UPS, Without the Pay

mungrin

Banned
Hate to tell you this but you do.

It's called Fed Ex and they've been insulting their customer base for years now without any real effort to improve service by giving customers the service they pay for. Now it's wham bam thank you mam and we've got to meet our station goals, gotta make those numbers. then MT3 gets on Frontline and always says we got to show the purple promise to our customers so we'll start to cut routes." He is an artist (though not a very good one) at talking in circles. Hey Matt if you can't dazzle the workforce with brilliance baffle them with BS huh?

People use to get premium service for the extra money it cost to ship a package through Fed Ex. Now adays it's late freight on many days and poor planning for peak season with short staffing, poor weather planning and Fed Ex taking on way more freight than they can handle. I know for a fact couriers the last 10 years always bring back loads of undelivered freight during peak because company greed got in the way and tough crap if the customer doesn't get their package as promised. Fred and his boys instruct the districts to tell the call centers to make up some excuse so this wonderful company can weasel its way off the hook.

Don't think for one moment what happened to Blockbuster can't happen to Fed Ex and with the poor upper managemment in Memphis the house of cards foundation this company sits on can easily crumble.
9 out of 10 people will tell you that the Fedex service is better than UPS hands down.Blockbuster got schooled by Netflix and On Demand services.Video stores are the thing of the past.
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
The failure of Blockbuster lies within their inability to adjust their business model to changing consumer needs. People want to sit at home and order their DVDs for either online or mail delivery. Blockbuster failed to recognize this in a timely manner and is now way behind Netflix.

I will agree that FedEx Express service is superior to that of UPS. This may very well change with your production push.
 

FedEx2000

Well-Known Member
Tell your friend that his dad's private pension is insured by the gov't up to I believe $46k or close to that a year. If he was due more than that he won't get more than the $46k or so. The gov't requires all companies offering a pension to pay into the Pension Guaranty Fund to protect their employees.

I'm sure he's aware of it, I don't know all the exact details, I just know he lost a lot of money in the process. Thanks though.
 

FedEx2000

Well-Known Member
FedEx 2000's comment that the 20+ year people "don't realize how good they have it" is very revealing. For one, it just confirms the FedEx idea that nothing is wrong, so no changes are necessary, because we don't know how lucky we are. What a load of crap. And "regardless of what they may have lost" is another version of the same thing. Even though we've been screwed blind, that's OK, because we are so effing lucky to be employed by FedEx. That's pathetic, but FedEx 2000 has bought into it, probably because everything is OK for him. Never mind that the hourlies have continually gotten the shaft for 20+ years and counting. THERE IS ONE ANSWER...A UNION.

You are the perfect example. You have over 20 years in the Traditional Pension plan, are topped out, and haven't had to look for a job in a very long time. You probably make 10-20K more than I do a year. What are you so pissed about? I can understand why Vantexan feels like he is underpaid etc....but you? One time you say you are doing it for others......and then you say you will be gone soon enough, once you are able to, b/c it's probably FedEx's fault that you were stuck here for so long. You constantly complain that the Teamsters won't get off their behind and take the initiative to get a vote, yet you have been stuck working at a place you hate for so long and done nothing about it. Kind of hypocritical if you ask me.

For the most part, everything is OK for me.....is there a lot of pressure on us from upper management? Yeah, but that's part of the job.

Did I say nothing was wrong?? No. The very last paragraph states just that.
 

FedEx2000

Well-Known Member
If you worked very hard for over 20 years, having it spelled out on a regular basis what you'd get if you stuck with the company, having it drummed into you over and over that you'll have a bright future with FedEx, then you might understand how we feel. As for your 401k, since as a mgr you make more than I do, I'd suggest you fully fund it if possible. For those of us who are getting strung along at lower pay, any funding we do will be woefully inadequate. A traditional pension isn't the only thing to rely on, but it is the foundation of a solid retirement. Or it was. And I'm serious about hoping for deflation. If we get bad inflation my little pension won't amount to anything. I tell you what, if FedEx greatly improves profits, but continues to hold pay down, will you then admit we need representation, whether the law allows it or not?

