SCDigest
Editorial Staff
SCDigest Says: |
There is also some possibility that if FedEx was to organize under the Teamsters, that some day in the future there could be a joint strike, paralyzing the parcel shipping industry, especially.
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A mostly behind the scenes tussle in Washington DC went a lot more public this week, as FedEx took aggressively to new media to try to kill a provision in a upcoming bill that would make it easier for FedEx workers to unionize.
At issue is a proposal that would change the current status of FedEx vis-à-vis labor law. Unlike UPS, FedEx is currently designated as falling under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), which makes labor organizing more difficult. That resulted from some odd regulatory history and a controversial 1996 provision that codified the FedEx status into law. As a result, per its RLA status, FedEx cannot currently be unionized on a location-by-location basis, but only through a company-wide vote – a much tougher mission for union organizers. The status takes on even greater impact with the potential for “card check” legislation that would enable local operations to organize without even needing a secret ballot, a bill many Democrats and President Obama seem to favor.
UPS, on the other hand, is governed under the National Labor Relations Act, which allows location-level organization.
Now, a provision to change FedEx’s status has been slipped into a largely unrelated bill reauthorizing the FAA (i.e., the Express Carrier Employee Fairness Amendment in the FAA Reauthorization Act). But that may in one sense be fair play, because the 1996 provision granting FedEx the RLA status was also put in an FAA reauthorization bill.
UPS says it has lobbied for, but did not initiate, the change in FedEx's status. UPS is almost completely unionized. FedEx has just a small number of employees under unions.
The bill has already passed in the House, and now will be voted on by the Senate.
Employing YouTube
FedEx decided to make its case with an aggressive campaign employing new media. That includes a stand-alone web site www.brownbailout.com that cleverly uses the ubiquitous UPS “whiteboard” series of ads to make its case, arguing that the change is a “bailout” to UPS, and that UPS is trying to use the Congress to hamper a more efficient competitor. The video has also been posted on YouTube.
UPS of course responded, saying in a press release that “The U.S. Congress is considering legislation that aims to level the playing field in the express delivery industry by placing FedEx Express’ drivers and other non-airline specific employees under the appropriate labor statute - the NLRA.” (Transportation Management Article - Continued Below)
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