NY Times Article is Spreading Thru the Internet
The New York Times article is certainly spreading thru cyberspace. After the piece spent a good part of the day among the "Top 10" Emailed articles at NYTimes.com.
The good, long blog post at Firedoglake puts the FedEx Ground retaliation against the Northboro drivers into the proper context as a standard operating procedure for many anti-union employers these days. The writer of that post, Justin Barab of Confined Space, is a strong, clear voice for worker issues in the blogosphere.
But the blog that will have a special place in the FedEx Ground fight lore is WorkersCompInsider for warning FedEx managers in April 2005 to read the Massachusetts attorney general's directives on that state's independent contractor law. We never doubted that FedEx didn't read the Massachusetts laws. They are just too heavily invested in the independent contractor scam to change their ways.
-- May 31
Disingenuous Nonsense Report: 5.31.06 Edition
The New York Times did a good job in speaking to all sides of the driver insurgency at FedEx Ground & Home Delivery. However, some critical facts need to be clarified.
Most importantly, there is no "Teamsters said, FedEx said" argument. The drivers and the Teamsters have repeatedly taken their case that the drivers are employees and not "contractors" to numerous courts, agencies or government bodies. And a string of recent decisions - whether in the courts in the Estrada ruling or in the Tumulty ruling or at the NLRB in the Northboro ruling or the Barrington ruling or the Fairfield ruling - have all ruled in favor of the drivers and against the company. The reality is the drivers are fighting and winning while the company is losing and whining.
Second, FedEx flak Perry Colosimo must have been an awful student - because he gets both his math and his history wrong. When the Northboro drivers petitioned for the election, the Teamsters had secured 21 out of 23 eligible voters in support of unionization. If the election were held promptly and if the company had not tampered with a fair election by firing union supporters, then the Teamsters would have won the election easily. FedEx fired the union supporters to intimidate the workforce because FedEx KNEW THEY WOULD LOSE THE ELECTION. The Teamsters only moved later to block the election in light of the FedEx tampering. That double talk is just more FedEx disingenuous nonsense.
In Northboro, the men and women deliberately joined with the Teamsters to try to form a union and take control of their work conditions. No one in Northboro was "lured" into anything. FedEx employees are working with the Teamsters because we are committed to banding together with all FedEx employees who are sick of the broken Purple Promises and want to secure the respect and the just earnings they deserve.
-- May 31
What Would FedEx Freight - Watkins Merger Mean for Workers?
The financial coverage of the rumored FedEx purchase of Watkins Motor Lines has seemed to accencuate the positive. We've heard another viewpoint from analysts that may be more worrisome to investors - and certainly to both FedEx Freight and Watkins employees. The analysts we've talked have raised the question of duplication of facilities and coverage in parts of the the US from the investor perspective. Surely, as with most mergers in corporate America, the merger would have a deep impact on the existing workforce at both FedEx Freight and Watkins.
-- May 25
New resources: Tumulty case, FedEx Ground as “joint employer”
We've added the Tumulty vs FedEx Ground case to our Resources . The plaintiff drivers were temp drivers at FedEx Ground and the judge ruled that FedEx was the joint employer under the Fair Labor Standards Act and Washington state law. After having lost the argument that the drivers were employees of the contractors and not employees of FedEx Ground, the company quickly settled the case. But knowing the danger of a ruling that FedEx Ground was the joint employer of temp drivers, FedEx immediately appealed to the Ninth Circuit. FedEx doesn't want the summary judgment to stand in face of the driver insurgency and the multi-district litigation .
-- May 23
Welcome to FedExWatch Version 2
Come on in, open the hood, kick the tires. Surf around the Insider Resources. Check back often for new stuff. Send a note to FedExWatch at Teamster dot org with your thoughts.
-- May 16
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