Thursday, March 29, 2012

NLRB wins injunction to end Brooklyn lockout of 70 apartment workers

A federal judge yesterday issued a temporary injunction ordering the owners of the Flatbush Gardens apartment complex in Brooklyn to end a months-long lockout of more than 70 unionized porters and maintenance workers and resume bargaining “immediately” with the union while the case moves through the NLRB process.

The injunction was sought by NLRB Brooklyn Regional Director James Paulsen, who issued a complaint against Renaissance Equity Holdings, LLC in May alleging various unfair labor practices, including failure to bargain in good faith with the workers’ union, the Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ. The case is currently pending before an NLRB administrative law judge.

In his

decision, Judge Brian M. Cogan of the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York said he granted the injunction, in part, to prevent the locked-out employees from losing health insurance coverage and being evicted from their apartments.

The

order restores all previous terms and conditions of employment except for reducing  the wage rates of employees because of the Employer’s claimed financial hardship.  Employees were locked out in late November 2010.

Judge Cogan denied a motion to dismiss the injunction based on an argument by Renaissance that the January 2012 recess appointments of three National Labor Relations Board members were improper, writing that, “In the interest of judicial restraint, the Supreme Court has counseled that a court should not decide a constitutional question unless the question is absolutely necessary to the court’s decision.” 

Judge Cogan concluded that resolution of the constitutional question was unnecessary because the injunction petition was separately authorized by the Acting General Counsel under powers delegated by the Board when it had an undisputed quorum.  Because the injunction petition was approved by both the Board and the Acting General Counsel, “one of these approvals must have been valid regardless of whether the President’s appointments to the Board were constitutional.” 

In relying on the Acting General Counsel’s authorization, Judge Cogan rejected arguments by Renaissance that the delegation of injunction powers to the General Counsel was invalid or lapsed if the Board lost its quorum.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Shipping giant FedEx to pay $3 million to settle charges of hiring discrimination brought by US Department of Labor

OFCCP News Release: [03/22/2012]
Contact Name: Mike Trupo or Laura McGinnis
Phone Number: (202) 693-6588 or x4653
Release Number: 12-0507-NAT

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs today announced that it has entered into a conciliation agreement to resolve allegations of hiring discrimination by federal contractors FedEx Ground Package System Inc. and FedEx SmartPost Inc., both subsidiaries of Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx Corp. The agreement concludes compliance reviews that spanned seven years and numerous FedEx facilities in multiple states, and includes the largest single financial settlement negotiated by OFCCP since 2004.

"We are committed to building an economy that lasts — one in which every qualified worker gets a fair shot to compete for jobs, and every employer plays by the same set of rules," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "This settlement is proof that we will aggressively protect workers, promote workplace diversity and enforce the laws governing federal contractors."

During a series of regularly scheduled reviews, OFCCP compliance officers found evidence that FedEx's hiring processes and selection procedures violated Executive Order 11246 by discriminating on the bases of sex, race and/or national origin against specific groups identified at 23 facilities in 15 states. The affected workers include men and women as well as African-American, Caucasian and Native American job seekers, as well as job seekers of Hispanic and Asian descent. The reviews also uncovered extensive violations of the executive order's record-keeping requirements.

Under the terms of the conciliation agreement, the companies will pay a total of $3 million in back wages and interest to 21,635 applicants who were rejected for entry-level package handler and parcel assistant positions at 22 FedEx Ground facilities and one FedEx SmartPost facility. FedEx also has agreed to extend job offers to 1,703 of the affected workers as positions become available. The 21,635 rejected job seekers represent one of the largest classes of victims of any case in OFCCP's history.

"Being a federal contractor is a privilege and means you absolutely, positively cannot discriminate, not when you are profiting from taxpayer dollars," said OFCCP Director Patricia A. Shiu. "Under this agreement, FedEx will have to really examine and revamp its hiring practices across the entire company. The American people ought to have confidence that one of our nation's most trusted brands will not tolerate discrimination."

