New Resource: FedEx Sues California Employment Dept.
FedEx Ground must not have managers or lawyers who understand California law. The verdict in the Estrada case is the most clear indication that the FedEx Ground system won't fly in California. The California state audit that found single-route drivers to be employees is a close second place to the Estrada case. The California Employment Development Dept. audited FedEx Ground for 2001 to 2004 and concluded the company wasn't following California law. The state assessed FedEx Ground more than $7.8 million in back payments.
FedEx Ground has appealed the case to the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. The CUIAB has not yet ruled.
We've uploaded the full audit by the EDD but be warned that it is a large, scanned pdf document.
-- October 24
Wilmington, MA FedEx Home Delivery Drivers Vote for Teamsters
FedEx Home Delivery drivers in Wilmington, MA cast ballots today in an election to select Teamsters Local Union 25 as their bargaining representative. In a show of strength and solidarity, a large number of drivers marched in single file together to the voting station. The drivers in Wilmington faced down the FedEx campaign of misinformation and intimidation following the latest NLRB ruling that gave these employees the right to vote union. All the drivers are out on the road today servicing their areas.
The outcome of the election has not been announced. At the last minute, FedEx requested a review of the NLRB Region 1 director's ruling that ordered the election. The ballots have been impounded temporarily until the request is handled by the NLRB. This latest, desparate try by FedEx to delay the outcome is another company tactic to deny the drivers their right to join the Teamsters. FedEx has tried this tactic in the past - and lost - most recently in the March 2006 NLRB review order.
There is another day's wait for these drivers, but they've shown strength and determination all along. They'll have the final say soon enough.
-- October 20
"When a Company Does Well, its Pilots Do Well Too"
Its a proven fact: when a company and its unionized workforce conduct negotiations as equals, the resulting, mutually acceptable contract works to both sides benefit. The company gets the stability and predictability of a labor contract just like a sales contract with a vendor provides. The workers get the wages and benefits that recognize their hard work and contribution to the success of the company and this encourages even greater productivity and hard work.
That's the lesson of the most recent contract reached between FedEx Express and the FedEx pilots in ALPA . The contract secures 9% raise for the first year with 3% raises in the following years, pension contributions for retiree pilots and a signing bonus among plus job rule conditions.
The pilots union at FedEx is getting their fair share of a growing pie. Yet the company denies its other workers - the drivers, the sorters, the CSAs, the mechanics - the right to even vote for a union. Are these workers' contribution any less important than the pilots? Of course not.
-- October 18
TeamsterPower Talks Bush, FedEx and more on Daily Kos
So on Sept. 27, FedEx CEO Fred Smith and FedEx board member Pitt Hyde hosted a fundraiser for Republican Senate candidate Bob Corker in Memphis where President Bush was the keynote speaker. Smith, his wife, Hyde and his wife co-hosted the $2,100 a plate fundraiser at Hyde's home.
Then today, President Bush at a FedEx facility in suburban Washington sat in on a roundtable discussion with other business owners - no hourly workers were apparently there to puncture the Bush bubble.
TeamsterPower has put a long run down of the swirl of politics, policies and practices between the Bush Administration and Fred Smith's FedEx. Go ahead over the community at Daily Kos to add your voice to the discussion.
-- October 06
Teamsters General President Hoffa Criticizes Bush Policies and FedEx Practices
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa issued a press release today following President George W. Bush's speech at a FedEx facility outside Washington, DC
Today, President Bush used mediocre monthly payroll figures to give himself a self-congratulatory pat on the back about an economy that is failing American workers. It is fitting that the White House chose to spin their skewed economic message at a FedEx facility in Washington, D.C., one of the most anti-worker companies in the United States.
FedEx has created a business model with a cutthroat mentality even Machiavelli would admire. CEO Fred Smith will collect over $10 million in compensation and dividend income this year alone, money that he earns by exploiting thousands of FedEx Ground drivers through an "independent contractor" model.
FedEx has abused this independent contractor status to shift risks and costs onto the drivers and taxpayers. The drivers take on costs that should be paid by the company, including trucks, uniforms and digital scanners.
That's just the start of the statement. General President Hoffa really gets on a roll.
-- October 06
