On 11-12 January, the ITF led a series of meetings in the UK hosted by the union Unite.
The 33 activists and workers were from eight unions, including Teamsters (USA), VNB (Netherlands), FeSMC (Spain), BTB (Belgium), ACV-Transcom (Belgium), as well as Unite and the European Transport Workers’ Federation.
The activists heard directly from workers about the terrible conditions they have to endure at XPO, including stories of exploitation, exhaustion and degradation.
XPO worker Lakeisha Nelson from Tennessee, USA, spoke at the meeting: “I’ve learned here that I’m not the only one suffering. We’re here to fight for justice. We need help.”
XPO worker Benjamin Alfaro also spoke: “It seems to me they [the unions] are strong here, we are so weak in San Diego. Hopefully they can help us out in some way putting some pressure on XPO, maybe with the customers and the politicians.”
<?UMBRACO_MACRO youtubevideourl="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqt6w8BH0SU" macroAlias="YoutubeVideo" />Noel Coard, ITF head of inland transport, commented that if ever there was a company with a business model designed around corporate greed and worker exploitation it was XPO, and it was time to expose it. He added that while the CEO, Bradley Jacobs, has given himself an almost 500 percent pay rise in two years and a USD100 million stock option, XPO refuses to pay its workers a basic living wage.
This was the third campaign meeting organised by the ITF to bring unions representing XPO workers together.
