Republican Senators Crusade Against a FedEx Union

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/5672/republican_senators_crusade_against_a_fedex_union/

Thursday March 11 4:15 pm


A FedEx worker places packages onto a truck in Miami, Fla. Currently, employees of the company are barred from organizing.
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

By Lindsay Beyerstein

Two Republican senators from Tennesse are doing a big favor for a big company from their home state by fighting unionization rights for drivers at the Memphis-based courier FedEx.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) has pledged to use "every right and privilege I have" to prevent FedEx drivers from organizing. The only reason FedEx can't organize now is because of a legal double stanard.

Other shipping companies like UPS are governed by the National Labor Relations Act, like the vast majority of employers in the United States. Whereas FedEx is subject to the Railway Labor Act, which denies them the basic organizing rights most employees take for granted.

The Railway Labor Act (RLA) is a old piece of union-busting legislation designed to curb the power of railroad unions by taking away their right to strike during an era when the rails were the backbone of the economy. As the airline industry became more important to the U.S., the RLA was extended to cover airlines.

FedEx is covered by the RLA because the courier started out as an airline and branched out into trucking. UPS started as a trucking company and branched out into shipping by air, so it falls under the NLRA. The two companies perform the same service, but their employees have different rights because of an accident of history.

FULL story at link.

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. A Republican trying to deny basic, decent human rights?! Who'd a thunk it.

:eyes:

Fucking asshole.

[Better Believe It]

2. K & R