FedEx Sought to Thwart Union Drive, Labor Board Says (Bloomberg)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=abhjMXOYghoQ&refer=us

FedEx Sought to Thwart Union Drive, Labor Board Says (Correct)

By David Mildenberg

(Corrects identification of union local in eighth paragraph in story originally published yesterday.)

April 4 (Bloomberg) -- FedEx Corp., the world's largest air-cargo carrier, sought to thwart a Teamsters organizing drive by firing four workers who showed interest in the union, the National Labor Relations Board said in a complaint.

FedEx also pressured delivery workers in Northborough, Massachusetts, to say whether they or colleagues supported the union and told workers the organizing effort in late 2005 and early 2006 would be futile, according to the complaint approved by Rosemary Pye, the labor board's regional director in Boston.

The case centers on whether the workers are contractors, as Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx maintains, or employees, as Pye decided in a separate ruling in September. FedEx has until April 13 to respond to the complaint, and a hearing is set for June 18 before an administrative law judge, Pye said in an interview.

FedEx declined to respond to the specific allegations because it hasn't had time to review the complaint, FedEx Ground spokesman Maury Lane said. ``We look forward to the hearing where we can respond to the allegations,'' Lane said.

Pilots are the only union members among FedEx's 275,000 employees and contractors. The company's chief U.S. rival, United Parcel Service Inc., employs 246,000 Teamsters.

FULL story at link.