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Who Is Serious About Unionizing?
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<blockquote data-quote="Ricochet1a" data-source="post: 1162379" data-attributes="member: 22880"><p>Well, it as been over 3 months since the bomb of no pay raises for the hourlies at Express was dropped. </p><p></p><p>The question was put forth by Mr.FedEx of, "Who is serious about really organizing"?</p><p></p><p>Within a month, the obvious answer came back that no one was really interested in doing the REAL work of organizing, and that is working to establish a network of grassroots organizers within the largest 400 stations with at least one organizer in each to get out literature when the time was right - decided upon by the consensus of the 'network'. </p><p></p><p>No one wanted to go to the effort to do recruiting on their personal time and commit themselves to putting in time each week to building and growing that organization which would be needed to overcome the RLA obstacle. Fred won before the fight even got off to a start. </p><p></p><p>One poster claimed that the IAM was all sorts of interested in organizing the Express Couriers. After some pointed questions.... nothing (I knew there would be nothing from it). If anyone here has contacted or heard anything from the IAM, get up the info here. For it to be of any use at this stage, it has to be public - there is no network out there (I'd know if it existed), so until the 'seed is planted' and expansion is ready to occur, things have to be in public. <em>Once things hit a critical mass, then things can and should be taken off public listing and all work done privately</em>. This is what I was 'talking about' when I wrote of establishing an alternate method of communication among the grassroots organizers - a private, non-observable method of getting information out and exchanged</p><p></p><p>Express is toxic to virtually EVERY union out there - so much in fact that even the IBT has decided that it isn't worth the effort (despite what is going on within Express now). The IBT is making some half-hearted efforts towards Freight, but even there, they aren't committing themselves to a full blown effort. After the stomping they took in Massachusetts with their attempt to pull off a 'sneak' organizing effort at the Ground terminal there (they withdrew the petition a few days before the vote was to be held), they've been very 'sheepish' when it comes to anything FedEx.</p><p></p><p>I deliberately kept a low profile for the past couple of months, waiting to see if any Express Courier/s (who posts here or would PM me in regards to their efforts), would step up and lead an effort to establish a network of amateur Courier organizers to have any attempt at actually pulling something off. Nothing.</p><p></p><p>There has been lots of blame cast at the IBT for not 'stepping up' and expending a boat load of resources (it would run them in the 10s of millions of dollars to mount an organizing campaign) - when in fact the blame rest solely with the Couriers who are unwilling to commit their time to organize (all an amateur effort), to get the ball rolling. </p><p></p><p>'Professional time' costs money - big money. It would cost the IBT in the ball park of $10 million to get professional organizers out to the Express stations and do some serious organizing activity with any hope of pulling something off. Given the inclination of the 'typical' Express Courier (those you work with, not necessarily those who post and read here), does anyone here think that money would be well spent on their part?</p><p></p><p>Amateur organizing, cost virtually nothing - it just requires the commitment of TIME of those who are motivated enough to put forth the effort to change things and network with like minded people. </p><p></p><p>It has struck me as somewhat ironic if not hypocritical that the typical poster HERE expects the IBT to put forth millions in attempting to organize Express, when the most pissed off Couriers of Express (those who post here), aren't willing to commit themselves to 5 or so hours a week (every week), until a majority of Couriers have signed representation cards. It's alright for someone or some other organization to put forth large amounts of resources, but there aren't a few hundred Couriers out there who are willing to put forth a small amount of their personal time each week to attempt to pull off what they all presumably want so badly. </p><p></p><p>Where do you think the IBT gets its funds? I don't have a statement of cash flows for the IBT sitting in front of me, but I can safely state that the overwhelming majority if not practically ALL of their funding comes from their dues paying members. They may have some cash coming in from outside organizations who are sympathetic to the overall work of the IBT, but the IBTs operating capital comes from its members. </p><p></p><p>Why are the Express Couriers so convinced that they are ENTITLED to the IBT's operating capital in order to get THEMSELVES organized?</p><p></p><p>If the IBT did manage to organize and obtain a contract for the 30,000 or so Express Couriers, that would expand the IBT's membership by about 2%. </p><p></p><p>So the question again is asked, why do you (as an Express Courier), think you are ENTITLED to having the IBT expend a tremendous amount of its cash and potential political prestige (if they were to lose an organizing effort), in order to grow their membership by a whopping 2%?</p><p></p><p>These are hardball questions, and thinking about organizing the labor of a major corporation is hardball of the first order (for both the potential union members and the corporate management). </p><p></p><p>It would cost your employer approximately $500 million a year in additional compensation should the Couriers successfully organize - for them to spend a few million a year in 'insurance' (RLA lobbying) to try to avoid that expense is a no-brainer of the first order for your employer. </p><p></p><p>Since your employer will go to any lengths to avoid paying you what you are worth to them - then any attempt to change that situation is by definition, hardball for YOU.