Higher shipping rates could be in store if UPS can push a self-serving package through Congress, says Barney Bishop, president of Associated Industries of Florida.
The legislation would put Federal Express, UPS' chief competitor in the shipping business, under the National Labor Relations Act, ostensibly to level the competitive playing field.
But Bishop isn't buying.
"It would raise FedEx rates and kill competition," Bishop predicts.
Because FedEx was founded as an airline, it was placed under the Railway Labor Act of 1926, which requires companies to call nationwide elections to form unions and lets the government limit strikes in order to discourage the shutdown of national transportation networks.
UPS wants to put FedEx ground workers under the NLRA, which allows local union votes and doesn't have the strike limits. Under NLRA jurisdiction, UPS' workforce is organized by the Teamsters Union.
FedEx's only unionized employees are its 4,500 pilots.
"UPS is being so blatant here. They're essentially admitting they can't beat FedEx in the marketplace, so they want to raise FedEx's costs," Bishop said.
UPS says it's simply a matter of fairness.
Were not being disingenuous, said Norman Black, a spokesman for Atlanta-based UPS. (FedEx) drivers are not properly classified under the RLA because their drivers drive trucks, just like our drivers drive trucks. The issue is how you bring equality to the table.
In 2007, UPS hired the lobbying firm Holland & Knight, urging Congress to "change the Railway Labor Act definitions using general legislation and appropriations legislation," according to federal lobbying filings.
In February, a House bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration included redefinitions that would place FedEx under the NLRA. So far, the Senate has not gone along, and FedEx is ramping up its own lobbying efforts to ensure that doesn't happen.
The Memphis-based shipper recently launched a Web site, BrownBailout.com, where a video parodies UPS' distinctive WhiteBoard ads, showing an actor diagramming how to secure bailouts.
The ongoing Beltway battle prompted Timothy Carney, a columnist for the Washington Examiner, to ask:
"Is it fair for FedEx and UPS to play by different rules? Is it fair to change the rules on FedEx in the middle of the game? Is the NLRA even fair?
"Sadly," he concludes, "'fair competition' doesn't really play a role in shipping -- an industry that has been subsidized and regulated since its birth."
AIF's Bishop said UPS should be looking at itself, rather than blaming others.
"They won't even try to negotiate a better deal with their union," Bishop said. "This is bad for consumers, bad for business and bad all around."
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or (772) 801-5341.
