kingOFchester
Well-Known Member
http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/2009/07/20/story1.html?ana=from_rss
Would like to read the rest of this article.
Would like to read the rest of this article.
UPS employees might be busy writing letters to their U.S. senators on behalf employer
- Thread starter kingOFchester
- Start date
FedEX 4 Life
Well-Known Member
Re: UPS employees might be busy writing letters to their U.S. senators on behalf empl
I heard Michael Jackson died to.
I heard Michael Jackson died to.
kingOFchester
Well-Known Member
Re: UPS employees might be busy writing letters to their U.S. senators on behalf empl
Re: UPS employees might be busy writing letters to their U.S. senators on behalf empl
Me too. Thanks so much for posting half......
LOL!
Me too. Thanks so much for posting half......
LOL!
kingOFchester
Well-Known Member
Re: UPS employees might be busy writing letters to their U.S. senators on behalf empl
I try!
Can't justify spending 1/4 of my take home pay for the week to read the article.
I try!
Can't justify spending 1/4 of my take home pay for the week to read the article.
wisedragonfly
Well-Known Member
Re: UPS employees might be busy writing letters to their U.S. senators on behalf empl
I have a copy of this article. It's 3 pages, well 2 pages and a little bit. I'll post it to give others the opportunity to read it.
I have a copy of this article. It's 3 pages, well 2 pages and a little bit. I'll post it to give others the opportunity to read it.
wisedragonfly
Well-Known Member
Re: UPS employees might be busy writing letters to their U.S. senators on behalf empl
page 1
When they aren’t busy delivering packages these days, United Parcel Service Inc. employees might be busy writing letters to their U.S. senators on behalf of their employer.
Members of the Senate currently are considering legislation that would reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration and possibly add language that would change the definition of employees covered under the Railway Labor Act.
At issue is whether some employees of Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx Corp., UPS’s chief rival, should be classified under the same labor act as UPS employees.
The letters urge senators to support Senate Bill 1451, which reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration.
Malcolm Berkley, a Washington, D.C.-based public relations manager for UPS, said UPS is compensating its employees for the time they spend writing the letters, which follow a template supplied to them by the company.
The bill follows the U.S. House of Representatives’ May 21 passage of H.R. 915, also known as the FAA Reauthorization Bill of 2009.
At the heart of the dispute is a provision in the House bill, Section 806, which amends the definition of airline employees.
Although the Senate bill does not contain the amendment, observers say that when the House and Senate bills are reconciled, the issue likely will come up for discussion in the Senate.
Robert Steurer, the Washington, D.C.-based press secretary for U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, said in an e-mail that McConnell has heard from both UPS and FedEx employees in Kentucky about the issue.
“Senator McConnell appreciates hearing from his constituents on legislative issues, and he takes all their comments under consideration when deciding what impact the legislation will have on his state,” Steurer said in the e-mail.
Steurer declined to say whether McConnell supports the legislation.
Mike Reynard, press secretary for U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, said he was uncertain whether Bunning had received many letters from UPS and FedEx employees regarding the legislation.
Because the revision to the RLA hasn’t been included in the FAA Reauthorization Bill currently under consideration in the Senate, Bunning hasn’t spent much time studying the issue, Reynard said.
“It’s something we’ll have to look at when it comes up,” Reynard said. He added that Bunning welcomes correspondence from constituents about the legislation.
UPS says fairness is issue
Officials with Atlanta-based UPS contend that workers carrying out identical tasks should be covered under the same labor act, regardless of who employs them.
When it was formed in 1971, FedEx, then Federal Express, was classified as an airline, and, like other airlines, was covered under the Railway Labor Act.
As the company has grown and developed its ground network, its 140,000 FedEx Express employees, including delivery drivers, package sorters and truck mechanics, have been classified as airline employees.
FedEx since has established other divisions, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Services, which are not covered under the RLA.
The act was created in 1926 to guide labor negotiations and limit strikes in the railway industry that would hurt national commerce. Airlines were added to the act in 1936.
How the FedEx Express employees are classified is of importance to company officials. The RLA makes it difficult for employees to unionize because a companywide vote must be taken in order for a union to be ratified.
page 2
Of UPS’s employees, only those in its UPS Airlines division are covered under the RLA.
The majority of UPS’s 345,000 U.S. employees, such as package-delivery truck drivers, are covered by the National Labor Relations Act.
