Shout out to Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General of NY

[RichieLion]

I haven't been a fan of Andrew Cuomo, the Attorney General of NY who's running for Governor of NY, but as a retired member of the Teamsters Union I have to applaud his state lawsuit against FedEx.
FedEx has been classifying the drivers of their Home Delivery division as "independent contractors" and then utilizing them and controlling them as you would an "employee".
The purpose of this shell game is to deny the drivers their employee rights and medical benefits that would be due them.
The Teamsters Union has always been in the forefront of employee rights and at the urging of many FedEx Employees has been attempting to get them the working environment they deserve. Kudos to Andrew Cuomo for stepping up and taking this transportation giant on.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-23/new-york-attorney-general-sues-fedex-over-delivery-driver-classification.html

[cglenhar]

Its nice to hear he is standing up for workers rights. Hopefully he'll continue the policy into the Governor's Mansion.

[Niels]

Fed Ex is not the only company doing this. My son's friend is a route driver for a potato chip company in upstate New York. They classify him as an "independent contractor". The company controls what days he works, his customers, his route, what he can sell, etc.

I think its going to be hard for Fed Ex and other delivery companies to defend their classification of these employees as "independent contractors".

[bkcunningham1]

What is the real issue Richie? My guess is unionization of workers but I'm not really up on the subject.

[LuvItHere]

It sounds like a political topic. Aren't those on a separate forum?

[RichieLion]

What is the real issue Richie? My guess is unionization of workers but I'm not really up on the subject.

The Teamsters Union has been quietly meeting with interested employees of FedEx for a few years now and is educating them on employee rights and fair wages and benefits that should be accorded them, and on how to approach and pass this info on to their fellow employees to facilitate and hopefully someday win union representation.

The situation with FedEx's Home Delivery Division is an actual violation of the rules and standards of the National Labor Relations Act. This is a situation where a friend in high places, such as Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, can get the job done so much easier than the Teamsters Union, which has no contract to represent the workers of FedEx and can only legally speak out in their behalf.

The Teamsters are and have been attempting to organize this giant company to put them on an even business keel with UPS, which is the largest union carrier in the U.S.

[red tail]

what are union dues these days for members?

[RichieLion]

what are union dues these days for members?

It's generally 2 and 1/2 hours pay each month, so it's different for each job.

[FMF Doc]

The Teamsters Union has been quietly meeting with interested employees of FedEx for a few years now and is educating them on employee rights and fair wages and benefits that should be accorded them, and on how to approach and pass this info on to their fellow employees to facilitate and hopefully someday win union representation.

The situation with FedEx's Home Delivery Division is an actual violation of the rules and standards of the National Labor Relations Act. This is a situation where a friend in high places, such as Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, can get the job done so much easier than the Teamsters Union, which has no contract to represent the workers of FedEx and can only legally speak out in their behalf.

The Teamsters are and have been attempting to organize this giant company to put them on an even business keel with UPS, which is the largest union carrier in the U.S.

Isn't that why we have the National Labor Relations Board?

[RichieLion]

Isn't that why we have the National Labor Relations Board?

They're not law enforcement officers; they settle labor disputes. It take a law enforcement officer, such as Andrew Cuomo, to file the lawsuit. If there's no complaint what can the NLRB do. FedEx is classifying the workers as "independent contractors" and as such they are treating them correctly. Andrew Cuomo is bringing forth the reality of the workers labors to show that they are treated and utilized as you would treat an employee. An individual blue collar worker is not going to take on an employer as powerful as FedEx because he would soon find himself looking for a new way to feed his family.

Money is power; the only adversary to this power is worker unity.

[bkcunningham1]

Richie, help me out with this one. At one time, didn't the NLRB rule in favor of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and said they had the right to negotiate with FedEx "employees," "contractors," "drivers," you know what I mean in Wilmington and Boston, MA.

