Selling The Purple Lie

[MrFedEx]

FEATW starting to sound alot like Smith's cabin boy Maurey Lane!

She's always been an ardent FedEx and Smith supporter. If one cares to know, Smith is an actual convicted criminal, as opposed to an accused one in the case of Mr Hoffa. In the 70's, he struck a killed a Memphis pedestrian while drunk. Wouldn't that be a felony? What about the insider trading scandal a few years back? Isn't that also against the law? Eventually, some of Smith's seamier side will be exposed when one of his political buddies has to spill their guts to avoid prison time. My guess is acknowledgment of massive pay-offs in return for pro-FedEx legislation, including the RLA.

I don't know how Mr Lane is able to sleep at night the way a steady stream of lies and misinformation flow from his orifice. Perhaps that big paycheck helps soothe his conscience.

 

[The Mayor]

FEATW doesn't even work for FedEx. Her husband does, or she says he works there as a manager. Who knows. One thing for sure is that she has zero experience with 20 year top-outs, increased workloads and productivity expectations without more pay, or any of the other BS hourlies put up with on a daily basis at Express. In other words, she doesn't know what she's talking about.

I agree with you. I'll gladly pay a monthly pittance to the IBT in return for much better wages and a real retirement plan. Again, if FedEx is so freaking great, why are they so worried about letting us vote on it? The answer should be obvious, even to FEATW.

A men! If Mr. Smith wanted to solve this issue at the cheapest possible cost, then all he would have to do is allow Express employees the opportunity to vote on it and be done with it. If it turned out that everything goes his way, then he can say, "I told you so" and look like a champion. If things are really as happy and honky dory as he thinks it is, then there should be absolutely no reason for him to worry. However, since this is not the case, he and his team of cronies have decided to wage a negative ad campaign against UPS, create a website filled with lies, and petitiion every possible dirty rotten scoundrel of a politician with millions of dollars in bribes.

Truth of the matter is, he knows for a fact that in certain areas of the country if this legislation passes he is going to be in a world of hurt. I am not naive enough to say that every Fed Ex Express location would vote for it, but I am willing to say that I believe realistically that well over half would. It's just a matter of time now.....

As far as FEATW is concerned, "she" is entitled to "her" opinion and we should be respectful of that. However, I don't think that "she" has a full understanding of the magnitude of the real issues that happen on a day by day basis and that's why her comments are viewed as ignorant here.

 

[MrFedEx]

A men! If Mr. Smith wanted to solve this issue at the cheapest possible cost, then all he would have to do is allow Express employees the opportunity to vote on it and be done with it. If it turned out that everything goes his way, then he can say, "I told you so" and look like a champion. If things are really as happy and honky dory as he thinks it is, then there should be absolutely no reason for him to worry. However, since this is not the case, he and his team of cronies have decided to wage a negative ad campaign against UPS, create a website filled with lies, and petitiion every possible dirty rotten scoundrel of a politician with millions of dollars in bribes.

Truth of the matter is, he knows for a fact that in certain areas of the country if this legislation passes he is going to be in a world of hurt. I am not naive enough to say that every Fed Ex Express location would vote for it, but I am willing to say that I believe realistically that well over half would. It's just a matter of time now.....

As far as FEATW is concerned, "she" is entitled to "her" opinion and we should be respectful of that. However, I don't think that "she" has a full understanding of the magnitude of the real issues that happen on a day by day basis and that's why her comments are viewed as ignorant here.

Congratulations for not drinking Smith's Fool-Aid. Spread the word.

 

[ex fed exer]

it's amazing with all that's going on, there are ignorant people all over this board. see fdxwg for proof

 

[ex fed exer]

also, don't forget about smith loyalty to his family.he was doing his secretary at the office while his wife was at home being faithful to him. he does not care about his immediate family, you can bet he doesn't care about his employees.

 

[MrFedEx]

also, don't forget about smith loyalty to his family.he was doing his secretary at the office while his wife was at home being faithful to him. he does not care about his immediate family, you can bet he doesn't care about his employees.

