FedEx bought American Freightways in 2001 and integrated AF into FedEx Freight. Teamsters Local 710 were in an organizing drive at the AF facility in Summit at the time FedEx management took over. Union supporter Tommy Glass faced retaliation and intimidation as part of the anti-union campaign run by management at that time. Glass filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board and the NLRB sided with Glass. FedEx took the unusually stubborn step and appealed the NLRB ruling to the Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit. The Court of Appeals decided in favor Glass for his reinstatement in December 2005.
Read More at FedExWatch.com
10 comments:
This is typical from fedex management trying to do anything to do some union busting. At Whittier the management follows pro union employees around even peeking through the stalls in the restroom at them talk about harassment!!! In Antigua Fedex workers voted in the union and since Antigua was a foreign country and didn't have to abide by labor laws Fedex Express closed the doors. The workers picketed outside the facility with signs that read "Fedex management are just a wicked set of people" the shop steward at the Antigua Fedex faciltity stated the Fedex management treated the people horribly with favortism running rampant. Sound familiar??? Also, the shop steward called the Fedex Express facility "A PLANTATION WITH AIR CONDITIONING" I think our facility could easily be described as :"A PLANTATION SWEATSHOP WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONING" Fedex is losing and the Union momentum will continue until Fedex changes their ways.
sounds right typical fedex treating employees like trash. Win with Hoffa!!! We've got to unionize and organize!!!!!
you know it Hoffa the management will stop at nothing harassing us everyday I go to work I know I am gonna get harassed/intimidated
SUB-CONTRACTING...
IS YOUR FEDEX JOB AT RISK?
Has subcontracting affected your job or that of a co-worker in your town ? YES/NO
Did you know that almost all positions at FedEx can be subcontracted? YES/NO
Are you aware that FedEx subcontracted out hundreds of over-the-road jobs to common carriers such as Prime Inc., LandAir, Ozark, and M.S. Carriers? YES/NO
Did you know FedEx subcontracts courier and customer service rep work? YES/NO
Are you aware that when FedEx acquired Caliber in 1997, it gained 10,000 subcontracted pick-up/delivery and over-the-road drivers from RPS, Viking, and Roberts? YES/NO
If FedEx subcontracts your job away, are you financially prepared, and likely to find a comparable position inside or outside the company? YES/NO
Are you concerned about your job's future and your family's security? YES/NO
Do you currently have any protection whatsoever against subcontracting? YES/NO
Did you know that protection against losing your job to subcontracting can be negotiated through a Union contract? YES/NO
Are you aware that the 1997 Teamster contract at UPS reversed the subcontracting trend, and returned ALL non-peak over-the-road jobs to UPS workers? YES/NO
Can a company that systematically subcontracts away jobs, and then offers "take it or leave it" transfers, honestly claim to have a "no lay-off" policy? YES/NO
Would a
"people company"
give away the jobs of its loyal, hard-working
employees?
Because as we well know at Federal Express, the bosses constantly communicate their anti-Union message to employees. We are management's captive audience every hour we are on the clock-- they bombard us with Frontline videos, Matters of "Fact" [sic], workgroup commentary, skip level meetings, DADS messages, bulletin boards, etc. Taking a tip from colonizing conquerors who "bought" Manhattan Island from Native Americans for $26 in shiny beads and baubles, smiling FedEx managers will attempt to buy your anti-Union vote with cheap trinkets such as T-shirts, caps, "achievement" certificates, plastic cups, buttons, and key rings. Even when we go home we aren't free from managerial influence-- we find slick, glossy FedEx magazines in our mailbox.
The harassment and total disrespect of Whittier Employees is continuing. Whittier employee/shop steward/teamster organizer Sal Hernandez hurt his back a couple of weeks ago. It was proven he was injured by lifting up a defective ramp. Which was the ramp manufacturer's fault for Sal Hernandez being injured. Sal went home 2 hours after he was hurt. He trying to tough it out for the safety streak at Whittier even working injured not to let his brothers down. Sal went home intending to rest for a couple of days then returning to work. He received a call from his boss telling him to go see the butcher company doctor at the clinic. Sal then reluctantly agreed and went to go see the butcher. The butcher then told Sal that he could return to work under the pretext of light duty. Sal then told the doctor, "But my back hurts how am I supposed to do light duty."