It generally is viewed as more favorable for the establishment of labor unions because workers can vote to unionize on a location-by-location basis.
UPS’s Berkley said UPS employees view this as a “competitive issue.”
“FedEx Express is the only company in the express delivery industry with its drivers, loaders and sorters governed by the RLA, a law designed for airlines and railroads,” UPS said in a corporate fact sheet. “FedEx uses its special exception status as a selling point against competitors, suggesting its coverage under the RLA makes it more reliable.”
The amended RLA “levels the playing field in the industry,” Berkley said.
FedEx says UPS seeks ‘bailout’
FedEx officials say they resent efforts being made by UPS to have FedEx’s employees reclassified.
They contend that UPS is using its political lobbying muscle to limit competition.
Maury Lane, Memphis-based director of communications for FedEx, said the amendment, as proposed in the House bill, amounts to a “bailout,” because it makes FedEx susceptible to unionization, which could hurt FedEx’s competitiveness. Currently, FedEx pilots are the company’s only union members.
In June, FedEx launched a Web site, brownbailout.com, to call attention to UPS’s efforts.
“Americans are tired of bailouts,” Lane said, adding that UPS had net profit of about $6 billion in 2008 and has more than 440,000 employees. “UPS certainly doesn’t need to go to Congress and get a leg up.”
UPS counters FedEx’s claims, contending that it is not seeking a Congressional “bailout.” Instead, it wants all employees doing the same jobs for each company to be classified under the same labor act.
UPS also contends that despite the fact that FedEx was established as an airline, FedEx’s express service drivers should be classified the same as UPS’s drivers because “the work that’s performed, not your history as a company,” should dictate how an employee is classified, according to the fact sheet.
Lane said that is precisely why FedEx should be classified as an airline.
“Last night, we delivered 3.5 million packages,” he said on Tuesday. “We used 600 planes with 2,600 flights to 220 countries. Eighty-five percent of our packages were delivered by plane.”
By comparison, UPS has an average daily delivery volume of 15.5 million packages and documents, including 2.1 million delivered by air in the United States.
Louisville-based UPS Airlines, established here in 1988, operates 600 aircraft that make 1,900 flights to 835 airports in 200 countries and territories around the world. The airlines division has 20,513 employees.
Teamsters see opportunity in debate
Leigh Strope, assistant director of communications for the Washington, D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said union officials are encouraging its 250,000 members within UPS to write letters to their senators, urging the reclassification of workers under the RLA.
A reclassification, Strope said, could allow the Teamsters to organize Fed­Ex workers it long has sought to add as members.
“We get a lot of calls from FedEx workers interested in forming unions,” Strope said. “We are willing to help all workers.”
page 3
Bill passed House by wide margin
House Bill 915, the FAA Reauthorization Bill of 2009, passed the U.S. House of Representatives May 21 by a vote of 277-136. It includes an amendment that redefines who can be classified as an airline employee under the Railway Labor Act.
Certain FedEx Express employees, such as delivery drivers, package sorters and truck mechanics, now covered under the RLA, would be covered under the National Labor Relations Act.
That would open FedEx, which traditionally has resisted labor unions, to organization by labor unions such as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Louisville, voted in favor of the bill.
1 comment...
Robert D July 17, 2009 10:16AM EST One should take a look at how hard it is for UPS' Pilots and Mechanics to get a contract with the company. UPS could better plead their case if they would take care of their Pilots and Mechanics and honor them with contracts...I don't really think UPS is too concerned about FEDEX employees.
page 1
When they aren’t busy delivering packages these days, United Parcel Service Inc. employees might be busy writing letters to their U.S. senators on behalf of their employer.
Members of the Senate currently are considering legislation that would reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration and possibly add language that would change the definition of employees covered under the Railway Labor Act.
At issue is whether some employees of Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx Corp., UPS’s chief rival, should be classified under the same labor act as UPS employees.
The letters urge senators to support Senate Bill 1451, which reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration.
Malcolm Berkley, a Washington, D.C.-based public relations manager for UPS, said UPS is compensating its employees for the time they spend writing the letters, which follow a template supplied to them by the company.
The bill follows the U.S. House of Representatives’ May 21 passage of H.R. 915, also known as the FAA Reauthorization Bill of 2009.
At the heart of the dispute is a provision in the House bill, Section 806, which amends the definition of airline employees.