The case was taken to the US Court of Appeals and FedEx won the case. Very basically, the court agreed that FedEx that the people the Teamsters were trying to organize were independent work area contractors and not employees of FedEx.

I think it was something like that. I'm not certain my mind is failing lately.

[Hawkwind]

I think Microsoft had a similar issue with contractors vs full time employees and benefits but it was not a union vs. non union issue. I think the courts ruled in favor of the contractors. Also not sure of the final judgment or settlement.

[FMF Doc]

I believe it is the IRS that sets the guidelines as to what constitutes an independent contractor versus an employee. The trucking industry is/was one of the biggest abusers of this to avoid paying workers' comp and FICA tax not to mention benefits. One of the tests was to what extent does a company control where that contractor works. If they can work for other companies without any penalties they will more than likely would be deemed to be independent contractors. Owners operators in the past have been represented by organized labor and in the NMFA there are Articles that deal with owner operators.

[RichieLion]

Richie, help me out with this one. At one time, didn't the NLRB rule in favor of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and said they had the right to negotiate with FedEx "employees," "contractors," "drivers," you know what I mean in Wilmington and Boston, MA.

The case was taken to the US Court of Appeals and FedEx won the case. Very basically, the court agreed that FedEx that the people the Teamsters were trying to organize were independent work area contractors and not employees of FedEx.

I think it was something like that. I'm not certain my mind is failing lately.

I'm not sure BK; I'm not up to speed on the story you related. I'll have to research that myself to see if we're thinking of a similar scenario

[brostholder]

I haven't been a fan of Andrew Cuomo, the Attorney General of NY who's running for Governor of NY, but as a retired member of the Teamsters Union I have to applaud his state lawsuit against FedEx.
FedEx has been classifying the drivers of their Home Delivery division as "independent contractors" and then utilizing them and controlling them as you would an "employee".
The purpose of this shell game is to deny the drivers their employee rights and medical benefits that would be due them.
The Teamsters Union has always been in the forefront of employee rights and at the urging of many FedEx Employees has been attempting to get them the working environment they deserve. Kudos to Andrew Cuomo for stepping up and taking this transportation giant on.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-23/new-york-attorney-general-sues-fedex-over-delivery-driver-classification.html
My Dad owned a drugstore in Hollis, Queens for many years and Mario Cuomo and his wife Matilda were regular customers. Their son Andrew worked as a delivery boy for us for a brief time. I remember making deliveries to their home in Jamaica Estates....they were good tippers. A very nice family with a well developed sense of right and wrong.

[RichieLion]

Richie, help me out with this one. At one time, didn't the NLRB rule in favor of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and said they had the right to negotiate with FedEx "employees," "contractors," "drivers," you know what I mean in Wilmington and Boston, MA.

The case was taken to the US Court of Appeals and FedEx won the case. Very basically, the court agreed that FedEx that the people the Teamsters were trying to organize were independent work area contractors and not employees of FedEx.

I think it was something like that. I'm not certain my mind is failing lately.

The case is pending for review by the Supreme Court and the Teamsters Union seems confident based on past precedent that in the end they will win the right to represent these workers.

The appeals court of the District of Columbia ruled in favor of FedEx's employee classification but clearly the drivers and the Teamsters Union don't agree. In fact, in December 2008 the company agreed to pay $27 million to settle a misclassification lawsuit brought on behalf of 203 drivers in California. In that particular suit, a state judge wrote that FedEx Ground had “close to absolute control” over the drivers, adding that the operating agreement they signed was a “brilliantly drafted contract creating the constraints of an employment relationship” disguised in the independent contractor model. Interesting it would be so terribly different on the other side of the United States.

We'll see where this ends up if and when the Supreme Court decides to look into this.

http://www.teamster.org/content/teamsters-statement-us-appeals-court-fedex-decision
http://unionreview.com/fedex-home-workers-organize-union,-court-says-are-business-owners
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aY747LwTx3w0