Petition to Decertify Union

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: FedEx Freight, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board, et al

Case No.: 16-1360; 16-1395

Officials: POSNER, RIPPLE, and ROVNER, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Petition to Decertify Union

The petitioner, FedEx Freight, Inc., a subsidiary of FedEx Corporation, uses trucks rather than planes to transport freight. This case concerns the workers at its terminal in Stockton, California, an inland seaport, at which the company employs 50 truck drivers and 27 dock‐ workers—the latter use forklifts to load and unload the trucks that use the terminal. A Teamsters Local petitioned the Labor Board to be permitted to organize the drivers. Rejecting the company’s contention that the local should represent the dockworkers as well on the ground asserted by the company that the drivers and the dockworkers share a community of interest, the Board concluded that a drivers-only unit was proper and submitted the issue to a secret‐ ballot election of the drivers, who voted to be represented by the local union in collective bargaining. The company asks us to overrule the Board, and the Board asks us to enforce its order

Petition Denied

Cross-Petition Granted

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.