February 18, 2010 04:28 PM EST by Karl Leuba
Organizing labor has never been easy, And FedEx knows that if it ever gets easy they will be well equal to UPS. Here is the way the regulations are, UPS is regulated by the National Labor Relations board, and FedEx is regulated under the Railway Labor Act. The difference is this, Air Lines and Railroads have a de facto protection against union labor, collective bargaining contracts have to cover all workers nation wide to help prevent paralysis in the industries because of local strikes. There are more details HERE from National Public Radio.
Congress is considering changing the status of FedEx, putting them in the same regulatory mix with UPS and other trucking and delivery companies, and making it much easier to organize workers in local terminals. FedEx does not like this idea at all. They have launched a multimillion dollar ad campaign to get the change in status out of the FAA renewal bill now in the Senate. It has already passed the house.
Public Relations Week, says, “Earlier this week, FedEx launched a multimillion-dollar campaign, Brown Bailout, directly attacking its competitor United Parcel Service (UPS) for supporting legislation that could make it easier for some of FedEx’s workers to unionize. FedEx argues that the bill, currently making its way through Congress, is tantamount to a government bailout for UPS, because it would stifle competition.” You can read that story, if you register, HERE. UPS on the other hand says that FedEx has an unfair competitive advantage. It seems clear they do, since UPS employees have very widespread collective bargaining agreements, along with the resultant Higher Wages, Better Working Conditions, Better Health Care Coverage, Better, fully funded, Retirement Plans, and all the other benefits that go with Union Representation.
An Article in Business Week echos that, and shows the difference in the profitability of Each company. FedEx earned 182 million dollars on revenues of 8.14 billion. UPS earned 718 million on revenues of 10.9 billion. This is NOT a mistake. FedEx had a profit of 182 million dollars on 8.14 billion dollars in revenue with a labor force that is non union, earns less than UPS workers, and UPS made 718 Million on 10.9 billion with almost full unionization. For every 49 dollars FedEx earned on their revenue, UPS earned 59. And, the Union Company did more business.
I am having a REALLY TOUGH TIME BELIEVING THIS. But it was published in Business Week, and they have a better reputation these days than the Wall Street Journal. The Business Week article is HERE. It is hard to believe for a very simple reason, I have been told, since I was old enough to read the newspapers, that unions are bad for business.
But that is not the issue here.
The issue here is should FedEx Continue to enjoy a special status designed to avoid disruptions in rail and air travel or should they play on the same field as their competitors, including UPS and other regional, national and international package delivery companies.
The FedEx Ad Campaign is going to tell you NO…they should be treated the same way the airlines are.
From the Hempstead Consulting Website
Friday, February 26, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
FedEx workers join the Teamsters Union!
This is for all my managers who said " FedEx will never let it's employees organize.."
You see Russ,Farrin,John,Milford,Andy,Greg,Johnny L.,Chris and the list goes on forever! It never was up to FedEx. It has always been up to the "Employee's" of this company.
Rudy,
and all of the FedEx Watch Dogs
FedEx workers join the Teamsters Union!
For the first time in the history of organized labour in North America, FedEx workers have decided to unionize and have chosen the Teamsters Union to represent them…Toronto, February 15, 2010 – Thanks to the relentless efforts of its organizers, the Teamsters Union announces that it now represents FedEx’s administrative workers in Mississauga, Ontario.
“This is a historical event for FedEx workers and the entire labour movement,” claims Robert Bouvier, president of Teamsters Canada. “This company is well known for its anti-union attitude, but this development demonstrates beyond all doubt that these workers had had enough of their employer’s arbitrary decisions.”
This large-scale campaign began in 2009 and mobilizes dozens of organizers, members of several Local Unions throughout the country as well as Teamsters Canada representatives.
The application for certification was filed on Friday February 12 with the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB). An application for certification is a formal document that confirms that a union represents a group of workers.
The employer may attempt to object to its workers’ decision. The president of Teamsters Canada has therefore warned them that their employer could try to stall the procedure.
“We will continue to stand with these men and women for as long as it takes,” adds Mr. Bouvier. “Furthermore, we have learned that they earn to up $16,000 less than their brothers and sisters employed by Purolator. That is one of the many reasons that convinced them to contact us for help.”
