It was some years ago when FedEx management decided to take our jump seat privileges away fromall of us. This was just one of many benefits that have gone away. But this was the one that really startedme thinking and questioning the “Purple-Way of doing things. I got pretty angry and didn’t understand, “if I was safe enough to work on the planes on the ground why wasn’t I allowed to fly on them?”

When the announcement came that our defined benefit pension was going away and being replaced with a “company controlled cash balance plan dependant solely on the stock market,” I had had enough! My mind was made up….We needed a union at FedEx. We needed to stop the bleeding of our benefits.

Along with some coworkers, we started discussing the prospect of forming a union at FedEx and the name that kept coming up and was agreed upon was the Teamsters. They are the strongest. They are the biggest. They are the toughest. They have the power to take on FedEx and they represent our biggest competitor,UPS.

I made the first contact with the Teamsters. The Teamsters asked us to start talking to our coworkers and putting together a network of FedEx Express mechanics that were also fed-up with the way things had been heading at work.Once we started, it was tough but actually became easier than we thought. Many coworkers were feeling the same way, “our company just keeps taking from us and we are all falling further behind.”

I can remember themeeting when the company told us,“You may not make as much as UPS but you will always have better benefits and a better retirement than them.”That was a lie then as it is now!

Our company also succeeded in severely stifling our rights to associate freely by passing the 1996 Special Deal legislation. No one told us of the true meaning of the entire workforce all being covered by the Railway Labor Act.Our company was taking away from us, the workforce, yet again and we didn’t even know it. They were taking away our rights. No one should be allowed to do that.

We the employees of FedEx have succeeded in gaining the undivided attention of FedEx management. I remember when FedEx executives didn’t even consider us as a threat. I am overwhelmed how far our campaign has come. The simple fact that FedEx is whining, threatening, kicking and stomping over the Express Carrier Employee Protection legislation convinces me we are on the right track.

We still have a long road ahead and we need everyone to get involved. For any of you that were afraid to join our campaign, look at our numbers now.We have put together a strong committee of our coworkers wherever a FedEx plane flies.We have all come to realize that there is definite strength that comes with numbers.Our
coworkers have done so much that it makes me humble and proud to know all of them. Look at the recognition that we are getting from clergy, legislators, and other workers just like us throughout the U.S.We are the workers at FedEx.We are the backbone of FedEx.We are the union at FedEx!

There are FedEx workers from every job class from across the nation working with the Teamsters right now. Join us in our campaign. Our future and our families’ future depend on it!