A Con-way Freight Terminal Joins Union; Teamsters Ramp Up LTL Organizing Bid

This story appears in the Sept. 22 print edition of Transport Topics.

Con-way Freight workers in Laredo, Texas, have become the first workers at the less-than-truckload carrier to be represented by a union, and additional Teamsters organizing efforts are advancing at three of the carrier’s Southern California terminals.

Elections are pending at the Santa Fe, San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles terminals of Con-way Freight, Randy Korgan, organizing director for Teamsters Joint Council 42, told Transport Topics. Those locations combined have more than 200 workers.

“While there are just over 100 workers at this [Laredo] location compared to the thousands that are in Con-way’s network, this action is likely not the end,” Jason Seidl, a Cowen & Co. analyst, said in a report.

Efforts also are intensifying to organize the largest LTL carrier, FedEx Freight. Among the largest LTL carriers, only YRC Worldwide, UPS Freight and the ABF Freight unit of ArcBest Corp. are union members. Collectively, those union carriers control about 30% of the LTL market.

Con-way Inc., owner of the third-largest LTL carrier, issued a statement after the Sept. 12 Laredo vote, saying, “We were disappointed with the results. We do not believe that union representation is in the best interests of our employees.”

Consolidated Freightways Inc. created Con-way in 1983 as regional units that became Con-way Freight in 2007. The Teamsters had a contract with Con-way Eastern Express, until it was shut in 1990. In 1996, Consolidated Freightways spun off unionized CF Motor Freight, which closed in 2002, becoming the largest trucking failure ever.

“First and foremost, employees are very dissatisfied with their employer’s working conditions, which have deteriorated,” Korgan said. “They believe the only sound resolution is through a contract. If they were happy with their employer, they obviously would not be seeking union representation.”

Gary Frantz, spokesman for parent company Con-way Inc., noted that the Laredo vote didn’t affect nonunion status elsewhere.

“Importantly, as we have done for more than 30 years, we will continue to strongly advocate for and protect the rights of all our employees to a union-free workplace,” Frantz told TT on Sept. 17.

With the 55-49 vote, the new members of Local 657 took the first step toward a contract. A pact can’t be reached until union members ratify a tentative deal reached through negotiations. There haven’t been any announcements of negotiations.

“There are a number of organizing efforts in progress throughout the country. This is not an isolated situation,” Korgan said. “There is interest from coast to coast.”

He said there are seven other terminals, which he wouldn’t identify, where organizing efforts are advancing. Other nonunion carriers also can expect organizing efforts, he said, also without naming them.

Korgan also said he believes the “pendulum has swung” toward growing union membership after a rise of nonunion carriers over the past two decades. The change is coming, he said, because those carriers’ working conditions aren’t as good as union fleets.

The Teamsters’ LTL presence has been shrinking since deregulation. Prior to 1980, the union represented nearly all LTL workers.

In a separate development, the National Labor Relations Board ruled Sept. 10 that a representation election vote at FedEx Freight will include only drivers. A representation vote hasn’t been scheduled yet.

The ruling was in response to a request from FedEx that the election effort advanced by Local 107 include both drivers and dockworkers.

NLRB found there was no “commonality of interest” in the two jobs at the New Jersey terminal, with 96% of drivers who did nothing else other than that task.

FedEx had argued that the two worker types should be together because drivers and dockworkers could be assigned to do both tasks.

FedEx Freight didn’t respond to requests for comment on the NLRB ruling. Earlier, the company said it believed workers would reject Teamsters representation, while also acknowledging workers’ right to vote on union membership.

Local 107 also has been organizing workers at a FedEx Freight terminal in Philadelphia.

NLRB’s records do not yet show an election date for any of the Con-way California terminals or for the Philadelphia-area facilities.

“We don’t move forward [with an election] unless the issues are clear, the workers are dissatisfied, and they realize a collective bargaining agreement is going to resolve their issues,” Korgan said.

The Con-way effort in Southern California is developing three months after the union signed a three-year Teamsters contract with OnTrac, an overnight package delivery company in the western United States.