Honestly, I hope it never comes to that point.....I think it would do more harm than good in the long run. But, if that becomes the case, you have to do what you have to do and I can understand that. Personally, I'm just not believer in the Unions, as they are today. They did many good things in the past, but have become mostly obsolete IMO. It's not about holding down pay vs. better pay for me, as a manager I deal with enough bureaucracy and just don't want to have to deal with another level of b.s. to get things approved. I prefer to deal directly with my employees, at least that way you can build trust and mutual respect. I'm all for hourlies getting better pay.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
You are the perfect example. You have over 20 years in the Traditional Pension plan, are topped out, and haven't had to look for a job in a very long time. You probably make 10-20K more than I do a year. What are you so pissed about? I can understand why Vantexan feels like he is underpaid etc....but you? One time you say you are doing it for others......and then you say you will be gone soon enough, once you are able to, b/c it's probably FedEx's fault that you were stuck here for so long. You constantly complain that the Teamsters won't get off their behind and take the initiative to get a vote, yet you have been stuck working at a place you hate for so long and done nothing about it. Kind of hypocritical if you ask me.

For the most part, everything is OK for me.....is there a lot of pressure on us from upper management? Yeah, but that's part of the job.

Did I say nothing was wrong?? No. The very last paragraph states just that.

Yep, I'm overpaid and I make 10-20k per more than you do? Whatever you say. I'm in my 40's and never thought FedEx could possibly take away as much as they have. I'm sure there are many others in the same boat. FedEx has screwed us at every possible opportunity...can you dispute that?
 

UPSBluRdg03

Well-Known Member
9 out of 10 people will tell you that the Fedex service is better than UPS hands down.

I dont beleive that would be the case at all. Fed Ex services mirror those of UPS. UPS does with 1 driver what Fed EX does with 3. Sure Fed Ex is profitable but to me there is alot of waste when it comes to having 3 drivers or "contractors" whatever they call em, covering the same area.
 

mungrin

Banned
FedEx has screwed us at every possible opportunity...can you dispute that?
I see where you are coming from but who remembers the buyout in 20**?I dont remember the year but Fedex could have easlity just laid everyone off but instead offered buyouts.I dont know many companies that would ever do that.Give Fedex some credit at least.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
I see where you are coming from but who remembers the buyout in 20**?I dont remember the year but Fedex could have easlity just laid everyone off but instead offered buyouts.I dont know many companies that would ever do that.Give Fedex some credit at least.

They offered buyouts to management, not hourlies. They had so many takers that it almost wiped them out. Can you imagine how many couriers would have said YES!!? After they eliminated excess management, they doubled-up the remaining managers. Most seniors have 2 locations now.
 

mungrin

Banned
They offered buyouts to management, not hourlies. They had so many takers that it almost wiped them out. Can you imagine how many couriers would have said YES!!? After they eliminated excess management, they doubled-up the remaining managers. Most seniors have 2 locations now.
Regardless,they still offered buyouts when they could have just laid off.
 

vantexan

Well-Known Member
I see where you are coming from but who remembers the buyout in 20**?I dont remember the year but Fedex could have easlity just laid everyone off but instead offered buyouts.I dont know many companies that would ever do that.Give Fedex some credit at least.

Our mgrs aren't some mid-level paper pushers whose numbers can be trimmed. If the company started laying off mgrs they'd create an atmosphere where many mgrs would polish their resumes and start looking for jobs elsewhere. If you look at it, FedEx is run much like the military. Mgrs are considered officers and gentlemen, and are given pay and perks that reflect that. Ask a mgr who transferred in how the company took care of him and his move. The mgr buyout reflects that philosophy, and the correlation is that everything we employees have lost over the years reflects how management truly sees us. They ARE the company, we are the inventory to be used to meet their ends. They'll gloss that over, but you can't get around what they've done to us over the years. That's what UPS has over FedEx, the drivers through their union have forced UPS to treat labor as a partner. FedEx management is fighting to make sure that never happens.
 