</p><p></p><p>All that has happened (in the past 4 years of my intermittently posting here), is a bunch of sophomoric slams against your employer's management, but absolutely NOTHING of substance (establishing that network) that would change your situation for the better. </p><p></p><p><em>Onto your employer...</em></p><p></p><p>From what I'm hearing, things are getting worse by the month there (OLCCs for not making goal when Couriers are following DRA to the T). That tells me right there that something is up. Not 'DRA up', but some other goal of pushing Couriers out the door. If Couriers are following DRA dictated patterns, then get hit with OLCCs for not making the old-fashioned route goal, logic dictates that one of two things is going on: 1) You employer's 'left hand' (goal maintenance) doesn't know what it 'right hand' (DRA dictated times) is doing (don't think this is it), or 2) a deliberate attempt to blame the Courier for the problems being experienced with DRA is occurring (what I think is happening). </p><p></p><p>Your employer is going to get DRA implemented, if they end up having virtually EVERY ONE of their experienced Couriers quit in the process (what I REALLY think their goal is - to get rid of the higher paid Couriers and replace them with entry level Couriers who have no knowledge of 'old school Express'). The ops managers I have corresponded with KNOW that what they are being told to do is absolute crap. They are to have their Couriers follow DRA (often with faulty leave building times or faulty stem times built into the route), but then they are to discipline their Couriers if they fall below an arbitrary goal for the month. </p><p></p><p>So if the Couriers are following DRA to the "T", why are they being held accountable for a route goal which was in place for 'old school' methods? <em>Your managers know something is up...</em></p><p></p><p>The question is begged, "Does a DRA patterned route meet 100% or higher of expected goal"?</p><p></p><p>The managers that I have spoken and corresponded to have said flat out, that a DRA planned route, a majority of time DOESN'T meet the route SPH goal (a separate statistic with a separate report). Put another way. if one were to take the total on road time predicted by a DRA generated route, use that time to divide into the stops being delivered, then taking that SPH statistic and comparing it to the route expectation SPH, the end number will most of the time be significantly below 100%.</p><p></p><p>A classic "Catch-22" if there ever was one. </p><p></p><p>Something is up - Express (upper management) NEVER does anything without awareness of the potential consequences. </p><p></p><p>So what in the hell are you going to do about it - besides sophomoric insults hurled towards the upper management of the company for whom you work?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ricochet1a, post: 1162379, member: 22880"] Well, it as been over 3 months since the bomb of no pay raises for the hourlies at Express was dropped. The question was put forth by Mr.FedEx of, "Who is serious about really organizing"? Within a month, the obvious answer came back that no one was really interested in doing the REAL work of organizing, and that is working to establish a network of grassroots organizers within the largest 400 stations with at least one organizer in each to get out literature when the time was right - decided upon by the consensus of the 'network'. No one wanted to go to the effort to do recruiting on their personal time and commit themselves to putting in time each week to building and growing that organization which would be needed to overcome the RLA obstacle. Fred won before the fight even got off to a start. One poster claimed that the IAM was all sorts of interested in organizing the Express Couriers. After some pointed questions.... nothing (I knew there would be nothing from it). If anyone here has contacted or heard anything from the IAM, get up the info here. For it to be of any use at this stage, it has to be public - there is no network out there (I'd know if it existed), so until the 'seed is planted' and expansion is ready to occur, things have to be in public. [I]Once things hit a critical mass, then things can and should be taken off public listing and all work done privately[/I]. This is what I was 'talking about' when I wrote of establishing an alternate method of communication among the grassroots organizers - a private, non-observable method of getting information out and exchanged Express is toxic to virtually EVERY union out there - so much in fact that even the IBT has decided that it isn't worth the effort (despite what is going on within Express now). The IBT is making some half-hearted efforts towards Freight, but even there, they aren't committing themselves to a full blown effort. After the stomping they took in Massachusetts with their attempt to pull off a 'sneak' organizing effort at the Ground terminal there (they withdrew the petition a few days before the vote was to be held), they've been very 'sheepish' when it comes to anything FedEx. I deliberately kept a low profile for the past couple of months, waiting to see if any Express Courier/s (who posts here or would PM me in regards to their efforts), would step up and lead an effort to establish a network of amateur Courier organizers to have any attempt at actually pulling something off. Nothing. There has been lots of blame cast at the IBT for not 'stepping up' and expending a boat load of resources (it would run them in the 10s of millions of dollars to mount an organizing campaign) - when in fact the blame rest solely with the Couriers who are unwilling to commit their time to organize (all an amateur effort), to get the ball rolling. 