File photo: Con-way

File photo: Con-way

UPDATED -- A group of 74 drivers and dockworkers at Con-way Freight in Miami Lakes, Fla., voted on Thursday to join Teamsters Local 769 in North Miami, Fla.

"The Con-way workers have taken a bold step today to improve their lives and have a more secure future as Teamsters," said Mike Scott, president of Teamsters Local 769. "As we have seen across the country, the company spent lots of money to wage a vicious anti-worker campaign, but the workers remained strong and united and didn't let management's bullying get to them."

Con-way Freight said in a statement that it is disappointed in both the results of the vote, which the company points out are not yet certified, as well as what it calls misrepresentation of the facts by the union in Miami and at other locations.

"We will continue to provide our employees with the facts, and protect their right to choose whether or not they want to be represented by a third party – free of misrepresentations, threats, or coercion."'

The victory follows two earlier ones at the less-than-truckload carrier. In September a group of drivers and dockworkers at company’s Laredo, Texas, facility voted to join Teamsters Local 657, becoming the first Con-way terminal to join the union. Later that month, a group of workers in Vernon, Calif., voted to join Teamsters Local 63.

However, the company points out that it currently does not have a contract with the union at any location, and that in four other elections this year, Con-way Freight employees voted to reject the Teamsters.

Since the Laredo win, the Teamsters has lost organizing votes at four other Con-way Freight terminals and withdrawn at least one election petition. Its most recent loss was a vote at the company’s Harlingen, Texas, facility earlier this month.

The company also has filed objections with the National Labor Relations Board contesting election results at two other Con-way Freight locations -- downtown Los Angeles, Calif., and Laredo, Texas -- where narrow majorities of employees voted for union representation. The objections allege election interference by the union and other improprieties. 

"For over 30 years Con-way’s success has been founded on treating our employees with dignity and respect, and recognizing their fundamental role in providing the consistent, high-quality service our customers have come to expect," says the company. "We continue to believe that our company can best meet the needs of our employees by maintaining an open and direct relationship with them, without the interference of a third party."

The union election in Miami has no effect on other locations of Con-way Freight and will not affect the company’s overall ability to continue delivering reliable service to its customers, according to the carrier.

Numerous campaigns at other Con-way Freight terminals are under way as well as at rival FedEx Freight locations.

The Teamsters claiming their efforts have already paid off despite the union not having a collective bargaining contract with either carrier.

The union said after organizing got under way at Con-way, the company announced it would increase truck driver pay by $60 million in 2015, among other improvements. At FedEx Freight, the company announced an 80-cent-per-hour raise a few days after Teamsters Local 107 in Philadelphia filed for an election, and the company got rid of what the Teamsters called an "overly punitive" driver scorecard, which gave drivers infraction points for errors.

The union’s record at FedEx Freight since winning its first organizing vote at a company terminal in October now stands at three victories. It withdrew an election petition in Pocono Summit, Pennsylvania on Wednesday -- the fifth election in a row, and seven out of the last eight, where the union has either withdrawn a petition or lost the vote, according to FedEx Freight.

(Updated 2:55 EST 12/12 to add Con-way Freight response)

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