In addition to the financial remedies and job offers, FedEx Ground has committed to wide-ranging reforms. The company has promised to correct any discriminatory hiring practices, develop and implement equal employment opportunity training, and launch extensive self-monitoring measures to ensure that all hiring practices fully comply with the law. FedEx Ground also has agreed to engage an outside consultant to perform an extensive review of the company's hiring practices and provide recommendations to change and improve those practices, to train incumbent and future supervisors and employees, and to monitor compliance with the equal employment opportunity laws enforced by OFCCP. Finally, the company will take necessary steps to comply with all record-keeping requirements.

FedEx Ground is based in Coraopolis, Pa. The 22 FedEx Ground facilities where OFCCP found violations are located in Sun Valley and Sacramento, Calif.; Tampa, Fla.; Ellenwood, Ga.; Carol Stream and Chicago, Ill.; Indianapolis and Jeffersonville, Ind.; Lenexa, Kan.; Livonia, Mich.; St. Paul, Minn.; South Hackensack, N.J.; Albany and Brooklyn, N.Y.; Greenville, N.C.; Addyston and Grove City, Ohio; Lewisberry, Pa.; Fort Worth, Houston and South Houston, Texas; and North Salt Lake City, Utah. OFCCP also conducted compliance evaluations at two FedEx Ground facilities in Phoenix, Ariz., and San Antonio, Texas, but found no violations.

FedEx SmartPost is based in New Berlin, Wis. The FedEx SmartPost facility where OFCCP found violations is located in Charlotte, N.C.

In addition to Executive Order 11246, OFCCP enforces Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974. As amended, these three laws require those who do business with the federal government, both contractors and subcontractors, to follow the fair and reasonable standard that they not discriminate in employment on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, national origin, disability or status as a protected veteran. For general information, call OFCCP's toll-free helpline at 800-397-6251. Additional information is available at http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/.

FedEx Q3 Profit Rises; Updates 2012 EPS View

3/22/2012 7:50 AM ET
(RTTNews) - FedEx Corp. (FDX: News ) posted third-quarter net income of $521 million or $1.65 per share, up from $231 million or $0.73 per share a year ago.

Earnings for the recent quarter includes a $0.10 per share reversal of a reserve associated with a legal matter at FedEx Express. Last year's third quarter earnings included $0.08 per share in costs related to the combination of the company's FedEx Freight and FedEx National LTL operations.

Adjusted earnings per share were $1.55 versus $0.81 in the same quarter last year. On average, 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.35 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenue reached $10.56 billion, up 9% from $9.66 billion in the previous year Analysts estimated revenues of $10.62 billion.

"FedEx Corp. results were driven by improving yields, record holiday package shipping and exceptional performance at FedEx Ground," said Frederick Smith, FedEx Corp. chairman, president and chief executive officer. "We expect our solid performance to continue in our fourth quarter, capping off a strong fiscal year."

Looking ahead, FedEx projects earnings to be $1.75 to $2.00 per share in the fourth quarter. Analysts expect the company to earn $1.98 per share for the quarter

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Sal Say's ...

Hey SLG and WHT fedex employee's I have my "CONTRACT", how about you?

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Largest LTL Carriers Grew 17 Percent in 2011

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor | Mar 12, 2012 5:30PM GMT

The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story

LTL

Market share of 10 biggest LTL truckers rose from 68 to 73 percent

The biggest less-than-truckload carriers got bigger in 2011, with the number of LTL companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue climbing to 10.

Regional carrier Saia joined the LTL “billion-dollar club,” increasing sales 14.1 percent in 2011 to $1.03 billion, according to a study by SJ Consulting Group.

The 10 largest LTL carriers increased their revenue 17 percent in 2011 to $22.2 billion, while the total LTL market expanded 11.6 percent to $30.6 billion.

