing unions is present in another thread - call away. The thumb nail financials to getting an independent union started are illustrated above.
Only a fool gets in over their head without thinking of all options before they commit to a course of action.
I think I illustrated the foolishness of even thinking that the Couriers could start an 'independent union'.