Sunday, July 27, 2008

Anaheim Termination Update

Our Anaheim driver who was denied his unemployment benefits has won his case! M.Hutton and his managers have been proving wrong.

The regulations say that the driver is responsible for letting the company (dispatcher) know that his condition of fatigue or illness is sufficient to make it unsafe for him to drive.

The appeal basically came down to who was more credible: the FedEx Freight driver, who claimed he told the company at 2am and later at 4:30 am, that he was sick, or the dispatcher, who claimed that the driver never mentioned being ill. The judge decided that the driver was more believable.

The driver, who was terminated for supposedly refusing to obey a legitimate command, will receive 3 months of unemployment benefits that he was entitled to.

We congratulate this driver for his courage! To stand up for what was right. To prove that the management in Anaheim was wrong! Let this be an example to all of us. If we all stand up to this company, like him, and organize ourselves with the help of the Teamsters.Than with one great voice we can tell FedEx that "We Will Be FedEx Teamsters!"

The Time To Organize Is Now!

Educate yourself. And help your fellow employees learn the importance in being in a Union. Get in touch with a Teamster local in your area. Or e-mail us and we can help.


FedEx Watch Dogs

Read the the pertinent federal regulation that the FedEx Freight driver used to justify his refusal to continue driving: On the first comment.

11 comments:

irudedog said...

[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 49, Volume 4]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 49CFR392.3]

[Page 1024-1025]

TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION

CHAPTER III--FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY ADMINISTRATION,
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

PART 392--DRIVING OF COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES--Table of Contents

Subpart A--General

Sec. 392.3 Ill or fatigued operator.

No driver shall operate a commercial motor vehicle, and a motor
carrier shall not require or permit a driver to operate a commercial
motor vehicle, while the driver's ability or alertness is so impaired,
or so likely to become impaired, through fatigue, illness, or any other
cause, as to make it unsafe for him/her to begin or continue to operate

[[Page 1025]]

the commercial motor vehicle. However, in a case of grave emergency
where the hazard to occupants of the commercial motor vehicle or other
users of the highway would be increased by compliance with this section,
the driver may continue to operate the commercial motor vehicle to the
nearest place at which that hazard is removed.

[35 FR 7800, May 21, 1970, as amended at 60 FR 38746, July 28, 1995]

Anonymous said...

Good for you, driver!

The lesson is true: if we stand up, we will prevail.

Granted, he had less to lose than we do, but rather than us having to fall and learn from experience, we need to learn from his experience. He fought hard for his triumph, we owe it to him (and ourselves) to do it, too.

Anonymous said...

So what did Mike Hutton fired this driver for? sounds like a wrongful termination, because this driver was involve in UNION activities. Shame on you Mike Hutton, who is going to discipline you? your golf and fishing buddy John Hinkley or your union rep Tom Suchevits!!!

Anonymous said...

A message to all Fedex Freight employees. If you need any kind of dental work, glasses or contacts, or any kind of prescriptions from your health care provider get them now. Plan ahead for the fedex management stripping and raping your benefits from you. Shame on them. We will be going Union!!!
I am ready for the vote!!!!
Vote yes for health insurance and a return to full time status.

Anonymous said...

Fedex fails to realize a person is a person no matter how small. Go UNION

Anonymous said...

This is true, this combo driver didn't commit no harm or any damage to the company. He was a hard worker who came to work every day, never call off sick and put his 100 percent effort. even though that he got the bottom of the barrrel runs he perform his job with dignity, honored and respected his superiors dispatchers. Sure it bother him that other pet combo drivers were getting prime runs, but he still perform his job no matter what he was given, he still had pride for this Company and A family to feed. This driver believe that with a union this Company ( FedEx Frt ) will operate smoothly and will eliminate pet employees. Now if Mike Hutton was a good SVC manager and take the time to listen to every employee equally than maybe I would believe the bull crap news on the 2nd to the last independent time news letter mail to us. But for now Mike took this into an act of revenge and discrimination to this Driver.
From a shameful employee driver of anaheim, we stand behind you, and we do need the Teamsters now.