Cumulatively, the revenue of those 10 trucking companies represented 73 percent of the total LTL market last year, compared with 68 percent in 2010.

Last year, the billion-dollar 10 accounted for 81 percent of the revenue of the Top 25 LTL carriers ranked by SJ Consulting Group for The Journal of Commerce.

That growth underscored the increasing strength of the recovery among the top LTL carriers since 2009, when LTL revenue dropped 25 percent in one year.

However, the LTL carriers were still 8.1 percent short of the $33.3 billion in revenue reported for the LTL industry in 2008, according to SJ Consulting Group data.

The fastest growing carrier in the group was Old Dominion Freight Line, which increased LTL sales 25.7 percent in 2011 to $1.7 billion, the study reports.

With $4.7 billion in revenue, FedEx Freight was the largest LTL carrier, followed by Con-way Freight and YRC Freight, both with about $3.2 billion in revenue.

UPS Freight, at $2.3 billion, was the fourth largest LTL carrier, while ODFL moved up one spot on the list to No. 5, bumping ABF Freight System, with $1.7 billion.

Estes Express Lines was the largest privately owned carrier on the list, with $1.6 billion in revenue last year, according to SJ Consulting Group estimates.

Estes was followed by YRC Worldwide’s regional group of carriers, with a combined $1.5 billion in LTL sales, R+L Carriers, with $1.2 billion, and Saia.

The complete report on the top 25 LTL carriers will be published in the March 19 issue of The Journal of Commerce and be available to JOC members online.

Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter at @wbcassidy_joc

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Company Seniority at FedEx Doesn't Mean Sh**

This is bullsh*t of what FedEx does now, I was talking to a couple of line haul drivers today, and was told that FedEx doesn’t honor seniority no more.
Let me explain the scenario here, if a driver of local p & d that drove for 20 years as local p & d driver, and then decides to jump into the line haul operation department and transfers to it, he loose his seniority, which is ok, but not loose company seniority for vacation or layoff.
Now as of today, being in the same barn, he has no strap at all, meaning if a suppose a driver like Motto Rider that has 5 years with the company as a line Driver and this other driver that has 20 years of company seniority and just transfer to line haul, will be layoff first before Motto Rider.
Or Motto Rider will have first choice for vacation before that 20 year driver…Irudedog from changefedextowin and Joe warned everybody years ago (2006) that extreme changes were coming, we saw the Big Picture when FedEx took over.
I’ll say it again it’s time to organize now, it’s never too late, but now we have to negotiate what you have lost on the bargaining table.
Everybody that works for a Big Greedy Corporation needs a Collective Bargaining Agreement!!!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

My Annual Disappoint Letter From FedEx

I recently received my information packet for my pension. From my Viking/ FedEx pension I will be receiving $648/ month. And up to now I will be receiving $55/ month for FedEx’s PPA (Portable Pension Account). That’s a grand total as of now $703/month.

Now I still have my 401k which I won't add for now because I’m 53 years old now. And have at least 12 more years to retire. And if the market takes a dump, so might my 401k!

Now when we retire from FedEx, we will not have any medical benefits. Which we will have to purchase on our own. I had to get my daughter medical coverage a few years ago, because she wasn't taking enough credit while she was going to college. It was going to cost me $399/ month! Thank goodness for Obama care which FedEx has to cover our kids who go to college to the age of 26 yrs of age?

With that in mind, it costs more to cover yourself and your spouse under COBRA around $500 each a month. My so called FedEx pension is $703/month minus $1000/month. That leaves with $-297/month, to pay a mortgage, food, med's, gas, etc. get the point.

And all our managers say, you don't need a teamsters contract, because they we know better for you!

If this alone, doesn't make you think that we need to organize FedEx nothing will. Enjoy your second job at Wal-Mart when you retire. So you could just survive your golden years!

I ask you now FedEx, "WHEN WILL THE GREED STOP?"

Rudy Hernandez
FedEx city driver sbo