Yep, Smith is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the John Edwards School of Family Values. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't he do the same thing with two different secretaries? He's not exactly a good guy, and it always makes me laugh when one of his admirers get on here and make him out to be the second coming of Jesus.

 

[vantexan]

Truth of the matter is, he knows for a fact that in certain areas of the country if this legislation passes he is going to be in a world of hurt. I am not naive enough to say that every Fed Ex Express location would vote for it, but I am willing to say that I believe realistically that well over half would. It's just a matter of time now.....

I work in a very anti-union area and yet I've had several senior couriers tell me they will vote for a union if given the chance. As I don't know how it all works, will stations that vote against a union still be at their current payscale and benefits? If so I think when people realize that if they vote against the union they'll be working to subsidize higher paid union workers, they'll decide to vote for the union too. Can't imagine someone saying "I don't care if they are making $12hr more than me, I'm not voting for a union at our station."

I still doubt that a union will give us everything we want. Fred S said last week that he will refuse to recognize a union at FedEx. Best case scenario IMO is that we are given the right to unionize, and then FedEx counters it by offering a better pay pkg, hopefully better benefits too, in hopes of keeping the union out. If the offer isn't enough, or they reneg later, the right to unionize will still be there. I know some reading this will reject what I've written here outright, wanting UPS pay and benefits. Be careful what you wish for. The California Ground guys thought they had FedEx beaten with their lawsuit. I doubt if any of them expected FedEx to force them to either buy another route or be bought out and sent packing. You can be sure that FedEx has people, including very competant lawyers, looking at every angle possible to minimize and marginalize any union. Don't assume that the union can get you everything you want. And what it does get may require us to make real sacrifices, like striking. I for one will be interested in hearing any offers the company makes in hope of keeping us from voting for a union.

By the way, the Senate vote has been delayed again if you haven't heard.

 

[browned out]

I work in a very anti-union area and yet I've had several senior couriers tell me they will vote for a union if given the chance. As I don't know how it all works, will stations that vote against a union still be at their current payscale and benefits? If so I think when people realize that if they vote against the union they'll be working to subsidize higher paid union workers, they'll decide to vote for the union too. Can't imagine someone saying "I don't care if they are making $12hr more than me, I'm not voting for a union at our station."

I still doubt that a union will give us everything we want. Fred S said last week that he will refuse to recognize a union at FedEx. Best case scenario IMO is that we are given the right to unionize, and then FedEx counters it by offering a better pay pkg, hopefully better benefits too, in hopes of keeping the union out. If the offer isn't enough, or they reneg later, the right to unionize will still be there. I know some reading this will reject what I've written here outright, wanting UPS pay and benefits. Be careful what you wish for. The California Ground guys thought they had FedEx beaten with their lawsuit. I doubt if any of them expected FedEx to force them to either buy another route or be bought out and sent packing. You can be sure that FedEx has people, including very competant lawyers, looking at every angle possible to minimize and marginalize any union. Don't assume that the union can get you everything you want. And what it does get may require us to make real sacrifices, like striking. I for one will be interested in hearing any offers the company makes in hope of keeping us from voting for a union.

Hopefully you guys get a little more of what you deserve. I am sure fedex has atleast as many incompetent, useless, fatcat management spending all your hard earned money as we had a UPS.

By the way, the Senate vote has been delayed again if you haven't heard.

 

[MrFedEx]

I work in a very anti-union area and yet I've had several senior couriers tell me they will vote for a union if given the chance. As I don't know how it all works, will stations that vote against a union still be at their current payscale and benefits? If so I think when people realize that if they vote against the union they'll be working to subsidize higher paid union workers, they'll decide to vote for the union too. Can't imagine someone saying "I don't care if they are making $12hr more than me, I'm not voting for a union at our station."

