Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

newsworthy

Teamsters launch organizing effort at FedEx Freight

Battle pits union against company's powerful CEO.

The Teamsters union has begun a campaign to organize workers at FedEx Freight, the less-than-truckload division of transport giant FedEx Corp., a move that will pit the venerable union against FedEx Chairman and CEO Frederick W. Smith, one of the most formidable anti-union executives in America.

The announcement came July 1 at the union's annual convention in Las Vegas, and was made by Ken Hall, head of the Teamsters' small-parcel division. According to a transcript of Hall's comments, the organizing effort will begin in the West, and the union has three full-time organizers working to solicit interest among FedEx Freight employees. FedEx Freight, the nation's biggest less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier, employs about 30,000 people. It is unclear how many workers would be eligible to be organized.


Teamster spokesman Galen Munroe confirmed today that the union has allocated resources to the effort. A resolution posted July 1 on the Teamster web site states that it "will assist our FedEx Freight brothers and sisters in organizing and achieving their goal of a union contract."

At the convention in Las Vegas, Teamster Vice President Randy Cammack, who is involved in the organizing effort, had harsh words for Smith, saying he runs the "Wal-Mart of the trucking business," and that he's already started a "serious anti-union campaign" to discredit the Teamsters. A FedEx spokesperson did not return an e-mail requesting comment.

The organizing move comes at a critical juncture for both FedEx Freight and the Teamsters. On Jan. 31, FedEx Freight merged its national and regional units into a single operation in what has been its biggest system revamp to date. Late last month, it reported its first profitable quarter after six consecutive quarters of operating losses.

The Teamsters, meanwhile, last week completed the nominating process to determine the union's next general president. General President James P. Hoffa, vying for a third-term, captured 82 percent of the 1,800 delegate votes. His opponents, Alexandra (Sandy) Pope and Fred Gegare, each captured 9 percent of the vote.

The Hoffa campaign said the results give their candidate positive momentum heading into the campaign. His opponents argue that the outcome of the balloting at the convention often has no bearing on the actual election. Ballots will be distributed in October and counted in November.

In trying to organize workers at FedEx Freight, the union will try to go where no union has gone before. For decades, different labor groups have tried to organize ground workers at FedEx, with no success. Efforts to organize workers at FedEx Ground, the company's ground parcel unit, have been thwarted in part by various court rulings upholding the company's argument that drivers at the unit should be classified as independent contractors and not company employees. Such distinctions make it virtually impossible for any union to gain traction at FedEx Ground.

Currently, only pilots at FedEx's FedEx Express unit are union members. Those workers represent a very small fraction of the company's overall labor force.

FedEx's Smith has long believed that third-party bargaining units like the Teamsters are irrelevant at an organization where wages and benefits are considered fair, and where employees have adequate mechanisms at their disposal to address grievances.

Several months ago, Smith won a major battle on Capitol Hill when Congress agreed to drop a provision in the House of Representatives that would have required FedEx workers to be governed under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) instead of its traditional status under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), the law that covers labor relations in the railroad and airline industries. The NLRA, which permits workers to be organized at a local, terminal-by terminal level, is considered a much easier path to unionization than the RLA, which requires that workers at a company be organized as a single unit.

Smith had warned that FedEx would scrub a multi-billion order for Boeing 777 freighter aircraft had the reclassification become law.

The announcement came July 1 at the union's annual convention in Las Vegas, and was made by Ken Hall, head of the Teamsters' small-parcel division. According to a transcript of Hall's comments, the organizing effort will begin in the West, and the union has three full-time organizers working to solicit interest among FedEx Freight employees. FedEx Freight, the nation's biggest less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier, employs about 30,000 people. It is unclear how many workers would be eligible to be organized.

Teamster spokesman Galen Munroe confirmed today that the union has allocated resources to the effort. A resolution posted July 1 on the Teamster web site states that it "will assist our FedEx Freight brothers and sisters in organizing and achieving their goal of a union contract."

At the convention in Las Vegas, Teamster Vice President Randy Cammack, who is involved in the organizing effort, had harsh words for Smith, saying he runs the "Wal-Mart of the trucking business," and that he's already started a "serious anti-union campaign" to discredit the Teamsters. A FedEx spokesperson did not return an e-mail requesting comment.

The organizing move comes at a critical juncture for both FedEx Freight and the Teamsters. On Jan. 31, FedEx Freight merged its national and regional units into a single operation in what has been its biggest system revamp to date. Late last month, it reported its first profitable quarter after six consecutive quarters of operating losses.

The Teamsters, meanwhile, last week completed the nominating process to determine the union's next general president. General President James P. Hoffa, vying for a third-term, captured 82 percent of the 1,800 delegate votes. His opponents, Alexandra (Sandy) Pope and Fred Gegare, each captured 9 percent of the vote.

