Railroaders place to shoot the shit.

(The following story by Chris Frates appeared on the Virginian Pilot website on June 28, 2010.)

ROANOKE, Va. A brutal labor law battle between UPS and FedEx could be headed for a showdown this week as Congress faces a deadline to make a move in the bitter, long-running dispute.

The two shipping giants have been engaged in a down-and-dirty lobbying campaign over a proposal that would make it easier for labor to organize FedEx.

Memphis-based FedEx has spent millions of dollars, and its chief executive has even threatened to cancel an order of new Boeing planes if the proposal passes. UPS has been quieter about its lobbying but is getting support from the Teamsters, who represent many of its employees.

The 230-word provision making it easier to unionize FedEx is part of the House Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization legislation but is absent from the Senate version. And the difference has become a major sticking point in finishing the bill before the current law expires Saturday.

Tennessees two Republican senators have expressed concerns about the provision, with Bob Corker putting a hold on the reauthorization bill and Lamar Alexander threatening to filibuster. And Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) has said he doubts the bill can pass if the proposal is included.

But in the House, Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.), the provisions author, is not deterred by the filibuster threat in the Senate, said his spokesman, Jim Berard. Its still unclear, though, whether Congress will pass the bill by Saturday, he said, or be forced to extend current law again.

UPS and its union allies argue they are just trying to level the playing field by ensuring their truck drivers and FedEx Expresss drivers have the same opportunity to unionize. FedEx, they say, touts the fact that its 50,000 drivers cant strike as a selling point to potential customers.

FedEx counters that the provision would affect all express-delivery workers except pilots and mechanics about two-thirds of its 150,000 employees. Unionizing such a large chunk of its work force, the company says, could open it up to strikes and work slowdowns that would threaten its reliability.

FedEx says UPS is asking the government to solve its labor problems by passing an anti-competitive provision thats akin to a bailout.

The provision was inserted into the rewrite of federal aviation law by Oberstar and would apply the National Labor Relations Act to many FedEx Express employees currently covered by the Railway Labor Act, making it easier for them to organize.

Because FedEx was founded as an airline, its covered by the Railway Labor Act, which is designed prevent local union strikers from disrupting national rail and air travel. But Oberstar and UPS are arguing that truckers arent pilots and should be covered by the NLRA.

UPS spokesman Malcolm Berkley said the problem first surfaced after the 1997 Teamsters strike, when FedEx began telling UPS customers they had more reliable service because their workers couldnt strike.

That was unfair, he said. They have a legislative advantage based on the misapplication of law.

FedExs position that its employees should remain covered under the same laws the company was founded under is flawed, Berkley said.

According to FedExs logic, UPS shouldnt be covered under any law, because we were founded before the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act, because we were founded in 1907, Berkley explained. We, as a company, predate both of them.

During the first three months of this year, UPS spent about $1.5 million lobbying Congress, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a political money watchdog.

And that effort has been bolstered by labor unions led by the Teamsters. The union has sent tens of thousands of letters and petitions to lawmakers, done online advertising and shoe-leather lobbying to get its message out, said Teamsters Vice President Ken Hall.

The federal government should not be granting an advantage to one company over another, Hall said. Theyre stealing customers from other carriers based on this special provision.

Hall argues that, in 1996, FedEx successfully lobbied for a provision in the FAA bill that gave them the union organizing legal status they have today.

They were granted a special exemption in 1996, and were trying to level the playing field, Hall said.

But legislative history suggests the story is a bit more complicated.

In 1995, Congress abolished the Interstate Commerce Commission and, with it, FedExs legal justification for tougher unionizing rules. But the next year, lawmakers from both parties, citing the new laws intent, said FedEx had been mistakenly stripped of its status and voted to restore it.

Both Oberstar and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) held a news conference decrying the vote to help FedEx, Oberstar spokesman Berard said.

FedEx was saying, We want our advantage back, and we were saying, You dont deserve the advantage, Berard said. FedEx has a distinct advantage over its competition because of this language in the 96 bill, and were just trying to set it right.

For its part, FedEx has worked hard to thwart Oberstars efforts. The company spent almost $5 million lobbying during the first quarter of this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, and launched an aggressive advertising and public relations campaign. And company chief executive Fred Smith even threatened to cancel an order of 15 Boeing jets if Congress approved the provision.

FedEx spokesman Maury Lane said FedEx Express employees are covered by the Railway Labor Act because they work for an airline company independent of FedEx Ground, a separate company that handles ground delivery.

UPS, Lane said, intertwined its air and ground operations, which is why its employees are covered by the National Labor Relations Act.

They made a terrible business decision and are asking Congress to fix it for them instead of working through the issue like every other business does, he said.

The linchpin of FedExs business, Lane said, is reliability.

Theres no question that we sell our reliability every single day. If [UPS] cant be reliable because they have labor issues, I got to be honest with you, I have crocodile tears running down my face.

Monday, June 28, 2010

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