Thousands of FedEx workers will conduct two-hour work stoppages today as the company refuses to guarantee job security, and protections against AI and automation.
The company, which is taking cues from its infamously anti-worker US head office, has responded with the aggressive and disproportionate tactic of locking workers out for the entire day for using their legal right to take industrial action, meaning workers won't be paid for a full day.
While FedEx applies US-style industrial tactics, other large Australian transport employers, including Toll, Linfox, Team Global Express and BevChain, have settled fair pay and conditions deals with their workforces for the next 3 years.
After months of negotiations, workers have been left with no option but to take protected industrial action to secure jobs, with FedEx shifting work to contracted drivers on gig-style piece rates, forced to deliver a parcel up to every 4 minutes.
Safe and secure work in Australia's deadliest industry remains under attack from the 'Amazon effect'. Amazon's exploitative Flex model engages workers in delivery "blocks" on below-minimum wages and conditions, undercutting responsible operators and driving an industry crisis that pressures companies such as FedEx to join the downward spiral and strip away decent work.
This year 122 people have died in truck crashes, 31 of those truck drivers. In Australia's deadliest industry, lowering standards puts workers and every road user at risk.
TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said:
"Today FedEx workers are fighting for a future in transport where good, secure jobs are the norm, not the exception.
"This is a management team absolutely paralysed by its US overlords in its aggressive tactics towards workers using their legal rights. As workers taking measured 2-hour stoppages to try to push the company to a fair deal, FedEx has appallingly told them they can't go back to work and will be docked wages for the entire day.
"The alternative to taking industrial action is letting FedEx push ahead with turning their jobs into scraps of low-paid work with absolutely no job security. In Australia's deadliest industry where huge pressures already push workers to the brink, workers cannot accept their jobs being stripped of any decent conditions or protections.
"These workers are fighting for job security and a fair future, as companies like Amazon try to tear the industry down.
"The solution for FedEx is simple: guarantee job security for the workers doing such vital work getting essential supplies around the country, and stop going down Amazon's low road."
"This isn't a company fighting for survival. This is a multinational giant that made more than AUD$6.5 billion in profit last year. The workers who deliver that success are simply asking for job security and decent wages."