Although the Senate bill does not contain the amendment, observers say that when the House and Senate bills are reconciled, the issue likely will come up for discussion in the Senate.
Robert Steurer, the Washington, D.C.-based press secretary for U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, said in an e-mail that McConnell has heard from both UPS and FedEx employees in Kentucky about the issue.
“Senator McConnell appreciates hearing from his constituents on legislative issues, and he takes all their comments under consideration when deciding what impact the legislation will have on his state,” Steurer said in the e-mail.
Steurer declined to say whether McConnell supports the legislation.
Mike Reynard, press secretary for U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, said he was uncertain whether Bunning had received many letters from UPS and FedEx employees regarding the legislation.
Because the revision to the RLA hasn’t been included in the FAA Reauthorization Bill currently under consideration in the Senate, Bunning hasn’t spent much time studying the issue, Reynard said.
“It’s something we’ll have to look at when it comes up,” Reynard said. He added that Bunning welcomes correspondence from constituents about the legislation.
UPS says fairness is issue
Officials with Atlanta-based UPS contend that workers carrying out identical tasks should be covered under the same labor act, regardless of who employs them.
When it was formed in 1971, FedEx, then Federal Express, was classified as an airline, and, like other airlines, was covered under the Railway Labor Act.
As the company has grown and developed its ground network, its 140,000 FedEx Express employees, including delivery drivers, package sorters and truck mechanics, have been classified as airline employees.
FedEx since has established other divisions, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Services, which are not covered under the RLA.
The act was created in 1926 to guide labor negotiations and limit strikes in the railway industry that would hurt national commerce. Airlines were added to the act in 1936.
How the FedEx Express employees are classified is of importance to company officials. The RLA makes it difficult for employees to unionize because a companywide vote must be taken in order for a union to be ratified.
page 2
Of UPS’s employees, only those in its UPS Airlines division are covered under the RLA.
The majority of UPS’s 345,000 U.S. employees, such as package-delivery truck drivers, are covered by the National Labor Relations Act.
It generally is viewed as more favorable for the establishment of labor unions because workers can vote to unionize on a location-by-location basis.
UPS’s Berkley said UPS employees view this as a “competitive issue.”
“FedEx Express is the only company in the express delivery industry with its drivers, loaders and sorters governed by the RLA, a law designed for airlines and railroads,” UPS said in a corporate fact sheet. “FedEx uses its special exception status as a selling point against competitors, suggesting its coverage under the RLA makes it more reliable.”
The amended RLA “levels the playing field in the industry,” Berkley said.
FedEx says UPS seeks ‘bailout’
FedEx officials say they resent efforts being made by UPS to have FedEx’s employees reclassified.
They contend that UPS is using its political lobbying muscle to limit competition.
Maury Lane, Memphis-based director of communications for FedEx, said the amendment, as proposed in the House bill, amounts to a “bailout,” because it makes FedEx susceptible to unionization, which could hurt FedEx’s competitiveness. Currently, FedEx pilots are the company’s only union members.
In June, FedEx launched a Web site, brownbailout.com, to call attention to UPS’s efforts.
“Americans are tired of bailouts,” Lane said, adding that UPS had net profit of about $6 billion in 2008 and has more than 440,000 employees. “UPS certainly doesn’t need to go to Congress and get a leg up.”
UPS counters FedEx’s claims, contending that it is not seeking a Congressional “bailout.” Instead, it wants all employees doing the same jobs for each company to be classified under the same labor act.
UPS also contends that despite the fact that FedEx was established as an airline, FedEx’s express service drivers should be classified the same as UPS’s drivers because “the work that’s performed, not your history as a company,” should dictate how an employee is classified, according to the fact sheet.
Lane said that is precisely why FedEx should be classified as an airline.
“Last night, we delivered 3.5 million packages,” he said on Tuesday. “We used 600 planes with 2,600 flights to 220 countries. Eighty-five percent of our packages were delivered by plane.”
By comparison, UPS has an average daily delivery volume of 15.5 million packages and documents, including 2.1 million delivered by air in the United States.
Louisville-based UPS Airlines, established here in 1988, operates 600 aircraft that make 1,900 flights to 835 airports in 200 countries and territories around the world. The airlines division has 20,513 employees.
Teamsters see opportunity in debate
Leigh Strope, assistant director of communications for the Washington, D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said union officials are encouraging its 250,000 members within UPS to write letters to their senators, urging the reclassification of workers under the RLA.