I still doubt that a union will give us everything we want. Fred S said last week that he will refuse to recognize a union at FedEx. Best case scenario IMO is that we are given the right to unionize, and then FedEx counters it by offering a better pay pkg, hopefully better benefits too, in hopes of keeping the union out. If the offer isn't enough, or they reneg later, the right to unionize will still be there. I know some reading this will reject what I've written here outright, wanting UPS pay and benefits. Be careful what you wish for. The California Ground guys thought they had FedEx beaten with their lawsuit. I doubt if any of them expected FedEx to force them to either buy another route or be bought out and sent packing. You can be sure that FedEx has people, including very competant lawyers, looking at every angle possible to minimize and marginalize any union. Don't assume that the union can get you everything you want. And what it does get may require us to make real sacrifices, like striking. I for one will be interested in hearing any offers the company makes in hope of keeping us from voting for a union.

By the way, the Senate vote has been delayed again if you haven't heard.

Would this be the same Fred S who always says "FedEx is not anti-union in any way"? Just curious, because why would someone who isn't anti-union refuse to recognize one if it were formed? Looks like Uncle Fred is speaking from both sides of his crooked mouth again. What a liar.

I keep up with the Right Wing blogs and they're all for Fred because "we don't need unions to protect lazy employees any longer". I'm guessing most of these tools would last about a day as an Express courier, and perhaps a week working for FedEx Ground. You see, Fred makes sure we work our butts off, or he gets rid of us. It's called "not making your numbers". Fred is also very good at eliminating workers injured on the job. A few years back FedEx decided the injury rate was too high, and implemented a simple solution. Blame the employee. If a box falls out of the airplane and hits you on the head you "should have anticipated the hazard". Sorry, but it's your fault and you'll get a lower review score plus some remedial training for being so stupid as to have a box fall on you. It happens all the time, and unless you have an attorney who will work for free, you're screwed, because FedEx has an army of lawyers waiting to make your life Hell on earth. They'll screw you around for years, hoping to break you financially and mentally. Ethical? Hardly, but that's what "lazy" employees are all about, right? They purposely get hurt so they can sue poor CEO's like Smith and cash-in. Sorry, but that's just not the way it is.

Using this type of logic, a meteor could fall from the sky and strike your truck, which would of course be your fault, since you should have "anticipated" the meteor. How silly of me not to check the astronomy report to see if there were any meteor showers expected today.

Right Wingers, you're just plain ignorant of the facts. Fred S is a union-buster of the worst kind, and an incredible liar as well. Yet you admire him, much in the way you admire other tyrants of the conservative bent. He abuses the people who work for him, flaunts the law, and does pretty much whatever he wants to because he has big money. There are very few lazy Express employees. The FedEx system simply doesn't permit them to exist. Please continue worshipping your great god Smith. If he's the type of person you admire, I truly feel sorry for you. I guess ignorance is bliss on the far Right.

 

[vantexan]

Would this be the same Fred S who always says "FedEx is not anti-union in any way"? Just curious, because why would someone who isn't anti-union refuse to recognize one if it were formed? Looks like Uncle Fred is speaking from both sides of his crooked mouth again. What a liar.

I keep up with the Right Wing blogs and they're all for Fred because "we don't need unions to protect lazy employees any longer". I'm guessing most of these tools would last about a day as an Express courier, and perhaps a week working for FedEx Ground. You see, Fred makes sure we work our butts off, or he gets rid of us. It's called "not making your numbers". Fred is also very good at eliminating workers injured on the job. A few years back FedEx decided the injury rate was too high, and implemented a simple solution. Blame the employee. If a box falls out of the airplane and hits you on the head you "should have anticipated the hazard". Sorry, but it's your fault and you'll get a lower review score plus some remedial training for being so stupid as to have a box fall on you. It happens all the time, and unless you have an attorney who will work for free, you're screwed, because FedEx has an army of lawyers waiting to make your life Hell on earth. They'll screw you around for years, hoping to break you financially and mentally. Ethical? Hardly, but that's what "lazy" employees are all about, right? They purposely get hurt so they can sue poor CEO's like Smith and cash-in. Sorry, but that's just not the way it is.

Using this type of logic, a meteor could fall from the sky and strike your truck, which would of course be your fault, since you should have "anticipated" the meteor. How silly of me not to check the astronomy report to see if there were any meteor showers expected today.

