Answers on FedEx and Writing Letters to Senators
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I’ve been inundated with questions over the past couple weeks from workers who’ve been asked to write letters to their Senators regarding a bill that’s working its way through Congress. Some people wonder whether they have to write the letters, while others wonder why they should. I want to take this chance to answer a couple of those questions and concerns.
I’ve written previously about FedEx’s misclassified workers and the pending legislation in Congress to level the playing field. It’s an amendment to the Railway Labor Act in this year’s FAA reauthorization bill. If you’d like a little more background information on the whole issue, please click here.
- Question: Someone told me that if this law passes, FedEx will go out of business. I don’t want to see hundreds of thousands of FedEx employees lose their jobs. Why should I support a law that would put them out of business? Is that what this law is about?
Answer: No. This law isn’t about putting FedEx out of business, and if the management of FedEx knows how to do their job, they won’t go out of business. This law is about leveling the playing field by removing the existing loophole that allows FedEx to unfairly deprive most of its employees of basic rights. If the loophole is removed, it should make things better for employees across the transportation industry, whether they work at UPS, FedEx or any other delivery company.
The very existence of this loophole is a big part of the reason thousands of jobs were lost when DHL closed most of its U.S. operations a few months back. The loophole needs to be closed to help make sure FedEx’s remaining competitors (including UPS) don’t end up like DHL. If you’re truly worried about lost jobs, you need to realize how many jobs could be at stake if this law doesn’t pass.
- Question: Is the union okay with UPS asking workers to write letters to Senators?
Answer: Yes! The company would not be soliciting our support without the union allowing it. And while some company representatives may not be very good at understanding or explaining the importance of the law, the union, the company and countless thousands of workers across the industry (including at both UPS and FedEx) will gain a lot if this law passes.
- Question: Should I write a letter to my Senator in support of this bill?
Answer: If you care about the livelihoods of workers across the industry (including yourself, if you’re a UPS employee), you absolutely should. In fact, I’ve been encouraging readers of this site to write to or call their Senators about this for a while now.
- Question: Do I have to write a letter to my Senator?
Answer: If you decide for whatever reason you don’t want to write a letter to your Senators, nobody has the right to force you to. That said, I believe that everyone who wants to see all workers in our industry get a fair shake and a better life should take the time to ask their senators to support this bill.
If there are any other concerns UPS Teamsters have about this issue, please feel free to contact your local union representatives or ask me (either online or in real life). Whatever the case, it’s extremely important that all UPS Teamsters understand what’s at stake.
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Filed under: Rank-and-File, UPS, politics, rights, solidarity, unionism
People need to get up to speed on this subject. It’s a shame UPS is going about their campaign this way, because it’s a worthwhile campaign. It would be sad if people were scared away from a worthy cause because it’s being poorly represented (by the people in favor of it, no less!)
Exactly, Mark.
I think part of the problem is they’re not willing to put the necessary time and effort into it. I’m not even sure most of the management reps trying to solicit support understand the issue much better than the workers they’re trying to reach.
What about UPS writing letters for employees who don’t write the letter. That is an illegal practice that is currently happening that goes against for what unions stand.
I am a UPS employee and I decided that i was not comfortable writing the letter because it is my right not too. After opting to do this i was continually harassed by my hub manager (number one boss in the building) for several days when i asked for union representation the union decided not to represent me because they are on the same side as management. I have worked at UPS for the last four years and this was the first time i have ever felt uncomfortable going to work. I understand why UPS feels this way but I am not going to let a company use my right as an american for their benefit.
Reno,NV
Mary Jo & Matt,
If you are being harassed to write the letter, you can contact the union. If the union doesn’t give you satisfaction on this issue, you can contact the NLRB or another appropriate government agency to file a charge.
If the company is writing letters on behalf of employees and/or sending them without the employees’ consent, I would suggest the same recourse.
Like I said in my earlier comment (and in the post), if you’re interested in furthering worker’s rights, this is an important campaign — but if you don’t want to write the letter for any reason, you have that right, and you have several avenues of recourse if someone has violated that right.
If you have in fact been violated, I strongly urge you to stand up for yourselves, whether via the union or other legal or regulatory means. We all have these rights, but it’s up to us to stand up and claim them.
Mary Jo: do you know for a fact that the company is sending letters without employees knowing? Or is this a rumor you’ve heard? We all know how the rumors can fly in the workplace, especially at UPS. If you’ve heard rumors to this effect you should probably not be helping to spread them, but if you can prove the company is doing something illegal, you should be telling the story to someone else, like a lawyer or a government agency.
Matt: I have sympathy for you if things are as bad as you’re saying. I’ve been around long enough and had enough complaints that I know what it’s like when the company and the union both seem to be against a worker. But something can and should be done if this is the case. Contact the NLRB and see what they have to say.
If the company is doing what the two people above have said, that is shameful, and if the union is in any way helping or ignoring company abuse, even more so.
Even so, I still don’t understand why anyone working for UPS would be against this campaign (Matt, could you explain why you think this effort is just for UPS’s benefit and not yours too?). In my hub in So Cal, I’ve seen management act stupidly too while trying to get people to send letters, but I also understand that I would like to retire with a little security in another dozen years or so, and this effort will help with that. In fact, this effort will help all employees at UPS with that, as well as thousands of Fedex people too. It’s true that this law will benefit UPS, but it will also benefit all those workers.
I’m not sure how being against this effort benefits anyone except those in upper management at Fedex. Just my opinion, but if you’re against this and you’re not Fred Smith, you’re more or less shooting yourself in the foot.