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Tesla is the next biggest union target in the United States. Sorry, Elon Musk
(www.theguardian.com)
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this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2023
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I'd say Amazon and then FedEx, but I'm cool with unionizing Tesla
Tesla is the best target because of optics and (more so) the presence of an already-existing very strong union in the space. UPS has its union and they could reasonably easily move into FedEx shops, but it’s not the scale or power of the UAW. And, nothing similar exists at all in Amazon’s industry. The best case for both of those comes from a policy and statutory push to implement sectorial bargaining. This also solves the even bigger issue of nonunionized retail and hospitality workers.
UPS's union is the Teamsters, and they represent twice as many employees at UPS as UAW does at the big three. The Teamsters union is an incredibly powerful union because they represent transportation and don't cross picket lines so they can really gum up the works if they so decide.
This isn’t entirely correct. It’s a division of the Teamsters. And no, the UAW has more lobbying and financial power than The Teamsters do. The UAW and the collective teachers unions are the kingmakers in this area.
I'm not sure what you're taking issue with. UPS has twice as many union members as the big three combined. The Teamsters as a whole represent 3 times as many members as the UAW does in total. Perhaps the UAW has a larger war chest, I'm sure the NEA spends more lobbying, but no union in the country has a bigger hammer than the Teamsters. Longshoremen are probably close and rail workers would if they were allowed to strike. Also to say nothing similar exists in Amazon's industry is to ignore the core of Teamsters membership, transportation and warehousing. I'm not trying to be combative, I hope the UAW gets to piss in Elon's Cheerios on the daily.
FedEx is being deliberately destroyed by Amazon. I would love to see it unionize, but it’s arguably not going to exist in another few years as a major player.
Unionization of Amazon delivery systems would have much more ongoing impact. Over-the-road and last-mile have to happen in the US; they can’t be off-shored.
FedEx is used a ton by businesses. We use it constantly. FedEx Next Day Air is really useful.
As I understand it, it’s a niche provider compared to where it was 10 years ago. When was the last time you got a FedEx package from a major retailer? I order shit constantly and can’t remember getting one in maybe a year.
And, if you visit one of their distro centers, they are pale shades of what they were a decade ago, with a fraction of the employees and the vibe of a dying enterprise. Last time I had to hit our local distro center, there were two employees in the entire back area and a giant pile of undeliverable/lost packages in the waiting area.
Maybe it varies by location? I get FedEx all the time. Chewy always uses FedEx for my shipments. I love them because they'll actually deliver to my porch instead of leaving it on the front steps (looking at you, UPS).
You'd be surprised at how anti-union many Amazon corp workers are, which is hilarious given how fucking shit it can be.