Teamsters Elections Scheduled This Week at Terminals of Con-way Freight, FedEx

This story appears in the Nov. 10 print edition of Transport Topics.

Contentious union organizing battles are continuing this week with representation elections at Con-way Freight and FedEx Freight.

The next elections are Nov. 12 at FedEx Freight’s Newark, New Jersey, terminal and Nov. 13 in Manchester, New Hampshire, at Con-way’s terminal. At largest LTL carrier FedEx Freight, drivers in South Brunswick, New Jersey, on Oct. 31 voted to become Teamsters while an election in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, area was canceled when the union withdrew its election request.

“The union would only have taken this action if it recognized it would not win the election,” FedEx Freight said in a statement. The company also said it is considering an appeal or other steps to counter the South Brunswick vote.

“Once again, this victory shows that drivers are fed up with FedEx Freight,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters general president. “The campaign is building momentum.”

At least 10 additional representation elections already have been requested.

An investor note from Stifel, Nicolaus analyst David Ross noted that “the Teamsters have been losing members in the trucking industry for 35 years” since deregulation.

While noting that the elections are being watched closely, his report also said, “We do not believe this will ultimately lead to FedEx Freight becoming unionized [and squeezing margins].”

“The companies are offering pay raises and other improvements at the same time we are organizing, but the workers know that these things can be taken away just as quickly without a binding contract,” said Tyson Johnson, director of the Teamsters National Freight Division.

The union official’s comment was a reference to wage increases announced last month as organizing efforts intensified. The companies, however, said the increases weren’t tied to the union’s efforts.

With the latest balloting, the Teamsters now have prevailed at one facility each in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The union lost an October election at the Cinnaminson, New Jersey, service center.

FedEx Freight spokeswoman Michele Ehrhart said the carrier had no additional comment in advance of the Newark election.

At Con-way, the union won in Laredo, Texas, and Los Angeles and lost in two other Southern California locations. Con-way filed objections at the National Labor Relations Board to the Los Angeles terminal vote, citing what it called “threatening, coercive and intimidating actions” by the union and its supporters.

“We continue to believe that our company can best meet the needs of our employees by maintaining an open, respectful and direct relationship with our employees, without the interference of a union,” Greg Lehmkuhl, president of Con-way Freight, said in a statement after the California elections.

Like FedEx, Con-way is reviewing challenge options.

YRC Worldwide, No. 5 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of for-hire carriers in the United States and Canada and the second-largest LTL operator, has the largest union membership of any LTL carrier. FedEx Freight is part of FedEx Corp., which ranks No. 2 on the TT100. Con-way Inc. is No. 4.

In a separate development, FedEx’s Express unit said it has requested National Mediation Board involvement in contract talks with the Air Line Pilots Association.

Those talks have continued for more than a year under the Railway Labor Act. That law mandates that contracts continue in effect without a specified expiration date.

The RLA affects the entire FedEx Express network in the United States. The trucking talks are governed by the National Labor Relations Act, which calls for labor-representation balloting on a terminal-by-terminal basis.

As a result, unionization votes at one terminal have no effect on other facilities.