House Passes Bill Easing Union Organizing of FedEx Express’ Terminal Employees
This story appears in the June 1 print edition of Transport Topics.
Before Congress recessed for its Memorial Day break, the House of Representatives passed legislation that could make it easier for employees of FedEx Corp.’s express unit to unionize, and the House energy committee approved a bill that would set up a cap-and-trade program to limit output of greenhouse gases.
On May 21, the House voted 277-136 to pass a bill funding the Federal Aviation Administration and including a section allowing FedEx Express employees to vote in their local work units to be represented by a union, rather than requiring a single, nationwide election.
In a statement calling the action “a 230-word legislative bailout” for UPS Inc., FedEx, Memphis, Tenn., said the bill was “targeted only at hurting FedEx Express and our airline-based delivery network.”
The bill would shift jurisdiction over express package carrier employees currently to the National Labor Relations Act from the Railway Labor Act. FedEx chose not to comment beyond its statement.
FedEx rival UPS, whose employees are covered by the NLRA, is heavily unionized, while only FedEx’s pilots are union members.
“At the end of the day, our position is that amending the RLA corrects what we refer to frankly as a legislated competitive advantage,” said UPS spokesman Malcolm Berkley. “So, if you want to talk about bailouts, they’ve enjoyed a bailout that has been legislated for years.”
Teamsters President James Hoffa said the House “has done the right thing in closing this unfair loophole that benefits only FedEx” and “deprived” FedEx Express workers of the opportunity to organize.
Before it becomes law, the bill must be approved by the Senate and signed by President Obama.
David Ross, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus Transportation & Logistics Research, told clients that even if that happens, “it does not mean FedEx Express will necessarily become unionized.”
FedEx “will vigorously contest all organization attempts,” Ross said. Nevertheless, the bill is “a negative” for FedEx “as it could cause management distractions (fighting off unions) and potentially lead to higher labor costs.”
Also on May 21, the House Energy and Commerce Committee ap-proved energy legislation Democrats said would not only be good for the environment but also would create millions of “green” jobs. Republicans have been calling the cap-and-trade measure a “light-switch tax” that would increase the cost of fuel and electricity for U.S. consumers.
Committee Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), a co-sponsor of the bill, said the vote was “a decisive and historic act,” and that it had gained support from industry, labor and environmental groups.
But Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), the committee’s ranking minority member, said he had concerns about the bill’s “redirection of our energy policy in America.” Barton said the bill would make fundamental changes in the U.S. free-market system.
There are few mentions of heavy trucks in the cap-and-trade provision, and trucking officials have said it isn’t clear precisely how, or even whether, the program would apply to the industry.
The bill calls for EPA to issue greenhouse gas standards for heavy-duty trucks that “should achieve the greatest degree of emissions reduction available based on application of technology which the administrator determines will be available.”
In creating the greenhouse gas standard, the bill said EPA should consider “cost, energy, and safety factors associated with the application of such technology.”
The House is expected to take up the cap-and-trade bill, along with a bill reauthorizing the Transportation Security Administration and including a provision that would end duplicate fingerprint background checks for hazardous-materials drivers not hauling security-sensitive cargo.