Anonymous said...

This just goes to show how much FedEx and it's management lies to everyone and shows how much they want to screw their people over. Sounds like a people first company, ya right. Wake up everybody, it's time to organize NOW! This could happen to you.

Anonymous said...

Good for this Anaheim Driver. You know he was a victim of favortism and discrimination for supporting the Union. We should have known management was up to no good when he was fired but they can't stop employees from wanting to have basic rights on the job this is not a sweatshop this is a professional place of business and the uneducated management need to stop treating employees like crap. Teamsters in da house.

Anonymous said...

When is the next meeting in Orange County? and if you could please post the 952 address and phone number for employees to call for directions thanks

Anonymous said...

Good for this combo driver, by putting your heads together things can be accomplish.
When you discuss your case with the union, being you and the rest of the employees at FedEx who stands up for their Rights are the union!
Working with the Teamsters gives you the Rights to prove your innocent to the company, especially with over power authority managers that go over the company’s policy rules. Managers that take revenge acts just because an employee believes in unionism doesn’t gives him the rights to fired this individual, he has every Rights to discuss about what the union ( the employees ) can do by using your labor Rights. This has always been your American Rights (the law of the land).
Having no union gives you no Rights and your voice could be silenced, I know a brother at FedEx that was fired for a reason (not going into details) but he discuss this with So. Regional manager and told him that he was innocent, but So. Regional told him to appeal his case and he would review it.
But we all know the review he will have, managers of service center and human resource against 1 employee, a lost case (at will employee).
Why give control to the union? Because you and the rest of the employees are the union, you have a better chance to present your case to a Labor Judge or an Arbitrator to review your notes and also review company side of story, this is Democracy!!
Management people are first at FedEx Freight, we the people employees (the union people) are always last. Did the employee have democracy about the pension choice, or our medical going up? Did you vote for your pension funds to be frozen?
What about the hostlers having no choice, they must obtain a CDL now, if they don’t obtain a CDL they will become part time employees, and full time dock workers are heading in that direction too. Where is the democracy here?
Be involve and stay informed, listen to what the company offered, and then listen to what the Teamster have to offered, compared apples to apples. And don’t let the company intimidate you, you have every rights!
Tom Suchevits if you are going to write this lies about Employee free choice act, please allow me to arrange an employees meeting to discuss your misinformation about the unions, accept this challenge. You Tom Suchevits and James P. Hoffa, at a Teamsters hall or a service center and speak freely in front of us employees (the union).
My brother and sister of FedEx Freight please write to Tom Suchevits and ask him to accept this challenge or better yet make a petition for an employees meeting at every service center with Tom from Human Resource and James P.Hoffa, lets stop the lies and stop taking away our benefits, and tom you know unionfacts and unionfreeamrica are built by union busters just like you.

Anonymous said...

"Tom Suchevits if you are going to write this lies about Employee free choice act..."

This is a drag, because I met Tom at one of the meetings. He was a very nice guy. I just can't believe he allowed some jerk to use his name in a rant against the Employee Free Choice Act. And then, believe it or not, mail it to our homes!

I'm used to being treated like a waste of company money when I'm at work, but I really don't want any of their brand of "love" being sent to my castle. This guy was actually telling me that I'm better off trusting in the company's good will and sense of fair play.

WHAT!? Maybe you'd like to drive your company car (filled with gas the company paid for) over to my house and explain to my kids just exactly why that sense of fair play is so different than the sense of fair play they understand.

I'd like to end with a quote from Tom:

"This act has the potential to eliminate choices for our employees."

This is interesting, because he fails to note "This company has the potential to eliminate choices for our employees." I know a guy who won't be making any choices on his health benefits next year.

I haven't slept in a week, but I want you to sleep tight, Tom. I hope you enjoy that big fat bonus you're going to make saving the company money by denying benefits.