By Rip Watson, Senior Reporter This story appears in the Nov. 17 print edition of Transport Topics.
FedEx Freight drivers in Newark, New Jersey, and Con-way Freight workers in Manchester, New Hampshire, last week rejected Teamsters representation, slowing the union’s organizing efforts.
One day after the Nov. 12 vote at the FedEx less-than-truckload unit, drivers at the Con-way Freight location rejected the union by a 29-15 margin. The companies disclosed the outcomes in statements. FedEx didn’t release the vote totals.
Three more votes at FedEx Freight are slated for this week, at locations in North Carolina, New Jersey and Virginia.
Over the past few months, the Teamsters have been seeking inroads at FedEx Freight, the largest less-than-truckload carrier, and the Con-way unit that is third- largest in that sector.
The companies have prevailed in some elections and lost other ones. In total, the union wins still constitute less than 1% of the total terminal count at each carrier.
“We are proud of our employees for doing their homework on the union and making an informed decision against third-party interference,” FedEx Freight said in a statement. “With this distraction over, our team members in Newark can now get back to focusing on doing what they do best, which is providing excellent service to our customers.”
Likewise, Con-way Freight President Greg Lehmkuhl said in a statement, “We were gratified that our Manchester employees, after having the opportunity to review all the facts and make an informed choice, rejected the Teamsters union and clearly communicated their intention to remain union-free.”
The union didn’t comment on the results.
Last month, the Teamsters won a FedEx Freight election elsewhere in New Jersey and one in Pennsylvania. The company prevailed at a South Jersey terminal in early October. The union called off a fifth election just before the scheduled polling date.
Con-way has won three union votes and the union has won twice.
More elections are slated at FedEx Freight and Con-way Freight, which were assembled in the 1980s and 1990s. The
nonunion carriers emerged after the Teamsters lost their LTL presence following the
failure of dozens of unionized carriers.
FedEx Freight is a unit of FedEx Corp., which is No. 2 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of for-hire carriers in the United States and Canada. It is facing four more votes after next week.
Though the union withdrew a representation election request at Con-way in California, others are being sought in New York and Florida. Con-way Freight is a unit of No. 4 Con-way Inc.
In all cases, union representation in trucking is mandated by federal law to be on a terminal-by-terminal basis, with results at one location having no impact on the labor status elsewhere.
