FedEx blocking bill that would improve its workers' labor rights

[Omaha Steve]

http://transitional.pww.org/article/view/15995/

Author: Alex Goldman
People's Weekly World Newspaper, 06/13/09 18:29

Original source: civilrights.org

FedEx is attempting to block a bill in Congress that will reclassify some of its workers under jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) rather than the Railway Labor Act (RLA). Most private company employees are currently protected under the NLRA.

The reclassification will give FedEx Express drivers an easier path to form a union by allowing them to organize at local work sites. Employees classified under the RLA, which covers railroad and airline operations, can only form a union by holding a national election.

FedEx airline workers will continue to be covered by the RLA.

FedEx and its subsidiaries have a history of lowering wages, increasing premiums on health care, withdrawing retirement benefits, and fighting employees' allegations of discrimination.

In 2007, LCCR and American Rights At Work released a report documenting FedEx Ground's misclassification of many of its drivers as "independent contractors," which exempts the employees from standard labor protections. A number of cases are currently pending in federal and state courts regarding FedEx Ground's classification of workers.