Employees reject union at Con-way Freight facility

The Con-way vote is the latest in a string of Teamster proposals at Con-way Freight and FedEx Freight.    Con-way Freight employees at the company’s Manchester, N.H., facility have voted against union representation.
   According to the company, employees rejected the International Brotherhood of Teamsters by a vote of 29 to 15.
   Con-way Freight is a union-free organization, but on Nov. 10, Teamsters Local 449 in Buffalo filed a unionization petition to the National Labor Relations Board to organize employees in the region.
   “We were gratified that our Manchester employees, after having the opportunity to review all the facts and make an informed choice, rejected the Teamsters union and clearly communicated their intention to remain union-free,” Greg Lehmkuhl, Con-way Freight’s president, stated.
   Lehmkuhl went on to say employees “choose to remain union free” when they hear all the facts and are able to vote in a fair election.
   “We continue to believe that our company can best meet the needs of our employees by maintaining an open, respectful and direct relationship with them, without the interference of a union,” he continued.
   Con-way Freight currently does not have a contract with the Teamsters union at any of its locations. The Manchester election has no effect on other locations of Con-way Freight and will not affect the company’s overall ability to continue delivering reliable, high-quality service to customers.
   On Oct. 31, the Teamsters pulled a union organization proposal FedEx’s Middleton, Pa., facility the day before a vote was to take place. The integrator said the vote was pulled because the union knew it couldn’t win support, but the group Bring the Teamsters to Fed Ex Freight countered that “alleged unfair and illegal labor practices that were initiated by FedEx management” forced the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to pull the vote.
   FedEx workers at a Newark, N.J., facility voted Wednesday to reject unionization.
   According to Reuters, four additional union votes are scheduled at various FedEx facilities in November. Last month, workers at two facilities approved collective bargaining.