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XPO workers oust Teamsters at Miami-area site of groundbreaking contract

Hialeah facility 1st location where union successfully negotiated contract with XPO, but it’s out in less than 2 years

Teamsters who were under a contract with XPO have voted to decertify the union. (Photo: Jim Allen/Freightwaves)

Workers at the first XPO location where the Teamsters successfully negotiated a contract with the LTL carrier have voted to decertify the union.

Workers in Hialeah, Florida, near Miami, reached agreement on a contract with XPO almost two years ago, the first time that a Teamsters local had successfully negotiated a contract with the LTL carrier. The union had long argued that XPO (NYSE: XPO) delayed and dragged out talks in locations where the rank and file had voted to be represented by the Teamsters.

“We have been notified by the National Labor Relations Board that employees at our service center in Miami have voted to remove the Teamsters union as their collective bargaining representative,” an XPO spokeswoman told FreightWaves in an email. “This decertification election, which was held on June 21, was requested by local employees, who now join the vast majority of XPO team members who’ve chosen to remain independent.”

Signing the contract at Hialeah two years ago was quickly followed by a contract agreement with XPO at a facility in Trenton, New Jersey, where the Teamsters had voted to be represented by the union. The back-to-back contract signings were celebrated by the labor movement that its long effort to unionize XPO, or at least portions of it, were coming to fruition. 


Now one of those two locations has voted to oust the Teamsters.

The named respondent on the petition to decertify Teamsters Local 769 at Hialeah was Martin Garcia. He was aided in his efforts by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation,  which also assisted in successful decertification votes at XPO facilities in Cinnaminson, New Jersey, Los Angeles and Albany, New York, where the Teamsters had won a close election at the end of 2021. However, none of those three facilities had negotiated a contract, unlike Hialeah.

“Teamsters officials didn’t listen to us and didn’t represent our interests in the workplace,” Garcia said in a statement released by the foundation. “My coworkers and I decided that the best way forward was to vote them out, and we’re glad we could get legal aid from the National Right to Work Foundation in exercising our rights.”

A spokeswoman for the Teamsters forwarded a request for comment to the local union, which had not responded to FreightWaves by publication time.


The NLRB page on the petition did not list the election results as of publication time. It says there were 70 workers who were eligible to vote in the decertification election. 

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34 Comments

  1. TCS53

    As a retired CCX,Conway Freight,XPO driver I spent 34 years in that company starting in 1983, I’m happy for those employees that were able to get out of their deal with the Teamsters. Now they can get on with their lives. The Teamsters never had anything to offer us that was better, the only thing was company management treated people poorly with little or no respect. But I will say one thing, that pension check doesn’t bounce. I’m not sure you can say the same for a Teamster pension check !

  2. John Sobolewski

    Remember what happened to Consolidated Freightways it was a slap in the face when they closed on Labor Day… And how come we don’t see what the executives at yellow are making???

  3. Dave

    The dude by the name of Danny better go back to school and learn correct English. Do not ( doesn’t is in correct) . When XPO renders his service invaluable his application elsewhere should be scrutinized.

  4. Danny

    In response to ME, all I have to said is this. Teamsters doesn’t have any interest in drivers well being, all they care it’s about their dues, they ruined lives in NY, NJ, CT and on and on, they lied to future members about how their life’s will be better joining the brotherhood, yet, as soon as they get in, nothing changes, ups sorry, things do change, favoritism start to creep in, changes are for the worse and the end result? Drivers become upset at the new regime.
    Get a few people in charge, get assistance nd get yourselves a new contract, will be cheaper and will result in a better future for all involved.
    Teamsters are a thing of the past!!👎👎👎👎👎

  5. Government Wake up call

    Sean O’Brien is a psycho!!! The Teamsters Union needs to be put in TRUSTEESHIP before he does something that bankrupts the Union in lawsuits because of his behavior. Sean O’Brien was the wrong man for the Job!

  6. Keith Manley

    I as a active teamster member totally understand the frustration with the unions last administration the (Hoffa era ) The XPO membership has every right to feel let down and betrayed. But they must know there a new sheriff in town ( O’Brien ) and he’s totally different from Mr Hoffa and all of his corruption and underhanded dealings with these companies. Hoffa for over thirty years undermined the strength of the union for personal reasons and personal gain . Me my self I think XPO guys moved to soon to out the union . My personal thoughts

  7. Me

    The Union is about numbers, the more the better. Half of the Miami terminal still believes in the Teamsters. The goal was to become Union which we did and hopefully others would follow. Right after Miami became Union the company gave all the other terminals a 4% raise to keep the Union out and they succeeded. Everyone sold themselves for an extra couple of dollars. We have 68 employees. The result was 27 to 34. Most of our drivers are for the teamsters but the dockworkers who are mostly new, young and inexperienced voted against it. I have a lot more to say if you want to know the truth. Not rumors.

  8. IBT WAKE UP CALL

    Hello! Wake up call to Sean O’Brien!!! Did you read why they desertified Teamsters officials were not listening to them are you listening to your YELLOW members? Know you’re not!! You’ve quoted a few of the bozos at every site but your not listening to the vast majority of us who want to save our jobs!!! Get to the table and save YELLOW now! By saving yellow you show your respect for your members and there families who don’t want to be on the street with out healthcare next week!!! Get to the table and get it done!!!

Comments are closed.

John Kingston

John has an almost 40-year career covering commodities, most of the time at S&P Global Platts. He created the Dated Brent benchmark, now the world’s most important crude oil marker. He was Director of Oil, Director of News, the editor in chief of Platts Oilgram News and the “talking head” for Platts on numerous media outlets, including CNBC, Fox Business and Canada’s BNN. He covered metals before joining Platts and then spent a year running Platts’ metals business as well. He was awarded the International Association of Energy Economics Award for Excellence in Written Journalism in 2015. In 2010, he won two Corporate Achievement Awards from McGraw-Hill, an extremely rare accomplishment, one for steering coverage of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and the other for the launch of a public affairs television show, Platts Energy Week.