fedex ground

The Fedexground guys are getting the shaft bigtime from fedex.No holidays no benefits,nothing.Why doesn`t ups buy all the routes and offer all the drivers a full time union job.Or fedex could just sell us the whole operation.Maybe its illegal,am I missing something?

If ever a group of people were ripe for organizing, it is Fedex Ground.
WHERE IS THE UNION????

The Teamsters have tried to organize Fedx Ground. WHERE WERE YOU????

i hate how fedex is on the road at 8am and we get on the road after 9 am

I remember part of the reason for dues increases was to help the organizing efforts for fredex. So far I haven't seen any "organizing efforts".
By the way, I saw a couple of fredex home delivery guys in my neighborhood working yesterday..yes saturday.

FedEx Home Delivery lists its operating hours as Tuesday through Saturday, 9am – 8pm. They developed this service to serve a market that wants residential delivery to take place when the consignee is home to sign for the package.

Fedex falls under the airlines laws, UPS falls under the railway act or laws. The reason is Fedex started as an airline and moved into ground. UPS started as a ground carrier and moved into the air. It is my understanding that the air laws require organizing to be done on a much bigger level. The union can't organize S CA, N CA then ID, then CO, etc... They must organize all at once, and vote all at once. This makes it very hard to get them organized, but Fred is helping our cause.

When they were RPS it would have been against the law to aquire them. Now that they are part of Fedex, I think the rules are different. But why would we want them? If UPS would treat the customers and the employees in a matter that is humane, provide the service that is being paid for, and allow the drivers to provide that service, UPS would have all that volume. Customers who are happy don't change. That is why Fedex has held the lead in the air. Only now that they are not providing the service, due to internal cost cutting, are other carriers reaping the rewards. But the new customers won't stay if they don't get better service. The carrier willing to put service above all will be the one to thrive. Profit may suffer short term, but in the long run all will be grand. I hope that one will be UPS.

Actually, ddomino, I thought it was the opposite. UPS functions as a “trucking” company and operates under the watchful eye of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Fedex, which is considered an “airline”, operates under the Railway Act. In either case, you are right – A union vote for Fedex would have to be for all employees in a certain category, such as drivers. A trucking company can be organized one terminal, or center, at a time.

As for the rest of your post, I agree – why would we want them? Fred would never part with his ground unit. He is making WAY too much money and I think he loves the fact that he is hitting us where it hurts – taking away our ground business. But the one thing that makes me nervous is I believe that small package transportation is moving away from a specialty service and becoming a commodity. And that is bad because no one buys a commodity based on any thing else but price. For example, you may be willing to pay 25% to 30% higher for a Sony flat screen TV because of Sony’s track record of quality and all the extra bells and whistles that comes with it. However, you would never think of paying 25% more for gasoline. Typically, gas is a commodity and the product with the lowest cost to the consumer wins. I sold LTL before I came to work for UPS and that industry has definitely become a commodity. The only way to win business was to offer a lower price. Eventually, your margins shrink to the point that you are just making enough money to survive.

That is why I am so high on our Supply Chain concept. That is totally a “specialized” product and UPS can charge a premium for this service due to our name, as well as for the services that we offer. I don’t see how supply chain management could ever become a commodity…..

It is up to us to do a better job than our competition. I noticed that my work was better than my competitors, but who noticed other than me? Price sticks out as the drawing factor when choosing to ship until you realize the work may be shoddy. That may be a long time to uncover, but plenty of our drivers have settled for shoddy work as well.

Racer, There are still three grades of gas. People pay a premium for premium.

"The Teamsters have tried to organize Fedx Ground. WHERE WERE YOU????"

Really? When and where? Certainly not around here (NE), and certainly not to any great extent. The Teamsters are becoming a dinosaur through their lack of effort at organizing. And it won't be long until they go the way of the dinosaur. I give them 40 years, tops, if they continue to slack.

New York isn't NE?

Fred spent alot of money, and the laws were written to protect his holdings.

If you want an education, I charge $50/hr for private tutoring.

No, New York isn't New England. (Maybe I should be charging the $50)

Thought NE was North East, it sure is from here.

I guess a state away is too far for someone like you to be aware of. It was the Connecticut thing that was blinding you, I guess.

I forgive you for your error. (Just send me the $50).

.5

Are you sure that's a direct quote from the Dalai Lama, or paraphrased from a talk to school children after student shootings in the US? If so, can you provide an original source?

I believe NE is the abbreviation for North East, Nebraska, Niger and Neon. Perhaps parochially it has another meaning.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NE

OR, the stock symbol for Noble Corp. (NE)

A woman of your vast intellect has surely heard of New England, yes? Maybe it's a New England "thing" to abbreviate it as NE, I'm not certain. I am certain I've seen it abbreviated that way many times, but maybe only here in New England.

As for the Dali Lama, I'm not sure it's a direct quote.... but I am sure I like it!

Nice Emu
Nutritional Eggs
Naughty Egret
Notable Error
Narcotic Equivalent
Narrow Equator
Nasal Exchange
Nautical Enthusiast
National Eagle
Narrative Epic

Hey, she started it!

Nice Extremists? Oh, that was the Nazi thread...

Ddomino, good point. Let me try to clarify…. In my analogy, I was describing competition between two separate companies, like Citgo vs. Chevron. While there are multiple grades of gas (Regular, Mid-grade, and Premium), there are multiple levels of service for transportation (ground, deferred air or 2nd Day, and overnight). Of course people will be willing to pay more for Premium gas because they are getting a “better” product (higher octane). The same goes for transportation – people will pay more for NDA vs. Ground because the shipment will get there quicker. My point was that 99.9% of the population would chose Citgo regular gas priced at $3.00 per gallon over Chevron regular priced at $3.50 per gallon. “Gas is gas.” That is the main characteristic of a commodity. It is my fear that the view of our business is that “transportation is transportation”.

Sorry to get back on topic. Everyone can get back to slamming susiedriver now………

One of you guys mentioned in an earlier post about Fedex being under the RLA. That is true for express division only, where a vote to go union would have to be a nationwide "sweep." As for Ground and Freight, it is under the control of the NLRB, so if we were to organize, it could be done on a shop to shop basis, not nationwide. As for past attenmpts at unionizing Ground, I havent heard of any serious attempts. I am a handler for Ground, and while the pay is good, we get no benefits, no vacation pay, no overtime. Unfortunately, in my building, most of the other handlers are not informed about what a union could do for them, thus any decision made by them would be one based on ignorance. As for the express side of the operation, I did hear of an organizing campaign for the Ramp transport drivers, but as to the result, I dont know. Over 9, you are right when you say ground is ripe for organizing, I just wish we could get some support from the labor movement.

Workinstiff, are you sure? Fedex Ground is part of Fedex, right? It is not a subsidiary. As far as I know, if Fedex the company is considered an airline and therefore under the RLA, any part of it would fall under the same guidelines. I have not read anywhere that different parts of the same company can fall under different labor guidelines.

Of course, as my wife likes to point out, I am wrong A LOT! So if you have any type of documentation or information that you could share, that would be great.

Also, seeing as how your are close to the frontlines there at Fedex, how is the class action lawsuit by the drivers being view both by the drivers you know as well as local management? Do most of the drivers side with the plaintiffs, or is this just being blown out of proportion? I look forward to your responses….