'Professional time' costs money - big money. It would cost the IBT in the ball park of $10 million to get professional organizers out to the Express stations and do some serious organizing activity with any hope of pulling something off. Given the inclination of the 'typical' Express Courier (those you work with, not necessarily those who post and read here), does anyone here think that money would be well spent on their part? Amateur organizing, cost virtually nothing - it just requires the commitment of TIME of those who are motivated enough to put forth the effort to change things and network with like minded people. It has struck me as somewhat ironic if not hypocritical that the typical poster HERE expects the IBT to put forth millions in attempting to organize Express, when the most pissed off Couriers of Express (those who post here), aren't willing to commit themselves to 5 or so hours a week (every week), until a majority of Couriers have signed representation cards. It's alright for someone or some other organization to put forth large amounts of resources, but there aren't a few hundred Couriers out there who are willing to put forth a small amount of their personal time each week to attempt to pull off what they all presumably want so badly. Where do you think the IBT gets its funds? I don't have a statement of cash flows for the IBT sitting in front of me, but I can safely state that the overwhelming majority if not practically ALL of their funding comes from their dues paying members. They may have some cash coming in from outside organizations who are sympathetic to the overall work of the IBT, but the IBTs operating capital comes from its members. Why are the Express Couriers so convinced that they are ENTITLED to the IBT's operating capital in order to get THEMSELVES organized? If the IBT did manage to organize and obtain a contract for the 30,000 or so Express Couriers, that would expand the IBT's membership by about 2%. So the question again is asked, why do you (as an Express Courier), think you are ENTITLED to having the IBT expend a tremendous amount of its cash and potential political prestige (if they were to lose an organizing effort), in order to grow their membership by a whopping 2%? These are hardball questions, and thinking about organizing the labor of a major corporation is hardball of the first order (for both the potential union members and the corporate management). It would cost your employer approximately $500 million a year in additional compensation should the Couriers successfully organize - for them to spend a few million a year in 'insurance' (RLA lobbying) to try to avoid that expense is a no-brainer of the first order for your employer. Since your employer will go to any lengths to avoid paying you what you are worth to them - then any attempt to change that situation is by definition, hardball for YOU. All that has happened (in the past 4 years of my intermittently posting here), is a bunch of sophomoric slams against your employer's management, but absolutely NOTHING of substance (establishing that network) that would change your situation for the better. [I]Onto your employer...[/I] From what I'm hearing, things are getting worse by the month there (OLCCs for not making goal when Couriers are following DRA to the T). That tells me right there that something is up. Not 'DRA up', but some other goal of pushing Couriers out the door. If Couriers are following DRA dictated patterns, then get hit with OLCCs for not making the old-fashioned route goal, logic dictates that one of two things is going on: 1) You employer's 'left hand' (goal maintenance) doesn't know what it 'right hand' (DRA dictated times) is doing (don't think this is it), or 2) a deliberate attempt to blame the Courier for the problems being experienced with DRA is occurring (what I think is happening). Your employer is going to get DRA implemented, if they end up having virtually EVERY ONE of their experienced Couriers quit in the process (what I REALLY think their goal is - to get rid of the higher paid Couriers and replace them with entry level Couriers who have no knowledge of 'old school Express'). The ops managers I have corresponded with KNOW that what they are being told to do is absolute crap. They are to have their Couriers follow DRA (often with faulty leave building times or faulty stem times built into the route), but then they are to discipline their Couriers if they fall below an arbitrary goal for the month. So if the Couriers are following DRA to the "T", why are they being held accountable for a route goal which was in place for 'old school' methods? [I]Your managers know something is up...[/I] The question is begged, "Does a DRA patterned route meet 100% or higher of expected goal"? The managers that I have spoken and corresponded to have said flat out, that a DRA planned route, a majority of time DOESN'T meet the route SPH goal (a separate statistic with a separate report). Put another way. if one were to take the total on road time predicted by a DRA generated route, use that time to divide into the stops being delivered, then taking that SPH statistic and comparing it to the route expectation SPH, the end number will most of the time be significantly below 100%. A classic "Catch-22" if there ever was one. Something is up - Express (upper management) NEVER does anything without awareness of the potential consequences. So what in the hell are you going to do about it - besides sophomoric insults hurled towards the upper management of the company for whom you work? [/QUOTE]
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