Judge: Con-way Violated Rights of Workers in Los Angeles

Posted: 21 Nov 2015 08:47 PM PST

https://teamster.org/news/2015/11/judge-con-way-violated-rights-workers-los-angeles

Teamsters

America's Strongest Union

Con-way Freight, Inc. violated the rights of workers who were trying to form their union with the Teamsters and must re-hire two workers it unlawfully fired during the organizing campaign, among other remedies, an administrative law judge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled.

“By instructing employees not to wear union insignia, threatening employees for supporting the Union, filing criminal charges against an employee, suspending employees, and terminating employees because they supported the Union, the Respondent has engaged in unfair labor practices…,” Administrative Judge Eleanor Laws wrote in her decision.

The workers at Con-way’s Los Angeles terminal were trying to join Local 63. The company must cease its illegal activities, reinstate the two fired workers and pay them back wages and benefits, and take other steps.

To read the decision, click here.

Teamsters Gardena California Fed-Ex Strike Inspires Hundreds To Join Organizing Effort - 11/11/15

By Doug Cunningham

Eighty-five Fed-Ex drivers in Gardena California carried out a one day unfair labor practices strike as efforts to organize at Fed-Ex accelerate. They were supported on the picket lines by three hundred Teamsters from Joint Council 42. Council 42 teamsters organizer Randy Korgan says the attempted union busting that sparked this strike is happening at other Fed-Ex locations. KOrgan says the Teamsters are in for the long haul in the Fed-Ex organizing effort and strikes like the one in Gardena will inspire other Fed-Ex workers to join the union effort. [Randy Korgan]: “Just from this action hundreds of employees from all over the country have reached out in various ways asking what can they do to join in. How can they support the effort here as well as them starting to engage in discussions that maybe they do something like this on a larger scale.”

Click Here to Hear Audio

In Response

The FedEx Freight SPIN on what happened in Gardena is coming to service center near you. Yesterday a 2 page letter was seen at our Houston svc spinning the company’s misinformation.

The following is the response from a Fox 11 news article in Los Angeles,

FEDEX STATEMENT:

"FedEx Freight is exploring its options and will take appropriate legal action in response to this coercive and potentially illegal activity. We are working diligently to minimize any disruption to our customers and will continue to provide the high level of service they have come to expect from FedEx Freight.

Only a small handful of our employees in Gardena are involved, and most of the protesters are outsiders with their own agenda. These outsiders have resorted to intimidating and coercive conduct against FedEx Freight employees attempting to exercise their legal right to attend work and to decide for themselves whether they wish to be represented by a union‎."

The so called illegal activity that FedEx is saying is not true. At the beginning of the work stoppage, management were handed a petition sanctioned by the NRLB. Making this a legal 24 hour activity.

The small hand of employees, were over 80.

The supporters were Teamsters members, organizers and dock workers who, after management closed the Gardena terminal, went outside, picked up signs and walked side by side with the drivers.

All employees were back to work the following day.

Teamsters take a stand for fair pay, organizing workers

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Teamsters take a stand for fair pay, organizing workers

Local 439 members in Stockton, Calif. leaflet at Fed Ex Freight.

The Teamsters joined with thousands of truck drivers, valet attendants and low-wage workers across the country today in a day of action to raise awareness about the sorry state of wages and benefits for millions of everyday Americans on the job.

FedEx Freight employees, port truck drivers and fast food workers held protests from coast-to-coast. They are joined by Teamster valet attendants at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, who are rallying tonight, and federal contract service workers in the nation’s capital on strike to call out employers who won’t pay fair wages and tamp down on workers organizing.

From Baltimore to Seattle, Teamsters stood outside more than 300 FedEx Freight terminals educating workers about the company's spending of $5.2 million over the past three years to cover the personal taxes of top executives as well hundreds of thousands of dollars to wage anti-worker campaigns. Meanwhile, workers there continue to have access to poor and expensive health benefits.

Teamster organizers said enough is enough:

FedEx Freight workers across the country have been building their power with the Teamsters' help for many months. Workers have committed to fighting for the long-haul to attain their true goal of a collective bargaining agreement with their employer. FedEx Freight workers want a voice and they want it in writing. Workers are overcoming their fear and the companies constant assault on organized labor. 

This workforce has built a very large core of committed individuals and continue to grow their pro-contract, pro-union, pro-Teamster ranks daily. They all understand that this is a marathon and not a sprint and are working diligently with their goal of memorializing their working lives in a written agreement with FedEx Freight!

Local 355 Teamsters gather in Baltimore.

Those efforts were repeated elsewhere. Port truck drivers and their Teamster supporters turned out in Los Angeles, New Jersey and Savannah, Ga. to raise awareness about wage theft and misclassification. These workers have been fighting to be recognized as full-time employees rather than contract workers.

The Teamsters have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in recent years with FedEx Freight workers and port truck drivers in an attempt to expand their voice in the workplace. That effort extends to valet attendants at several Las Vegas hotels as well as other disenfranchised workers across the nation.

The Labor Department’s own statistics prove why joining a union is important. The median union worker earns more than $200 a weekmore than a non-union one. That’s why the Teamsters have stressed the importance of labor membership in our recent “Let’s Get America Working!” campaign.