mungrin

Banned
Our mgrs aren't some mid-level paper pushers whose numbers can be trimmed. If the company started laying off mgrs they'd create an atmosphere where many mgrs would polish their resumes and start looking for jobs elsewhere. If you look at it, FedEx is run much like the military. Mgrs are considered officers and gentlemen, and are given pay and perks that reflect that. Ask a mgr who transferred in how the company took care of him and his move. The mgr buyout reflects that philosophy, and the correlation is that everything we employees have lost over the years reflects how management truly sees us. They ARE the company, we are the inventory to be used to meet their ends. They'll gloss that over, but you can't get around what they've done to us over the years. That's what UPS has over FedEx, the drivers through their union have forced UPS to treat labor as a partner. FedEx management is fighting to make sure that never happens.
You are so right about that.Management looks at us like we are not even people.We are just numbers to them.
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
I dont beleive that would be the case at all. Fed Ex services mirror those of UPS. UPS does with 1 driver what Fed EX does with 3. Sure Fed Ex is profitable but to me there is alot of waste when it comes to having 3 drivers or "contractors" whatever they call em, covering the same area.

We are talking about service, not services. FedEx Express has better service than we do simply because they do not (yet) have the production push and have more time to spend with the customer. You are spot on with the waste that comes with having 3 different drivers representing the same brand.
 

UPSBluRdg03

Well-Known Member
Well when it comes to service in general I still think UPS is superior. All my customers say the Fed Ex guy just wants to shove the board in their face and get a signature and get out. I take the time to go the extra mile and talk to the customers, take heavy packages to where the customer wants them not just drop them in a common area, wait for a package they need to ship out after pickup time, etc. Maybe this just applies to this little dot on the map but around here people know they can count on UPS.
 

quadro

Well-Known Member
Right. Mr. Cheap is going to spend $25 million (or more) he doesn't have to? if we were as happy as you say, there would be no need for him to spend a penny. After all, how can you have a union when nobody wants one? Your "logic" is silly.
It's only silly because you are not willing to accept that not all FedEx's motives are evil.

Fred sees a threat to FedEx in terms of unionization. He feels that a union is not needed and would be detrimental to most employees. Therefore, he spends $25 million to try and avert that threat.

Whether or not this is the case, I cannot possibly know but logically it makes sense. You just choose not to acknowledge that. If Fred were to say that everything is fine and ignore the situation as you suggest, employees who are happy are going to question why he isn't doing everything he can to prevent the status change.

You don't have to like it but that doesn't make it "silly".
 

quadro

Well-Known Member
If the company started laying off mgrs they'd create an atmosphere where many mgrs would polish their resumes and start looking for jobs elsewhere.
Correct.
If you look at it, FedEx is run much like the military. Mgrs are considered officers and gentlemen, and are given pay and perks that reflect that.
Not so sure about that. Many managers don't make as much as their topped out couriers and swings who make overtime. And just what perks would those be? Company car? Nope. Better medical insurance than hourly employees? Nope. More vacation pay than hourly employees? Nope. And on, and on, and on. People don't become managers at FedEx because of the pay and perks.
Ask a mgr who transferred in how the company took care of him and his move.
You already touched on this. If the company started laying off mgrs (not giving relocation assistance) they'd create an atmosphere where many mgrs would polish their resumes and start looking for jobs elsewhere.
The mgr buyout reflects that philosophy, and the correlation is that everything we employees have lost over the years reflects how management truly sees us. They ARE the company, we are the inventory to be used to meet their ends. They'll gloss that over, but you can't get around what they've done to us over the years. That's what UPS has over FedEx, the drivers through their union have forced UPS to treat labor as a partner. FedEx management is fighting to make sure that never happens.
Many of FedEx's managers came up through the hourly ranks. FedEx gets to a point where, because of a variety of controllable and uncontrollable circumstances, there are too many managers so they offer the buyout and didn't screw people over. And you're complaining about that????
 
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