FedEx Pays $253,000 to Former Drivers to Settle Labor Charges
07 November 2007 - 5:17AM
PR Newswire (US)
NLRB Also Requires Union Election as Part of Settlement WASHINGTON,
Nov. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX)
subsidiary FedEx Home Delivery has agreed to pay five former and
present drivers a total $253,000 to settle a series of unfair labor
charges brought by the National Labor Relations Board against the
company. The five drivers - four former and one present driver -
all worked in the Northboro, Massachusetts Home Delivery terminal
and were union supporters in a unionization drive in 2005 and 2006
by Teamster Local Union 170. The NLRB also ordered an election in
Northboro for February 2008. "FedEx has delayed this process long
enough and the Northboro drivers will get their right to vote,"
said IBT General President Jim Hoffa. "I'm outraged at FedEx's
treatment of these workers. This small amount of compensation is
not enough to undo the damage that FedEx has done to their lives."
The unionization effort centered on the employee status of the
drivers in the Northboro facility. The drivers gave sworn testimony
to the NLRB that FedEx Home Delivery controlled their daily work
like employees but called them "independent contractors." The NLRB
ruled that the drivers were employees and ordered an election that
was to take place in January 2006. FedEx Home Delivery then
illegally harassed, intimidated and terminated the four former
drivers to prevent a legal union election. The NLRB charged FedEx
in a June 2007 consolidated complaint with numerous unfair labor
practice charges for the illegal acts. The October 25 settlement
between the drivers and the company came out of the NLRB charges.
"We backed the company right against the wall because we stood up
to management and had all the answers when it came to their
anti-union meetings," said driver Richard Lacina. "FedEx paid me
thousands of dollars because they violated my rights and I am still
employed as a driver. This shows everybody the power of the
Teamsters Union and what it can do for you." Teamster Local Union
170 and the company also agreed to schedule an election at the
Northboro facility as a result of NLRB charges. The election is to
occur on February 1, 2008. "The Teamsters have stuck by these
workers and the five drivers at least got some degree of justice,"
said Teamster Local Union 170 Secretary-Treasurer Mike Hogan. "The
Northboro drivers have seen the worst that FedEx can throw at them,
and in the end the workers will have their vote to take control of
their lives and their future." FedEx Home Delivery drivers at three
facilities in Wilmington, Massachusetts and Windsor, Connecticut
already voted for Teamster representation in 2006 and 2007. FedEx
ignored NLRB orders to bargain and appealed previous NLRB rulings
to the U.S. Court of Appeal District of Columbia Circuit. A recent
report by American Rights at Work and the Leadership Conference on
Civil Rights document the anti-union campaign and patterns of
discrimination at FedEx Ground and Home Delivery in Northboro and
elsewhere. That report is online at:
http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/fedex/ Founded in 1903, the
Teamsters Union represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men
and women in the United States and Canada. DATASOURCE:
International Brotherhood of Teamsters CONTACT: Galen Munroe of
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, +1-202-624-6911, Web Site:
http://http//www.americanrightsatwork.org/fedex
Copyright