GREENWICH, CT. May 11, 2016. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has joined with XPO Logistics workers in the U.S. and Europe to protest against what they claim is the company’s anti-worker behavior.
In October last year XPO completed its US$3.0 billion purchase of Con-way to become the second largest less-than-truckload (LTL) provider in North America.
XPO chairman and CEO Bradley Jacobs said at the time: "We have an unprecedented opportunity to create value for our customers and investors as a result of the Con-way transaction. We're moving quickly to eliminate redundancies and leverage our scale to better serve our more than 50,000 customers."
The acquisition followed the purchase in June 2015 of privately-held French trucking and logistics company Norbert Dentressangle for €3.24 billion.
The Teamsters claim XPO broke its promise not to lay off any workers in France for at least 18 months after the company was purchased and says “similar struggles” with XPO are now taking place in Britain, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands.
According to James Hoffa, Teamsters general president, corporate greed is at the center of the labor dispute: “XPO port and rail drivers are fighting company wage theft in excess of US$200 million because of persistent misclassification as independent contractors, a scheme the National Labor Relations Board ruled is designed to deny workers of their legal right to form a union.
“And after settling multiple lawsuits in the company’s last mile division, XPO is now facing a new class action lawsuit from misclassified drivers at 3PD, valued in court documents at US$75 million,” he added.
XPO purchased 3PD, a heavy goods, last-mile logistics 3PL for US$365 million in July 2013.
"We applaud today's action in Greenwich,” said Steve Cotton, general secretary of the International Transport Workers Federation. “This event is the first time that a new network of concerned workers has taken action on XPO. The company has to listen. The company has to talk."
Commenting on the worker protest Hoffa noted: “Not surprisingly, XPO executives are not thrilled about the Teamsters’ outreach to its employees. The company, led by CEO Bradley Jacobs, seems hell-bent on trying to follow the typical Wall Street method of purchase, gut and sell at a huge profit; workers, families and their livelihoods be damned. Jacobs followed the same method previously in the oil, waste management and equipment rental industries.”
XPO’s web site features a brief video from a town hall meeting by Jacobs at XPO Last Mile. Speaking to workers he declares: “I’m so proud of what we do, what you do. You’re great. I hope you know you’re great…what you do is amazing.” Introducing the video, Last Mile CEO Karl Meyer adds: “In the end it is all about people, and we have the best people in the industry.”
The Teamsters says it plans more events in an effort to get Jacobs to meet with the protesting XPO employees.