The Hoffa campaign said the results give their candidate positive momentum heading into the campaign. His opponents argue that the outcome of the balloting at the convention often has no bearing on the actual election. Ballots will be distributed in October and counted in November.

In trying to organize workers at FedEx Freight, the union will try to go where no union has gone before. For decades, different labor groups have tried to organize ground workers at FedEx, with no success. Efforts to organize workers at FedEx Ground, the company's ground parcel unit, have been thwarted in part by various court rulings upholding the company's argument that drivers at the unit should be classified as independent contractors and not company employees. Such distinctions make it virtually impossible for any union to gain traction at FedEx Ground.

Currently, only pilots at FedEx's FedEx Express unit are union members. Those workers represent a very small fraction of the company's overall labor force.

FedEx's Smith has long believed that third-party bargaining units like the Teamsters are irrelevant at an organization where wages and benefits are considered fair, and where employees have adequate mechanisms at their disposal to address grievances.

Several months ago, Smith won a major battle on Capitol Hill when Congress agreed to drop a provision in the House of Representatives that would have required FedEx workers to be governed under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) instead of its traditional status under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), the law that covers labor relations in the railroad and airline industries. The NLRA, which permits workers to be organized at a local, terminal-by terminal level, is considered a much easier path to unionization than the RLA, which requires that workers at a company be organized as a single unit.

Smith had warned that FedEx would scrub a multi-billion order for Boeing 777 freighter aircraft had the reclassification become law.

The Latest

More Stories

Companies double down on resilience as trade complexities rise

Companies double down on resilience as trade complexities rise

Most retail, wholesale, and manufacturing businesses are focused on fundamentally restructuring their supply chains to stay ahead of economic uncertainty. That’s according to results of the second annual State of Supply Chain report from supply chain solutions platform provider Relex Solutions, released Tuesday.

Relex surveyed nearly 600 professionals from retail, consumer packaged goods (CPG), and wholesale businesses across seven countries and found that 60% said they are overhauling their supply chains due to tariff uncertainty and market volatility.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

Raising the bar on inventory visibility

Raising the bar on inventory visibility

Ask 10 warehousing experts about the optimal level of inventory visibility, and you'll get a dozen different responses.

Sure, most would agree on the importance of accurate inventory counts—knowing exactly how many items are in every carton, crate, and pallet stored in the facility. But depending on what type of goods the warehouse handles, opinions will vary widely on how much accuracy is good enough and what's the best technique for counting.

Keep ReadingShow less

15 candles

When a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 2010, a fledgling humanitarian group knew its day had come—after months of planning, it would finally be able to take its model live and see how well it worked. Formed a year earlier to support humanitarian relief efforts, that group, Airlink, had established a network of airline partners it could call on to provide free or discounted airlift in times of crisis. As it turned out, the model held up in testing. In the weeks following the earthquake, Airlink successfully coordinated the movement of more than 2,000 doctors and nurses and more than 40 shipments of aid totaling more than 500,000 pounds into the disaster zone.

Fifteen years later, the group is still carrying out that mission—but on a much larger scale. Airlink's network today includes over 200 aid organizations and over 50 commercial and charter airlines. Since its inception, the group has flown 13,500 relief workers and transported 18 million pounds of humanitarian cargo, directly helping 60 million people impacted by natural and man-made disasters.

Keep ReadingShow less

How risky is your route?

When planning routes for their delivery trucks, fleet managers—or more likely, their route planning software systems—consider factors like mileage, road height and weight restrictions, traffic conditions, and weather. They can now add another variable to the mix, thanks to a new tool that calculates the chances that a load might be stolen along the way.

Developed by New Jersey-based risk assessment firm Verisk Analytics, CargoNet RouteScore API generates a cargo theft "risk score" that provides a relative measure of probability that crime and loss will occur along any given route in the U.S. and Canada. Using a proprietary algorithm, the tool rates routes on a scale from 1 to 100—with 1 representing the lowest likelihood of theft—based on risk factors such as cargo type, value, length of haul, origin, destination, day of the week, and the theft history of specific truck stops.

Keep ReadingShow less

The rise of designer diesel

Drivers typically choose a specific blend of gasoline based on their car's engine, picking high-octane fuel for a sports car and regular gas for the family sedan. Now a company has launched a similar range of products for diesel fuel, saying the offerings are calibrated for vehicles like commercial trucks.

That company, Nevada-based Advanced Refining Concepts LLC (ARC), will launch two new products, GDiesel Lightning and GDiesel Thunder, by mid-year, the company said in January. According to the firm, GDiesel Lightning is a lighter, faster-igniting diesel fuel than the classic mix and is designed specifically for urban start-stop operations—think delivery vehicles, light trucks, city buses, and passenger vehicles. GDiesel Thunder is a heavier, higher energy-content fuel made for steadier and more continuous engine operating modes, making it suitable for long-haul trucking or rail and marine applications.

Keep ReadingShow less