Originally Posted by
UPSierra
With all due respect, the problem is that the RLA does apply to Fedex Ground, due to an amendment that FDX was able to insert into legislation several years ago, thanks to Sen. Trent Lott.
I definitely could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that the legislation you're referring to placed ground (lower case "g") employees of Federal Express under the RLA. The company known as "Federal Express" was renamed "FedEx" in 1994, then again renamed "FedEx Express" in 2000 after the FedEx Corporation had been formed. If the Lott legislation from "several years ago" was before 1998, then it applies to "FedEx Express," not any of the other companies under the corporate umbrella.
Roadway Package System (RPS) was acquired by FedEx Corp in 1998, and renamed "FedEx Ground" in 2000 (at the same time FedEx Express was renamed). The NLRB ruled in 2001 that employees of FedEx Ground were governed under the NLRA. Up until now, this has been a moot point, since the largest groups at FedEx Ground -- the couriers and drivers -- have been independent contractors and not employees, and therefore had no need to unionize.
Originally Posted by
UPSierra
The "Fedex Express language" was designed to ensure workers who work in the FDX ground business were afforded the right to be governed by the correct (and less restrictive) set of labor laws (NLRA). As of today, if a set of FDX ground drivers want to organize locally, similar to any other ground driver at any other company, they can't due to the fact they are technically governed by RLA.
I think the confusion here comes from the terms "ground" (lower case "g") employees of FedEx Express, and employees of FedEx Ground (upper case "G"). FedEx Express has thousands of "ground" employees that, under the current rulings, have been subject to the RLA. This has made it very difficult for the FedEx Express "ground" drivers (or any other employee group) to organize. Employees of FedEx Ground, on the other hand, have been covered by the NLRA since acquisition, but since the drivers weren't technically "employees," there hasn't been a concerted drive to organize. I suspect that if the current court ruling reclassifying the drivers and couriers as employees, you'll see an organizing effort among them soon.
Confused yet? I know I am.
Z