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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Grammar For the people
The grammar in these comments 😳….
John
Lol. Look around Florida.. Many Teamsters have retired there . I’m retired.. Bever paid a dime for healthcare and retired with a Teamster pension. If unions are so bad why is it that Corporate America spends millions to fight being Unions? Same dopes voted for a mutt who had a giant Rat developed for him. Trump brought illegals into Manhattan construction.. then Bankrupted Casinos and stole Union Pension money. He learned that from Carl Icahn who did the same to TWA employees. Leader of the Stupid. Check the status in these Hialeaja drivers.. Probably worked at MarLago
Mark
Local 959. Unions are not a fast food drive through where you place your order, pay, get what you want. Members have to be willing to participate in the process. No participation gets no changes made. Simple.
Dan
I was a member of teamster six ninety five. I will never be a member of a labor union ever again.
Charlestown
If you think O’Brien isn’t corrupt then you’re in for a surprise. You should check in with some of his old local’s membership. Beginning with the movie production sets to hiring a corrupt Mass state police lieutenant.
Mark Garrity
If you don’t have the stomach for the fight, get out of the way. If you all think the union is a knight on a white horse that will ride in and save the day, you’re wrong. Being part of the union gives you the chance to fight for what is important to you. Do you think xpo cares about you? Selling your souls for pizza parties is not fighting. Do you think the NRTW group cares about you? He’ll no. They’re there to protect corporate interest! It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it. Remember the real enemy always comes as a friend. They wrap themselves in the flag or with some rosey sounding term like “right to work”. It’s all BS. Without a contract (that u vote on btw) it means nothing. Xpo will milk you for everything and when your pump is dry, they’ll find somebody else.
Ralph
God bless the Teamsters! You as rank and file, are the Union! Being a member of any union is not a spectator sport. Get involved and be accountable. Hold your co workers, bosses and union reps accountable. This is a fight all the way through! These workers have what, without representation? Being “at will”? Believing that the boss can gaurantee your future? No thanks. The workers, collectively, are the only ones who can gaurantee anything! Workers are nothing but cannon fodder to these anti union corporate sponsored “right to work” groups. Good luck.
If you want the things you’ve never had, you must be willing to do the things you’ve never done!
Mike
Unions are only for the lazy, abusive overpaid worthless clock riding individuals