The Teamsters intends to continue to help all FedEx workers legal right to form a union.
The Teamsters Union represents 125,000 members in Canada in all trades. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, with which Teamsters Canada is affiliated, has 1.4 million members in North America.
-30-
Information:
Stéphane Lacroix, Director of Communications, Teamsters Canada
514-609-5101
www.teamsters.ca
www.fedexworkers.org
You see Russ,Farrin,John,Milford,Andy,Greg,Johnny L.,Chris and the list goes on forever! It never was up to FedEx. It has always been up to the "Employee's" of this company.
Rudy,
and all of the FedEx Watch Dogs
FedEx workers join the Teamsters Union!
For the first time in the history of organized labour in North America, FedEx workers have decided to unionize and have chosen the Teamsters Union to represent them…Toronto, February 15, 2010 – Thanks to the relentless efforts of its organizers, the Teamsters Union announces that it now represents FedEx’s administrative workers in Mississauga, Ontario.
“This is a historical event for FedEx workers and the entire labour movement,” claims Robert Bouvier, president of Teamsters Canada. “This company is well known for its anti-union attitude, but this development demonstrates beyond all doubt that these workers had had enough of their employer’s arbitrary decisions.”
This large-scale campaign began in 2009 and mobilizes dozens of organizers, members of several Local Unions throughout the country as well as Teamsters Canada representatives.
The application for certification was filed on Friday February 12 with the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB). An application for certification is a formal document that confirms that a union represents a group of workers.
The employer may attempt to object to its workers’ decision. The president of Teamsters Canada has therefore warned them that their employer could try to stall the procedure.
“We will continue to stand with these men and women for as long as it takes,” adds Mr. Bouvier. “Furthermore, we have learned that they earn to up $16,000 less than their brothers and sisters employed by Purolator. That is one of the many reasons that convinced them to contact us for help.”
The Teamsters intends to continue to help all FedEx workers legal right to form a union.
The Teamsters Union represents 125,000 members in Canada in all trades. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, with which Teamsters Canada is affiliated, has 1.4 million members in North America.
-30-
Information:
Stéphane Lacroix, Director of Communications, Teamsters Canada
514-609-5101
www.teamsters.ca
www.fedexworkers.org
Friday, February 5, 2010
A Response To A Traitor. This Is 4u
To start off, I am truly sorry if you were offended by corrections to your grammar, perhaps you don’t even have a GED to utilize to properly use English? This is a PRO-UNION forum; I don’t understand how you could believe that anyone here would agree with you.
It is not in the cards for everyone to open up their own business. In fact that is possibly the worst suggestion I have ever heard, if everyone opened up their own business, who would be left to work? Besides completely lacking any use of logic, your challenge sounds like a regurgitation of something one would hear on FOX News, so your argument that union supporters do not think for themselves is rendered useless because you yourself cannot think for yourself.
On the subject of fact checking, maybe you should stop being lazy and do a little research yourself. This movement is not so that the hardworking FedEx employees can slack, which has been stated multiple times in this forum by both organizers and supporters (If you bothered to read the rest of this forum you would already know this, or perhaps comprehension, like grammar, is beyond you). This movement is so that the hardworking men and women of this wonderful company can retire with the benefits that they have earned. The trucking industry plays a vital role in the success in just about every other industry, without truck drivers, food, medicine, constructions supplies, cars, and just about every tangible good would not be able to get from “Point A” to “Point B”. So despite its lack of glamour, the average truck driver is one of the most important workers in America. But your rather closed minded self probably have not realized this because they don’t wear expensive suits like most “important” people.
Continuing on the topic of facts, I totally agree that supporters should do their own research; I wouldn’t want the union to turn into another propaganda machine such as FOX or nay-sayers of the union. In fact, here are a few facts that you might find interesting:
-As defined by the Teamsters’ Constitution, the purpose of the union is to
* Organize workers so that they have a voice in the workplace.
* Educate workers so that they know their workplace rights and can participate fully in our democratic society.
* Involve workers in the political process so that their issues are addressed.
* Negotiate and enforce contracts with employers so that each worker will be treated with dignity, justice and respect.
- According to the U.S Department of Labor:
-88 percent of union workers have job-related health coverage while only 69 percent of non-union workers do.
