FedEx, Teamsters at Odds Over Conn. Vote

A group of drivers at a FedEx Corp. unit’s terminal near Hartford, Conn., who voted 12 to 9 to join the Teamsters union last month may became members of a Teamsters local, the union said, but the company said the vote does not reflect the views of most of its employees.

The vote was at the FedEx Ground subsidiary of FedEx Corp. in Windsor, Conn. The vote by the employees gives Teamsters Local 671 the right to negotiate a long-term contract with FedEx.

Drivers at two terminals outside of Boston voted to join a Teamsters local there late last year.

Perry Colosimo, a FedEx spokesman, said the company used “perfectly legal procedures for contesting an election.”   

“Twelve votes do not reflect the position of 15,000 FedEx Ground contractors in more than 500 locations who, time and time again, have overwhelmingly rejected union interference,” FedEx said in a statement.

“We believe the [National Labor Relations Board] misclassified these contractors in Hartford as employees and we will begin the process of challenging the election’s results,” the  statement said.