Teamster Strong, America Stronger!

Joint Council 42's official statement on today's strike in Gardena

GARDENA STRIKES!

  Today, in the City of Opportunity, our courageous brothers and sisters have taken a step toward a brighter future by  striking for the right to vote for Teamster representation. The decision to strike follows the successful Stockton campaign as well as other triumphant campaigns across the nation.
  The journey to this point has been a long one. Over the years, we have faced the deceptive anti-union tactics of FedEx Freight including harassment, wrongful termination and the blatant spread of misinformation. But despite their best efforts, we have stood strong in our fight to bring the Teamsters to FedEx because we know that a union contract is our only opportunity for a better future. 
  The choice to strike is a difficult one, but nothing worth having has ever been easy. Today and for however long it may take, we stand with our brothers and sisters in Gardena.  

Stay strong and fight on!

-The Change FedEx to Win Team

South Brunswick, NJ FedEx Drivers Speak Out ( A MUST SEE VIDEO )

Fedex Freight Stockton are now 100% Teamsters!

XPO closes purchase of Con-way; layoffs begin within Con-way system

Saturday, October 31, 2015

XPO closes purchase of Con-way; layoffs begin within Con-way system

http://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/20151030-xpo-closes-purchase-of-con-way-layoffs-begin-within-con-way-system/

More than 10 percent of workforce is cut at HQ, IT center, source says; rebranding to XPO name takes effect.

By Mark B. Solomon

It wasn't long after XPO Logistics Inc. announced today that it had finalized its $3 billion acquisition of trucking and logistics provider Con-way Inc. that the bloodletting began at Con-way's headquarters in Ann Arbor, Mich., and elsewhere.

XPO will cut more than 10 percent of Con-way's workforce at Ann Arbor and at its Portland, Ore.-based technology center, according to an individual familiar with the situation. Between 2,500 and 3,000 employees work at both locations, the individual estimated. Included in the cuts will be an entire layer of Con-way upper management, whose elimination will save its new owner about $28 million a year; the managerial segment was not adding much value to the organization, according to the individual.

Also on the chopping block is an 80-person group devoted to developing and implementing "lean" management principles, an ambitious efficiency program that Con-way has championed for years. Shortly after the deal was announced in early September, Bradley S. Jacobs, Greenwich, Conn.-based XPO's chairman and CEO, met in Ann Arbor with leaders of the project and came away dubious that the benefits of the work justified the size of the current headcount, according to the individual.

The individual said that Con-way's drivers are likely not included in the layoffs. It is also unclear whether there will be further rounds of cutbacks

Executives who remain with XPO will be required to sign a two-year noncompete agreement, the individual said. The requirement could result in an exodus of top-level employees, who may wish to stay, but may worry they will find their hands tied should they subsequently find opportunities elsewhere in the industry.

The cuts, which had been expected internally for weeks, include employees in administration, operations, sales, and information technology, according to the individual. XPO declined comment other than a statement from Jacobs in announcing the deal's close that "we're moving quickly to eliminate redundancies and leverage our scale to better serve our more than 50,000 customers." At the time the deal was announced, XPO pledged to improve Con-way's operating profit by up to $420 million over the next two years. Part of that will come from cost cuts.

Con-way's four operating divisions—Con-way Freight; truckload carrier Con-way Truckload; third-party logistics-services provider Menlo Worldwide Logistics; and freight broker and intermodal marketing company Con-way Multimodal—have been rebranded as XPO Logistics. Menlo and Con-way Multimodal will be immediately integrated into existing XPO Logistics units operating in identical segments. Con-way Truckload, which as Contract Freighters Inc. was bought by Con-way in 2007 for $750 million and which today might fetch a little more than half that, will likely be sold for what Jacobs believes is the right price. He has said the unit might have value as a hauler of brokered freight.

Jacobs said earlier this month that XPO had received three unsolicited offers for Con-way Truckload. He wouldn't identify the bidders or the price of each offer.

Con-way Freight generates about $3.3 billion in annual revenue, which is more than half of the parent's $5.8 billion in revenue. It is known for providing excellent customer service, but in recent years has struggled to operate efficiently, or as profitably as many investors would like. Con-way Freight has specialized in the premium segment, where time in transit is compressed and service levels are relatively high. However, about three-quarters of LTL traffic moves in slower, more economical services, an area where the unit had little, if any, involvement.

Jacobs said earlier this month the new LTL unit will focus far more on the economy category, and could leverage the network of the former Pacer International, an intermodal provider with a great deal of equipment that XPO acquired in early 2014.

XPO has engaged recruiting firm Spencer Stuart to find a replacement for Joseph M. Dagnese, the head of Con-way Freight, who had been expected to leave the company at the time the deal closed. The complexity of integrating Con-way, and in particular positioning the LTL unit for future success, means that XPO will take its foot off the acquisition brake for at least a year, Jacobs said recently. Through 17 acquisitions in the past four years as well as internal expansion, XPO has gone from a company that didn't exist in late 2010 to a $15 billion firm today.