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FedEx heads for crash with drivers - report
SOUTH BEND, Indiana, Aug 8 (WorldACD)- FedEx Corp. is speeding toward a collision inside an Indiana federal courthouse where drivers at the company's ground-delivery unit are demanding full-time status, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The court is weighing suits filed by 150 independent contract drivers who say they are treated as full-time employees and should be paid as such.
The report says that losing the battle could flatten FedEx's model of using workers who are self-employed and don't get benefits or paid time off. The company may have to buy as many as 15,000 drivers' trucks for $45,000 apiece and the bill could jump even higher if health care, pension costs and back pay are added.
The FedEx cases are before a federal judge in South Bend, Indiana, who will decide after a hearing later this month whether the claims of contractors from 29 states should be combined in a single lawsuit. If the suit goes forward, the court will decide if the law allows for making the jobs full time.
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