Right Wingers, you're just plain ignorant of the facts. Fred S is a union-buster of the worst kind, and an incredible liar as well. Yet you admire him, much in the way you admire other tyrants of the conservative bent. He abuses the people who work for him, flaunts the law, and does pretty much whatever he wants to because he has big money. There are very few lazy Express employees. The FedEx system simply doesn't permit them to exist. Please continue worshipping your great god Smith. If he's the type of person you admire, I truly feel sorry for you. I guess ignorance is bliss on the far Right.

How does my post equate to admiring Fred S and being a far right winger? I'm a conservative for sure, but primarily a social conservative. I don't believe in redistributing wealth nor do I believe in concentrating it. If a company hires you on I believe they should provide enough to live decently, which for me means owning a home, having a car, educating kids, saving for retirement, maybe be able to afford a vacation or buy a few toys. As far as my post goes, I'm just stating what I believe, that there may be some unintended consequences to voting in a union. Things rarely work out exactly the way we want, especially when there's money involved. But I hope you get everything you want.

 

[MrFedEx]

How does my post equate to admiring Fred S and being a far right winger? I'm a conservative for sure, but primarily a social conservative. I don't believe in redistributing wealth nor do I believe in concentrating it. If a company hires you on I believe they should provide enough to live decently, which for me means owning a home, having a car, educating kids, saving for retirement, maybe be able to afford a vacation or buy a few toys. As far as my post goes, I'm just stating what I believe, that there may be some unintended consequences to voting in a union. Things rarely work out exactly the way we want, especially when there's money involved. But I hope you get everything you want.

I'm not bashing you. Your post about Smith being unwilling to recognize a union just made me want to rant (on him). I do think it's ironic that conservatives love him so much. If the general public (including conservatives)had an inkling of what working for FedEx is really like, they'd probably feel differently about him. While it's certainly true that unions sometimes do protect lazy or incompetent workers, they also serve as a check mechanism against abusive employers. Fred doesn't care if you're conservative or liberal because he'll treat you like crap and keep all the money for himself anyway. He's an equal opportunity miser.

 

[The Mayor]

I'm not bashing you. Your post about Smith being unwilling to recognize a union just made me want to rant (on him). I do think it's ironic that conservatives love him so much. If the general public (including conservatives)had an inkling of what working for FedEx is really like, they'd probably feel differently about him. While it's certainly true that unions sometimes do protect lazy or incompetent workers, they also serve as a check mechanism against abusive employers. Fred doesn't care if you're conservative or liberal because he'll treat you like crap and keep all the money for himself anyway. He's an equal opportunity miser.

Federal Law requires all companies who wish to be represented by a union to, "be recognized as such and negotiate within reasonable terms for the prosperity of both workers and the business entity as a whole for the collective good of each party." So, with that being said, he can say all he wants to say, but truth of the matter is, he will have to either have some sort of concession or collective bargaining agreement with the work force. Now I am not crazy enough to say that things will be all rosey immediately following the passage of a union being stated into the Express division at certain locations, but I will say that some different aspects will get better. I don't pretend for one moment that we will have comparable or equal wages to UPS, but I will say that the battle will be up hill for at least the first 5 contracts in of which itself will be a huge difference.

We (the workers) will scream for higher wages, lower premiums on health care, re-institution of the pension plan, and quicker top out. They will counter with quicker top out, and a variation of the pension plan. However, the length of the contract will be an issue in of itself as well. We (the workers) will want a 3-4 year deal, and they will want a longer deal so to put off the additional funding for higher salary. Since our pension plan (The traditional one) is already fully funded, it woun't cost uncle Fred any more money in long term costs. However, the largest burden he will have to face at one point or another is when the re-negotiation for higher wages comes to play in at or around the 2nd or 3rd contract time. This is what will add additional stress to "the financial budgeting."

Let's face it, the pilots have a union and are the highest paid in the industry. Does anyone here really think for one moment that Fred would want that for his employees too? The Express division is the meat and potatos of the entire corporation encompassing $22.4 billion out of the $37.5 billion of the business. It also has the largest number of employees over 164,000 out of the total 275,000 for the company as well. To give this type of increase to a majority of this size would cost him hundreds of millions. He wants to keep that money, not give it to his employees. The 237 VP's we have want to keep that money too. The division of financial assets and salary in comparision to line workers versus executive level management is astonishing. It like comparing the United States to Haiti.

