The UPS/Teamster beating on FedEx continues…
A Montana-based contractor for FedEx is warning that his business and customers in 10 states could suffer under a proposal before Congress to strip the shipping giant of its special status as an airline.
[snip]
UPS, which has allied with the Teamsters union to push for the change, dismisses such concerns as unfounded fear mongering meant to incite opposition in Congress. UPS says the reclassification of FedEx would create a level playing field between the two companies.
From the Associated Press:
At issue is whether FedEx Express, the company’s delivery division, should be reclassified as a trucking company, like UPS, or retain its federally granted status as an airline.
If FedEx loses its special status under a measure now before Congress, its employees could more easily unionize. That in turn could drive up costs for the Memphis, Tenn.-based company, forcing it to trim services in rural areas where costs are highest and profit margins thinnest, said shipping industry expert Satish Jindel.
[snip]
FedEx spokesman Maury Lane said the impact could be widespread. He said rural contractors are heavily relied on by the company in all or part of at least 19 states — North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont
Workers at UPS are organized by the Teamsters, and company and union have united behind the anti-FedEx provision. It was introduced by Minnesota Democrat Rep. James Oberstar, chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
UPS, saddled for the better part of a century with the Teamsters, would like nothing more than to infect FedEx with the same disease that it carries.
The Teamsters, of course would like nothing more than to have a fresh batch of new blood dues.
__________________
“I bring reason to your ears, and, in language as plain as ABC, hold up truth to your eyes.”Thomas Paine, December 23, 1776
For more news and views on today’s unions, go to LaborUnionReport.com.
