Thursday, December 11, 2014

Teamsters pull ballot at FedEx Freight facility in Pennsylvania



The Teamsters withdrew a planned ballot at a Pennsylvania facility of FedEx Corp's trucking unit, in a further blow to efforts to unionize workers at FedEx Freight.


"We believe in our drivers and appreciate all they do for the company," Mike Ducker, incoming president and chief executive of FedEx Freight, said in a statement. "We are pleased with the recent results and look forward to a bright future together."

The pulling of the ballot at FedEx Freight's Pocono Summit facility marks the second such withdrawal in the past week. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters did not immediately return a request for comment and in the past has declined to comment on petition withdrawals or its strategy for trying to unionize FedEx Freight.

After decades of failed attempts to unionize workers at FedEx, the Teamsters since October have won their first three elections ever at FedEx Freight facilities. Those three facilities employ a few hundred of the trucking unit's 19,000 drivers.

But they have lost three more ballots and withdrawn another five. The withdrawal of a ballot is generally thought to be a sign that the union felt it is unlikely to win a vote.

The lack of union representation at Memphis-based FedEx is often touted by analysts as a competitive advantage over its larger, unionized rival, United Parcel Service Inc.

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