As far as Smith's ethical concerns go, IMO he would shoot his own mother to make a penny. Not only did he get a loan from daddy to start the business, get loans from the banks, but also stole his two sister's inheritance funds and applied it to the start up costs as well. He's got 10 kids to support, divorced how many times I don't know to be truthful, and bangs whoever, whenever (good for him there though). He's a ruthless POS and forces his employees to run like chickens with their heads cut off or threaten their jobs if they don't make their productivy goals (which are ridiculous to begin with). So, show me where his ethical principles are at.

Sorry for the long rant, but truth be told...........

 

[MrFedEx]

LMAO!! I love your details surrounding Mr Smith's personal life and ethics. Yes, he is a paragon of virtue isn't he?

 

[vantexan]

Thanks Mr.Mayor for the perspective. Concerning the nuts and bolts of it, if the traditional pension is reinstated, will it be retroactive, as if the cash balance plan never happened? Or will the money accumulated in the PPP be distributed at retirement/termination? Also, will it be possible for the company to make an offer to employees before a union vote in hopes of keeping it out? Something that might require us to give up any aspirations of a union in exchange for taking a deal? I'm at $17.09 after 11 years with no acknowledgment of the 11 years I worked before quitting and being rehired other than increasing my traditional pension until it was terminated. If they suddenly offered me $22hr+ and more in the PPP in exchange for voting against a union I'd have to take it. No doubt they'd as soon keep me at $17.09 but even they have to know it'll take a substantial improvement for most of us to keep the union out. I'm all for us getting close to UPS pay but they most likely will figure out a way to royally screw us if faced with much higher costs. They've made it very clear that we are here to make them very wealthy and if we don't like it we can leave. Don't see them rolling over for a union based on the last 20 years.

 

[bbsam]

I'm liking Smith better and better all the time.

 

[vantexan]

I'm not bashing you. Your post about Smith being unwilling to recognize a union just made me want to rant (on him). I do think it's ironic that conservatives love him so much. If the general public (including conservatives)had an inkling of what working for FedEx is really like, they'd probably feel differently about him. While it's certainly true that unions sometimes do protect lazy or incompetent workers, they also serve as a check mechanism against abusive employers. Fred doesn't care if you're conservative or liberal because he'll treat you like crap and keep all the money for himself anyway. He's an equal opportunity miser.

And of course Obama admires him too. Which makes me wonder about the likelihood of the legislation passing.

 

[MrFedEx]

And of course Obama admires him too. Which makes me wonder about the likelihood of the legislation passing.

Yes, Obama's comments were disturbing. Smith met with then-president Bill Clinton shortly before RLA language was snuck into the FAA Bill back into the 90's. Hopefully, lunch with Obama doesn't mean that the same thing is going to happen again. I don't trust that the Democrats are big friends of labor, UPS, or the little guy, despite lots of campaign promises.

I'm expecting nothing from Smith, even if the RLA exemption gets dropped. He has already indicated that he won't recognize a union, which probably means the threat of a lock-out and replacement workers. I'm also not expecting much in the way of a counter offer, because this is a man who already thinks we are overpaid as is. He doesn't want to give us anything. I'd expect him to offer us our jobs, and nothing else, at least initially. If he did use replacement workers, he'd have big problems in a hurry because of the technology. There would be major disruptions of service and UPS would have a golden opportunity to grab a lot of business from a dysfunctional FedEx. Plus, there are plenty of us who would do everything possible to disrupt the system, including flooding the system with phony pickups, sabotaging drop boxes, vehicles etc. It wouldn't be that hard to accomplish.

