For the first time, a group of drivers at FedEx Freight have voted to join the Teamsters Union. A total of 47 FedEx Freight drivers based out of the East Philadelphia terminal in Croydon, Pennsylvania have voted to join Teamsters Local 107 with a tally of 26-18.
The victory comes just a week after the same vote failed at the FedEx Cinnaminson, New Jersey facility and comes after years of attempts by the Teamsters to organize the drivers of FedEx Freight. Just a month ago, warehouse employees at a FedEx facility in Canada voted to unionize, but before then, the only union FedEx employees in North America were pilots.
The Teamsters campaign to unionize FedEx workers started in 2011 and they have also petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to allow for unionization votes at other locations.
Representatives for the Teamsters are quick to point out that their attempts to organize drivers at FedEx have already paid off. Just a few days after filing for the election at the Cinnaminson facility, FedEx announced a raise of $0.80 per hour and got rid of its “overly punitive driver scorecard, which gives drivers infraction points for errors.”
“The drivers are fed up with FedEx Freight,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “These workers are tired of management talking down to them at every chance, and they want decent benefits, including more affordable health insurance. They also want consistent and fair working conditions and a more hopeful future.”
FedEx is now considering its options, which includes filing an appeal which would overturn the vote.
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Source: overdrive, truckinginfo
Hi Folks, this was meant to be a news article, not a battle location for people to fight about whether unions are good or bad. We’ve heard from both sides on the issue now, and I’m calling this closed. If you want to argue it more, take it to the big media websites that love the partisan bickering.
The way the industry is every trucking company ought to be unionized.
GO GO FED X DRIVERS.
After 14yrs with a non union carrier (Averitt) I too became fed up with the use and abuse with a once good job getting more and more watered down everyday. I finally “wised up” 5 months ago and now drive for ABF, which is a union job for those that dont know. I am now treated with respect and get paid for eveything I do (including all wait time) and not just going down the road, the way it should be. I love coming into work and driving a truck again for the first time in years! I now realize and see firsthand how much difference actually having a voice in the workplace does for your working environment and conditions. GO FED-EX WORKERS!!
If that was my terminal, I’d put a padlock on the gate and close it down! Eighty cents an hour raise…LMAO. What a bunch of morons.
“Don’t forget, unions are directly responsible for killing Detroit and manufacturers moving production to China and Mexico”…..I don’t think that the Unions were holding a gun to the heads of Detroit auto makers…it was a negotiated deal, both sides agreed on the terms. As for the reason for moving production to China and Mexico, look at company greed, the desire to maximize shareholder profits at the expense of workers, NAFTA which labor opposed (see this link: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/29/us/labor-leaders-joining-forces-in-opposition-to-trade-plan.html, and now the proposed TPP program ( don’t know what the TPP is ?…see here: http://www.law.washington.edu/AsianLaw/HumanTrafficking/TransPacificFactsheet.pdf.
Regards
Gemstone
The choice to unionize is made out of self-interest. The purpose of FedEx is not to provide its drivers with a decent standard of living, it’s to maximize profits by competing in the marketplace, which also represents self-interest. If one or the other gets too self-interested, steps are taken to correct the imbalance. Neither is any better or more deserving than the other…it’s merely a question of balance.
It’s sort of like the Eagles. If you watched The History of the Eagles on Netflix recently like I did and didn’t know very much about them before (besides their songs), you learned that Don Felder, while a superb guitarist, lacked the vision to realize that Glenn Frey and Don Henley did indeed deserve to be paid quite a bit more than the other band members (except possibly Joe Walsh) after they reunited in the 1990s. This unfortunate lack caused Felder to finally got the boot, appropriately.
As a former member of that local I say good luck. Best career move I EVER made was leaving the teamsters…..Nice knowing ya fed ex…