FedEx has chosen to walk away from negotiations and lock out any workers taking protected industrial action for up to two full shifts rather than agreeing to provide secure jobs and reasonable pay increases.
Transport workers kept Australia running through the pandemic and across the industry other employers like Toll, Linfox and StarTrack have acknowledged this effort by agreeing to new deals that provide certainty for workers.
FedEx – whose US parent company recently spent $1 million AUD on a campaign to stop its workers fighting for pay parity with UPS – has taken a different and much more aggressive approach. Workers will now go without two shifts’ pay in the lead-up to Christmas.
This action by FedEx will also cause major disruptions for Australians waiting for Christmas presents and other parcels – disruptions that the four-hour stoppages planning by workers were designed to avoid.
Quotes attributable to ACTU Secretary Sally McManus:
“Fedex made $18million a day during the pandemic, racking up huge profits. They are now refusing to share a tiny part of that with the workers who risked their health to make them these profits.
“It is un-Australian to lock out workers and the ultimate sign of disrespect to the people who make this company successful. A reasonable pay rise that has already been agreed to by their competitors and better job security is the least workers deserve.
“FedEx will be seen as the unreasonable outlier and out of touch with the expectations of the community if they continue down this track.”