-More than two out of three union jobs offer a dental plan; only 44 percent of non-union workers receive dental coverage.
-More than half of all union jobs offer vision coverage; only about one-quarter of non-union jobs provide vision care.
-85 percent of union jobs offer prescription drug coverage; only 66 percent of non-union jobs provide prescription drug coverage.
-Union workers pay an average of 8 percent of the total monthly premium (employer pays 92 percent) for single coverage; non-union workers pay 20 percent. Union households pay an average of 12 percent of the monthly premium for family coverage while non-union families pay 32 percent.
-72 percent of union workers have a guaranteed defined-benefit pension compared to 15 percent of non-union workers.
Now I do believe this discredits your unsubstantiated assertion that there are no benefits of a union. In all actuality, unions are a benefit for everyone. The reality is that these employees are going to retire, whether they are unionized or not. Would you rather have a privatized organization and company take care of them or Medicaid and the millions of tax payers who are already burdened with the debts of corporate greed? I didn’t take you as someone who would be in favor of socialism.
As Abraham Lincoln stated, "All that serves labor serves the nation. All that harms is treason. If a man tells you he trusts America, yet fears labor, he is a fool. There is no America without labor, and to fleece the one is to rob the other." So I ask you, where does your allegiance lie?
C.H.
It is not in the cards for everyone to open up their own business. In fact that is possibly the worst suggestion I have ever heard, if everyone opened up their own business, who would be left to work? Besides completely lacking any use of logic, your challenge sounds like a regurgitation of something one would hear on FOX News, so your argument that union supporters do not think for themselves is rendered useless because you yourself cannot think for yourself.
On the subject of fact checking, maybe you should stop being lazy and do a little research yourself. This movement is not so that the hardworking FedEx employees can slack, which has been stated multiple times in this forum by both organizers and supporters (If you bothered to read the rest of this forum you would already know this, or perhaps comprehension, like grammar, is beyond you). This movement is so that the hardworking men and women of this wonderful company can retire with the benefits that they have earned. The trucking industry plays a vital role in the success in just about every other industry, without truck drivers, food, medicine, constructions supplies, cars, and just about every tangible good would not be able to get from “Point A” to “Point B”. So despite its lack of glamour, the average truck driver is one of the most important workers in America. But your rather closed minded self probably have not realized this because they don’t wear expensive suits like most “important” people.
Continuing on the topic of facts, I totally agree that supporters should do their own research; I wouldn’t want the union to turn into another propaganda machine such as FOX or nay-sayers of the union. In fact, here are a few facts that you might find interesting:
-As defined by the Teamsters’ Constitution, the purpose of the union is to
* Organize workers so that they have a voice in the workplace.
* Educate workers so that they know their workplace rights and can participate fully in our democratic society.
* Involve workers in the political process so that their issues are addressed.
* Negotiate and enforce contracts with employers so that each worker will be treated with dignity, justice and respect.
- According to the U.S Department of Labor:
-88 percent of union workers have job-related health coverage while only 69 percent of non-union workers do.
-More than two out of three union jobs offer a dental plan; only 44 percent of non-union workers receive dental coverage.
-More than half of all union jobs offer vision coverage; only about one-quarter of non-union jobs provide vision care.
-85 percent of union jobs offer prescription drug coverage; only 66 percent of non-union jobs provide prescription drug coverage.
-Union workers pay an average of 8 percent of the total monthly premium (employer pays 92 percent) for single coverage; non-union workers pay 20 percent. Union households pay an average of 12 percent of the monthly premium for family coverage while non-union families pay 32 percent.
-72 percent of union workers have a guaranteed defined-benefit pension compared to 15 percent of non-union workers.
Now I do believe this discredits your unsubstantiated assertion that there are no benefits of a union. In all actuality, unions are a benefit for everyone. The reality is that these employees are going to retire, whether they are unionized or not. Would you rather have a privatized organization and company take care of them or Medicaid and the millions of tax payers who are already burdened with the debts of corporate greed? I didn’t take you as someone who would be in favor of socialism.
As Abraham Lincoln stated, "All that serves labor serves the nation. All that harms is treason. If a man tells you he trusts America, yet fears labor, he is a fool. There is no America without labor, and to fleece the one is to rob the other." So I ask you, where does your allegiance lie?
C.H.
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