A reclassification, Strope said, could allow the Teamsters to organize Fed­Ex workers it long has sought to add as members.
“We get a lot of calls from FedEx workers interested in forming unions,” Strope said. “We are willing to help all workers.”
page 3
Bill passed House by wide margin
House Bill 915, the FAA Reauthorization Bill of 2009, passed the U.S. House of Representatives May 21 by a vote of 277-136. It includes an amendment that redefines who can be classified as an airline employee under the Railway Labor Act.
Certain FedEx Express employees, such as delivery drivers, package sorters and truck mechanics, now covered under the RLA, would be covered under the National Labor Relations Act.
That would open FedEx, which traditionally has resisted labor unions, to organization by labor unions such as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Louisville, voted in favor of the bill.
1 comment...
Robert D July 17, 2009 10:16AM EST One should take a look at how hard it is for UPS' Pilots and Mechanics to get a contract with the company. UPS could better plead their case if they would take care of their Pilots and Mechanics and honor them with contracts...I don't really think UPS is too concerned about FEDEX employees.
stevetheupsguy
sʇǝʌǝʇɥǝndsƃnʎ
Re: UPS employees might be busy writing letters to their U.S. senators on behalf empl
Interestingly enough, I've been asked to come in 10 minutes early tomorrow to write one of these templated letters. I'll listen to the spiel and think about what I want to do.
Interestingly enough, I've been asked to come in 10 minutes early tomorrow to write one of these templated letters. I'll listen to the spiel and think about what I want to do.
stevetheupsguy
sʇǝʌǝʇɥǝndsƃnʎ
Re: UPS employees might be busy writing letters to their U.S. senators on behalf empl
I had a feeling it would be this way. We're a smaller "franchise" here.
upssalesguy
UPS Defender
Re: UPS employees might be busy writing letters to their U.S. senators on behalf empl
i can't wait to see all these letters delivered. my territory has both senators offices from our state and I realllly want to swing by with a camera.
i can't wait to see all these letters delivered. my territory has both senators offices from our state and I realllly want to swing by with a camera.
stevetheupsguy
sʇǝʌǝʇɥǝndsƃnʎ
Re: UPS employees might be busy writing letters to their U.S. senators on behalf empl
Maybe you can get a goverment sales lead while you're at it.
Johney
Well-Known Member
Re: UPS employees might be busy writing letters to their U.S. senators on behalf empl
Edit: That was for writing two letters.
Don't feel too bad Steve we only got paid 20 min down here.
Edit: That was for writing two letters.
ups1990
Well-Known Member
Re: UPS employees might be busy writing letters to their U.S. senators on behalf empl
My hand started to cramp up. Couldn't remember the last time my hand wrote so much, well maybe last peak while filing out the many info notices for apt's.
I've been trying to write a letter to out governator here in Ca. but can't find myself writing "Dear Sir." to a man.
My hand started to cramp up. Couldn't remember the last time my hand wrote so much, well maybe last peak while filing out the many info notices for apt's.
I've been trying to write a letter to out governator here in Ca. but can't find myself writing "Dear Sir." to a man.
browndevil
Well-Known Member
Re: UPS employees might be busy writing letters to their U.S. senators on behalf empl
It is kind of pointless here. Both my senators are democrats so its a done deal. But we are being asked ................ ah I mean told/instructed to. Cha Ching$$$$
It is kind of pointless here. Both my senators are democrats so its a done deal. But we are being asked ................ ah I mean told/instructed to. Cha Ching$$$$
some1else
Banned
Re: UPS employees might be busy writing letters to their U.S. senators on behalf empl
so guys does this technically make us "paid lobbyist"? for real... im being paid to lobby my senator i think technically we may need to register as lobbyist now!
told my dad about this and he works in the defense industry and he said that it is illegal for their employer's to do so! im sure its legal for us but it still just aint right!
so guys does this technically make us "paid lobbyist"? for real... im being paid to lobby my senator i think technically we may need to register as lobbyist now!
told my dad about this and he works in the defense industry and he said that it is illegal for their employer's to do so! im sure its legal for us but it still just aint right!
stevetheupsguy
sʇǝʌǝʇɥǝndsƃnʎ
Re: UPS employees might be busy writing letters to their U.S. senators on behalf empl
No, it's left, way left.
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