The U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling Aug. 9 that allows FedEx Freight drivers at the South Brunswick, New Jersey, terminal to form a union with Teamsters Local 701, which the company had refused to recognize.
The union was established in November 2014 to cover 81 city drivers, who serve the local area, and 33 road drivers, who run longhaul trips. But FedEx refused to negotiate with the Teamsters because it argued that the terminal’s dockworkers also had to be included in the union, according to court filings. FedEx employs 52 dockworkers, but only 20 work full time.
The U.S. District Court ruled for the National Labor Relations Board, which authorized the union. FedEx asked the court of appeals to review the decision, but the three-judge panel ruled that the dockworkers did not have to be let in because they perform separate duties.
“[Included employees] wear distinctive [uniforms], have ‘separate and distinct’ supervision, have ‘distinct wage scale,’ and there was limited interaction between the groups,” the ruling states. “The board also found ‘no evidence of significant functional interchange or overlapping job duties’ between included and excluded employees.
The court found that drivers must have a commercial driver license, one year of relevant driving experience and submit to random drug tests, but dockworkers aren’t required to meet those qualifications.
"We disagree with the ruling from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals and are considering all of our legal options," a FedEx spokeswoman said.
FedEx Freight is part of FedEx Corp., which ranks No. 2 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in the United States and Canada.
