Las Vegas Business Press :: Chuck Muth : Different rules for delivery companies isn't how Congress should roll

Different rules for delivery companies isn't how Congress should roll

The U.S. Senate is considering legislation that would place FedEx Express package delivery drivers under the same labor law as every other package delivery driver in the country. And as FedEx Express intensifies its lobbying efforts in the halls of Congress to oppose this change and retain its unequal treatment under the law at the marketing expense of its competitors, it's time once again to look at the issue.

To refresh everyone's memory, here's how FedEx describes itself and the legislation pending before the U.S. Senate:

"Since the company's founding in 1971, FedEx Express has remained under the jurisdiction of the RLA. We firmly believe that is the proper classification for our company. Unlike our competition, we operate an integrated air/ground network and handle air shipments separately in that network.

Chuck Muth

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"RLA jurisdiction gives us the best opportunity to deliver reliable, uninterrupted service to customers. It is that superior service that has allowed us to grow in spite of the best efforts of a larger, more profitable competitor -- UPS. Their current lobbying campaign, working hand-in-hand with the Teamsters, is another attempt by UPS to gain a competitive advantage that they have been unable to gain through their service performance."

First, the RLA stands for Railway Labor Act -- even though FedEx Express is not, you know, a railroad. But we're dealing with government here, so it's not supposed to make sense.

The RLA is a special set of labor laws designed to make it harder for labor unions to organize a company's work force. I'm all for that.

Every other employer not covered by the RLA generally falls under the auspices of the NLRA -- the National Labor Relations Act -- a horrible mishmash of government meddling in the private employment relationships of American companies that tilts far too far towards organized labor. But that's another argument for another day.

Anyway, the essence of this issue is that FedEx Express's package-delivery air/ground work force is treated differently under the law than its competitors' package-delivery air/ground work forces. And this unequal treatment under the law gives FedEx Express a tremendous marketing advantage over its competitors.

To this day FedEx Express is claiming its nonunion status -- protected by being covered under a different set of labor laws than its competitors -- allows it to provide, as you can read for yourself in the statement above, "the best opportunity to deliver reliable, uninterrupted service to customers."

FedEx Express uses its nonunion status as a sales tool the way a used-car salesman uses low mileage.

But even that isn't the point. This isn't about FedEx Express's air/ground package delivery rivalry with the United Parcel Service. And it's not about the Teamsters or organized labor -- both of which should go the way of the dinosaur. It's about ... the law. And the uniquely American principle of equality under the law.

FedEx Express's package delivery drivers pick up packages and deliver them to and/or from an airport. UPS' express package delivery drivers pick up packages and deliver them to and/or from an airport. As far as the law is concerned, both companies and their drivers should be governed under the same law. Period.

This isn't an attempt, as FedEx Express falsely claims, by UPS "to gain a competitive advantage that they have been unable to gain through their service performance."

This is simply an effort by Congress to level the express package delivery playing field and make sure that both competitors are all playing under the same rules; that one team doesn't get four strikes, five outs and 10 players.

FedEx Express is trying to sell Congress on the notion that unequal treatment under the law is a good thing. Congress may want to check the odometer on this clunker of an idea before it ends up buying a lemon.

Chuck Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, a nonprofit public policy grass roots advocacy organization. He can be reached at chuck@citizenoutreach.com.

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