Originally Posted by
UPSierra
This whole scheme of paying home delivery drivers as private contractors (using 1099s vs. W-2s) while at the same time arguing that they are airline employees seems like a real house of cards. What a deal for management: No benefits, no health care coverage, no retirement, and best of all, the US government's capitulation in maintaining a labor law loophole that provides nearly no chance for these "employees" to organize locally.
It's not quite as cut-and-dried as that. The recent lawsuits and IRS ruling involved FedEx GROUND, where the drivers are (currently) independent contractors. FedEx GROUND and FedEx EXPRESS are two completely different companies that are both owned by the FedEx Corporation (think Delta and Comair both owned by DAL). FedEx EXPRESS is governed by the RLA, while FedEX GROUND isn't. The "FedEx Express" language in the omnibus spending bill was an attempt to get FedEx Express out from under the RLA, making it easier for all employee groups to organize. It didn't apply to FedEx Ground, since they've never been under the RLA.
Clear as mud?
Z