The cause of the FedEx Ground and Home Delivery drivers is undeniably just: the offer of independence was made under false pretenses and FedEx misled the drivers into a relationship where they were illegally controlled like employees. Many many drivers fell victim to a bait and switch.
The Teamsters want to see the drivers properly classified and FedEx adhere to the law like other employers. Drivers who want to join the Teamsters must first win the legal argument at the NLRB that they are illegally labeled 'contractors' but should have the rights of employees like the right to unionize. This is not something created by the Teamsters. And as the NLRB has ruled in the drivers' favor, this position is also not a real debate any more.
The core issue is that drivers want to be truly independent or they want the rights and protections that all employees are entitled to and and have earned. Since FedEx has proved repeatedly they will not grant drivers more than token independence, then the just fight is for drivers to take back their rights. Reclaim their rights through the courts, through the NLRB, through the state and federal tax procedures. By any legal means necessary.
So to the drivers who are fighting and winning, the Teamsters salute you. Your fight in 2007 made great strides closer to a just outcome.
The Home Delivery drivers in Wilmington, MA and Hartford, CT secured their rights to join the Teamsters at the NLRB.
The drivers in the national class action lawsuit got the first of a series of class certification orders from a federal judge.
The drivers in the California class action lawsuit won their case.
The drivers in Massachusetts who filed complaints with the Attorney General caused an investigation, citations and orders to be treated as employees.
The drivers who filed SS-8 Forms with the IRS got the feds to audit FedEx and the audit found that FedEx was illegally not paying proper taxes.
As individual headlines, these are each big news. Taken together, they show the world that FedEx isn't getting away with the Big Lie.
The lawyers are watching. The accountants are watching. The analysts are watching. The hr managers are watching. The competition is watching. The activist community is watching. Wall Street is watching.
The issue of misclassification and the fight for justice by Ground and Home Delivery drivers was once something FedEx dismissed as coming from a small group of malcontents and failures.
But the drivers have done what they felt was right and fair and the drivers are succeeding. Who are the failures now?
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