The butcher told him that he (Sal) should be at home resting, but that he (the butcher) had to mark Sal down for light duty because Fedex had instructed the doctor to do so and that was law. Sal then remarked back,"What is that Fedex law????" The doctor remained quiet.This injury was marked down by the butcher as light duty so Fedex wouldn't have to pay workmans compensation to Sal so Sal could stay home. This is done to all Fedex employees even ones that get extremities cut off at work. This is just another ruthless deceptive scam from Fedex management. So Sal reported back to work where he was isolated from other employees put to work in the driver trainer's office away from other employees and under the watchful eyes of the driver trainers. See since Sal is for the union the company tries to watch, intimidate, and harass him even follow him into the bathroom. So Sal is working when the terminal manager brings Sal avocados from his tree at home saying that God was talking to him (the terminal manager) and that God instructed him to give those avocados to Sal. Sal was perplexed by this questioning the sanity of the service center manager because on one hand the service center manager harasses him on the dock calls him names, cusses at him, and on the other hand the service center manager has a conversation with God and God instructs him to bring fruit to Sal. I didn't know the service center manager has a hotline to God, buy anyways, Sal keeps working but informs his operations manager that he needs to take the rest of the week off in order for his back to fully heal. The service center manager and operations manager agree and Sal informs them he needs to use his sick pay for his time off for when he is sick. They agree and Sal takes off for the week. When Sal comes back to work he is informed that his vacation pay was used for his time off and his vacation scheduled for the summer will now have to be cancelled. Sal then confronts the operations manager and the operations manager tells him they never had a converation about Sal using his sick pay and now his vacation is cancelled. Sal becomes terribly disappointed and tells the operations manager that he will talk to the service center manager or the labor board if need be and the operations manager came back with;"Do whatever you have to do I don't care." Sal then said,"Ok." Sal then tried to contact the service center manager who had the day off then he went home and contacted human resources and the representative from human resources told Sal that using the vacation time as a substitute for sick pay is company policy and that he could do nothing about it. Sal then asked why weren't the employees informed of this policy change. Human resources then informed Sal that inquires to human resources were the only way policy changes to the fedex handbook could now be obtained. Sal then resigned himself and depressed at the situation hung up the phone. It is sad a 18 year company man gets treated this way when he becomes injured on the job. I guess you need to be careful and not get hurt cause you could get screwed too.
FedEx has built much of its empire on low-cost business models and other unsavory practices, some of which are now coming back to haunt it. This September, African-American and Latino workers won class-action status for their lawsuit (Satchell v. FedEx Corp.) against the shipping giant, alleging discrimination in pay, promotions and disciplinary action.
FedEx's Low-Cost Model
Statistical evidence paints a picture of minority workers stuck in part-time, low-paying positions, while arbitrary evaluations and invalid skill tests keep them there. The company may try to blame discriminatory practices on a few bad apple managers, but the trail leads much farther up the chain of command.
FedEx is also a major proponent of an alarming trend in today's job market: dishonestly classifying workers as "independent contractors." This allows employers to maintain absolute control over operations and shift costs and risks onto workers, while reaping all the benefits of their labor.
FedEx Ground has 14,000 independent contractors that make its domestic, nonexpress package deliveries. These drivers receive no health care or retirement benefits. The drivers pay taxes for workers' compensation, unemployment insurance and Social Security, and they purchase fuel and maintain their own trucks, all out of their own pockets. Overtime pay and vacation days do not exist for these "independent contractors." Such is the price of FedEx's so-called entrepreneurial freedom.
FedEx claims a typical driver makes $50,000 to $55,000 a year. But as one ground driver pointed out, the fuel, maintenance and loans on his truck cut his salary to $20,000. When FedEx takes a free ride on the backs of its employees, it's no wonder it can afford to undercut union competitors like UPS.
Teamster members at UPS have won medical care, pensions and 401(k)s. All driving costs are covered by the company. By the way, UPS remains so successful because it has a unionized work force.
Tactic Prevents Organizing
As exploited workers are wont to do, FedEx's ground drivers are fighting back. Drivers have sued the company to challenge their independent contractor status in more than 20 states. FedEx is already under court order to reclassify drivers in California and has suffered similar defeats elsewhere.
