FedEx drivers set to vote Oct. 20

In a little more than two weeks, Wilmington will be at the epicenter of a fight to unionize a large chunk of one of the nation's best-known company

On Oct. 20, approximately 55 Federal Express drivers at the company's Jewel Drive distribution center and Ballardvale Street facility will vote to authorize the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to represent them in future negotiations with the company.

And with nearly three-quarter of drivers requesting an election, according the Teamster spokesman, there is a good chance that Wilmington drivers will be the first of the Memphis-based company's 15,000 drivers nationwide to belong to a labor union.



"This will the very first election in the country to unionize FedEx drivers. It's a landmark union event and it's happening in your little town," said Steve Sullivan of Teamsters Local 25 based in Charlestown.

A call to FedEx's media office in Memphis was not return by deadline. But in an press release issued last week, Perry Colosimo, a spokesman for FedEx Ground, said the decision "may be appealed."

Union officials believe that a successful vote in Wilmington could begin a rapid vote to bring FedEx's entire fleet of drivers under its representation.

The election takes place in the shadow of a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board that the drivers at both Wilmington's FedEx Home Delivery locations are employees under the company's business model.

Rosemary Pye, Regional NLRB director that includes Boston, ruled Sept. 20 that control and restrictions enforced by FedEx on drivers in the Home Delivery division led the package-delivery company to incorrectly classify drivers as independent contractors, which would make them ineligible to be unionized.

"This is a big mandate from the NLRB," said Sullivan, who is the Local's director of organizing.

And that ruling has allowed the union to seek to represent the workers in any future negotiations.

"This is a great victory for these workers in Wilmington," said Jim Hoffa, the Teamsters' general president, in a press release.

The Teamsters, with 1.4 million members nationwide, represents both United Parcel Service and DHL, the nation's two other largest package delivery companies.

While most of FedEx's employees are not union members, the Air Line Pilots Association International represents their 4,700 pilots.

In accordance with the decision, Local 25 initiated the election under the NLRA guidelines by submitting and having the workers return authorization cards.


First vote


This is the second ruling by the NLRB this year that found FedEx Home Delivery drivers in Massachusetts are direct employees. The Wilmington vote, which will take place between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. at both locations, is the first vote of it's kind across the country.

Currently, none of Federal Express 15,000 drivers nationwide are unionized,

The ruling is the seventh time since 1988 that the NLRB has found that all drivers - full-time, regular, part-time and swing drivers - at FedEx Home Delivery are direct employees despite the company's assertion that they are "independent operators." Currently, FedEx drivers are required to supply their own uniforms, register the trucks and fill out their own tax forms.

They are also paid on a per package basis so there is an incentive, according to Teamster officials, for Fed Ex drivers to work longer hours which compromises safety for the driver.

Teamster drivers at UPS make $27.12 an hour while those driving for DHL make $22, said Sullivan.

"These rulings are exposing FedEx's underhanded business model, designed to deny thousands of hardworking employees benefits they deserve as direct employees," said Sean O'Brien, Local 25 president.