Why does Ground keep growing? Because it's cheap. And how did it get so cheap? Well, you create a scam system where "employees" aren't considered employees and pay them starvation wages with zero benefits. Wages so low that the government helps subsidize health care costs and perhaps even food stamps.Then you pass-off as many operating costs as possible to a "contractor" who gets paid a handsome sum to make the whole deal look legitimate. Then you have FedEx managers run the entire operation with an iron fist to ensure that FedEx policies and plans are followed to the letter. That's why the operating margin is 5 times that of Express. Fred has built himself a UPS clone with a fraction of the labor costs and zero benefit costs (for drivers). Ground's "success" is more the result of a corrupt CEO/Chairman exploiting an equally corrupt legislative system that is up for sale.
Have Fred (and Ground) won? Most definitely....for now. You'll keep right on growing until the legal system catches up with the scam. "No way Fred's going to stand for that!!" Hopefully, he'll wind up in prison where he belongs once the payoff trail gets exposed. Fred S is a corporate criminal.
No one is just standing by and letting this happen. There have been multiple lawsuits that have shaped Ground to the point it passes the smell test with the courts. Is it right what they're doing? Only in the sense that they are providing jobs to people who may not otherwise find one in this economy. And plenty will line up for part time jobs at Express when the time comes. Is it legal? Appears to be. Fact is no one is owed a great living. Not taking their side, I think it sucks. But nothing was done for us when there was the opportunity in Congress. Don't see that changing just because we don't like it. With so many people out of work they hold all the cards. Will be interesting to see how employees react when they finally realize what's happening. Could get ugly.