Beyond immediate dollars and cents benefits, there is a larger corporate incentive—being an independent contractor means you cannot legally organize into a union.
Such an unfair advantage puts downward pressure on wages, benefits and other industry standards. And there's a clear trail of where the money is going.
After President Bush's 2002 tax cuts, FedEx founder and Chief Executive Fred Smith began paying annual dividends to himself and other stockholders for the first time in the company's history. Since 2002, Smith himself has collected nearly $14.5 million in dividend bonuses.
Perhaps taking cues from Delphi Chief Executive Steve Miller, Smith refuses to put the company's profits on the bargaining table.
On Monday, the Teamsters Union will launch a Web site ( www.fedexwatch.com) to track the anti-worker tactics and bad business practices of FedEx.
You Have a Right to Organize!
It is unlawful for your Employer, Supervisor or Foreman to interfere with, restrain or coerce Employees seeking to organize or join a Union. Many different acts could constitute a violation of the Federal Law.
These are things your employer CAN NOT do, by law:
Attend any Union meetings; park across the street from the Union hall to see which employees enter the hall; or engage in any undercover activity which would indicate that the employees are being kept under surveillance to determine who is and who is not participating in the Union program.
Tell employees that the Company will fire or punish them if they engage in Union activity.
Lay off or discharge any employee for Union activity.
Grant employees wage increases or special concessions in order to keep the Union out.
Bar employee Union representatives from soliciting employee memberships during non-working hours.
Ask employees about confidential Union matters, meetings, etc. (Some employees may, of their own accord, walk up and tell of such matters. It is not an unfair labor practice to listen, but they must not ask questions to obtain additional information.)
Ask employees what they think about the Union or a Union representative.
Ask employees how they intend to vote.
Threaten employees with economic reprisal for participating in Union activities. For example: threaten to move the plant or close the business, curtail operations, reduce employee's benefits.
Give financial support or other assistance to a Union or to employees, regardless of whether or not they are supporting or opposing the Union.
Announce that they will not deal with a Union.
Tell employees that the Company will fire or punish them if they engage in Union activities.
Ask employees whether or not they belong to a Union or have signed up for a Union.
Ask an employee during the interview when they are hiring him, about his affiliation with a labor organization.
Purposely team up non-union men and keep them apart from those they think may belong to the labor organization.
Transfer workers on the basis of Union affiliation or activity.
Choose men to be laid off on the basis of weakening the Union's strength or discouraging membership in it.
Discriminate against Union people when disciplining employees.
Discipline Union employees for a particular action and permit non-union employees to go unpunished for the same action.
Deviate from Company policy for the purpose of getting rid of a Union.
Become involved in arguments that may lead to a physical encounter with an employee over the Union question.
Threaten their workers or coerce them in an attempt to influence their vote.
Promise employees a reward or a future benefit if they decide "no Union."
Tell employees overtime work (and premium pay) will be discontinued if plant is organized.
Say unionization will force the company to lay off employees.
Say unionization will take away vacations or other benefits and privileges presently enjoyed.
Promise employees promotions, raises or other benefits if they get out of the Union or refrain from joining it.
Start a petition or circular against the Union or encourage or take part in its circulation if started by employees.
Visit the homes of employees to urge them to reject the Union.
"The objects of this International Union are to organize under one banner all workers engaged in industry; to educate them to cooperate in every movement which tends to benefit the organization; and to impress upon our membership, employers and the public that it is to the advantage of all concerned that workers be organized. The organization of our industry requires honest and intelligent membership, adapted to the business. We teach our membership the advantage, benefits and importance of their industrial position, and we endeavor to build-up and perfect a labor organization in conformity with the highest standards of our American and Canadian citizenship."
The Teamsters-National 401(k) Savings Plan is an example of Teamsters using their combined buying power to negotiate valuable programs and services for members. Under the laws governing 401(k) plans, before a member can join, an employer must agree to participate. The Plan's trustees—one-half from the union and one-half from participating employers—monitor and direct the services provided by this plan. It is a qualified 401(k) plan that lets you deduct a portion of your salary and save it in an investment account. And, it is governed by ERISA (the Employee Retirement Income Security Act), which protects plan participants.
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