This has been a great day if you're a Teamster. We scored our first big win against FedEx, creating a toehold in this very anti-union company. And Jim Hoffa was re-elected to a second five-year term as general president.
First on FedEx:
FedEx Home Delivery drivers at two locations in Wilmington, Massachusetts, voted 24-8 to overwhelmingly choose Teamsters Local 25 in Boston as their bargaining representative, as ballots they cast a month ago were counted today by the National Labor Relations Board.
The workers are the first units in the FedEx Home Delivery system, a subsidiary of FedEx Ground, to win Teamster representation. Since 1988, the NLRB has ruled seven times that FedEx Ground and Home Delivery drivers are not independent contractors as the company alleges, giving them the right as employees to form a union.
"This is a great day for these workers," said Sean O'Brien, President of Teamsters Local 25. "Their voice was finally heard despite every effort by FedEx to silence them. I look forward to securing a first contract for these drivers that will ensure they are treated like the employees both we and the company know they are."
FedEx Ground employed stall tactics during the past month in an attempt to deny the drivers their federally protected right to join a union. Its final attempt was quashed when the NLRB refused to reconsider its ruling that ordered the October 20 representation election, paving the way for today's vote count.
A story in the Boston Globe says that FedEx will file an objection, alleging union organizers in Wilmington used unfair tactics, though the company spokesman "declined to specify what they were."
O'Brien denied unfair tactics were used. "Our organizers did everything by the book," he said, adding that FedEx officials "should look themselves in the mirror. They insulted and degraded people, and they lost."
The very fact that these votes were counted before FedEx fired the workers on trumped up charges is a victory. This is the company's modus operandi:
NY Times, 5/30/06
Not long after 21 of the 23 drivers in Northborough petitioned last fall for an election to join the Teamsters, FedEx dismissed five union supporters and six others quit, with several complaining that managers had made their lives unbearable.
"They started to harass and intimidate everybody," Mr. Williams said. "Some people they tried to starve out. Instead of giving 120 to 130 packages, they cut it to 60 or 70 to reduce the money."
Ken Flynn, a pro-union driver who was dismissed, said that after the unionization drive began, management added six managers to the three already there. The new ones, he said, spent much of their time speaking out against the union. FedEx says the new managers were assisting with the holiday rush and helping to transfer the operation to another terminal in Northborough.
The struggle is far from over at FedEx, though. We must still negotiate a contract. And there are thousands of drivers in the U.S. who are still being exploited by FedEx and other companies that wrongfully classify employees as "independent contractors."
Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), independent contractors cannot form a union and elect a bargaining representative. As direct employees, workers could join their FedEx coworkers to form a union and bargain for a number of improvements, including better wages, overtime pay, paid vacations, medical insurance and retirement benefits.
"This vote sends one clear and simple message to FedEx - the free ride is over," Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said Friday of the FedEx vote results. "These workers and this union will not stand by idly by while FedEx rakes in profits and avoids its responsibilities to the workers and their communities by exploiting this phony independent contractor model."
But this was not the only election the General President is celebrating this weekend. Hoffa was re-elected to five-year term as the Teamsters' leader by almost a two-to-one margin.
This election, like all elections these days, contained its share of negatives and distortions. But the rank-and-file members spoke with a clear voice. They said they support their leaders and the progress they are making. And like Democrats after a primary, we will stand united against our common enemy: employers who refuse to treat their workers with respect, who fail to offer a fair wage, security and justice.
Congratulations, Mr. Hoffa.