Smith and FedEx deserve a union more than any other company I can think of. This is a man bereft of any sense of conscience, morality, or fairness. He's had many years to "do the right thing" and in every instance, he's done what benefits himself and profits, not employees. He has been given the benefit of the doubt over and over again and continues to abuse his position, thanks mainly to a special deal (the RLA) that allows him the safety of knowing that we could never unionize under it's provisions. He needs to be taken-down, removed from his role, and replaced with leadership that understands that you get what you pay for. UPS will always attract better employees who will provide outstanding service to the customer and create more profit in the process. Why? Because UPS pays competitive wages, has a real retirement plan, and doesn't have the ability to just toss you aside if you get injured or sick. Fred is a POS who'd do anything to increase profits. He cannot be trusted, and we need to do everything we can to obstruct and destroy this megalomaniac monster.

 

[The Mayor]

Thanks Mr.Mayor for the perspective. Concerning the nuts and bolts of it, if the traditional pension is reinstated, will it be retroactive, as if the cash balance plan never happened? Or will the money accumulated in the PPP be distributed at retirement/termination? Also, will it be possible for the company to make an offer to employees before a union vote in hopes of keeping it out? Something that might require us to give up any aspirations of a union in exchange for taking a deal? I'm at $17.09 after 11 years with no acknowledgment of the 11 years I worked before quitting and being rehired other than increasing my traditional pension until it was terminated. If they suddenly offered me $22hr+ and more in the PPP in exchange for voting against a union I'd have to take it. No doubt they'd as soon keep me at $17.09 but even they have to know it'll take a substantial improvement for most of us to keep the union out. I'm all for us getting close to UPS pay but they most likely will figure out a way to royally screw us if faced with much higher costs. They've made it very clear that we are here to make them very wealthy and if we don't like it we can leave. Don't see them rolling over for a union based on the last 20 years.

Well, I would seriously doubt that anything would be retroactive. I mean, come on..I almost cannot believe you asked that (ha,ha). I would think that you would want someone to hopefully be at least able to try and represent you in regards to a union for a higher salary. As you stated, you have been with the company for 11 years and you are still over $7 plus away from top out. That is very discouraging. Another bit of craziness now is with the passage of the new health care legislation. Even though it will begin to slowly take affect, I am wondering if there was a provision in it that stated that companies who offer a health care plan to their employees can not drop the plan and force their employees to go to the government run plan. I guess we will just have to wait and see on this one. Now that this has passed as well, it is getting closer and closer for the legislation that a lot of us have been waiting on to get voted upon (HR 915). I got my propaganda letter from Fred in the mail when I got home. This guy is a piece of work....

 

[vantexan]

Well, I would seriously doubt that anything would be retroactive. I mean, come on..I almost cannot believe you asked that (ha,ha). I would think that you would want someone to hopefully be at least able to try and represent you in regards to a union for a higher salary. As you stated, you have been with the company for 11 years and you are still over $7 plus away from top out. That is very discouraging. Another bit of craziness now is with the passage of the new health care legislation. Even though it will begin to slowly take affect, I am wondering if there was a provision in it that stated that companies who offer a health care plan to their employees can not drop the plan and force their employees to go to the government run plan. I guess we will just have to wait and see on this one. Now that this has passed as well, it is getting closer and closer for the legislation that a lot of us have been waiting on to get voted upon (HR 915). I got my propaganda letter from Fred in the mail when I got home. This guy is a piece of work....

Actually I'm on the lowest payscale so I'm only about $4.19hr from top-out. Which at the rate they are giving raises should get me topped out in about 20 more years, lol!

 

[vantexan]

If he did use replacement workers, he'd have big problems in a hurry because of the technology.

But that's the scary part. We used to have experienced couriers who knew which number prompts to use in the tracker. And which rt a pkg should go to by looking at the address. Now we have power pads with word prompts and ROADS rt labels to sort by. It would be fairly simple to get newbies up to speed, biggest thing would be learning areas onroad but they can be familiar enough within a week. As far as hiring all those replacements, could be done off site and unknown to current workforce. Then one day a large group of newhires who've been trained for a week or two show up early with corporate security and we are denied access. I thought something looked strange when power pads rolled out but really got suspicious when I saw what they were doing with ROADS. Heck, at some point they are supposed to have rts completely spelled out for us with ROADS. It's exactly the kind of union busting move I'd expect from people who've shown no remorse over making us work for much less than the industry average.