A Quote From Fred

[MrFedEx]

Verbatim from the latest "From the Chairman".

" One business decision many of our customers have made is to trade speed for savings. Though that decision may be partly driven by the current economy, it's a mistake to think that it is temporary. We have seen a steady shift from priority services to deferred or from express services to ground, especially in the United States. This trend is likely to continue as many customers are recalibrating their supply chain decisions. The good news for FedEx is that we have a full menu of services to offer and can keep the volume in our "family"."

So there you have it, clear as day. Never mind that the Express product has been intentionally undersold and the Ground product oversold. Even though the trend may be as Smith says, Fred has intentionally accelerated the sales of Ground services over Express because it will provide him more profit. There is nothing in the letter indicating that FedEx expects a windfall from this, or that drastic changes (read cuts) will be occuring at Express.

In other words, Fred is throwing us under the bus...again.

 

[bbsam]

If Fedex doesn't expect a windfall and no cuts are needed, what makes you think you will be thrown under the bus?

 

[Cactus]

Verbatim from the latest "From the Chairman"." One business decision many of our customers have made is to trade speed for savings. Though that decision may be partly driven by the current economy, it's a mistake to think that it is temporary. We have seen a steady shift from priority services to deferred or from express services to ground, especially in the United States. This trend is likely to continue as many customers are recalibrating their supply chain decisions. The good news for FedEx is that we have a full menu of services to offer and can keep the volume in our "family"."So there you have it, clear as day. Never mind that the Express product has been intentionally undersold and the Ground product oversold. Even though the trend may be as Smith says, Fred has intentionally accelerated the sales of Ground services over Express because it will provide him more profit. There is nothing in the letter indicating that FedEx expects a windfall from this, or that drastic changes (read cuts) will be occuring at Express. In other words, Fred is throwing us under the bus...again.

Every time we get the latest issue of Fred's poetry, one must always read between the lines. A classic example: "with PSP we've made the letters interchangable...." His way of commincating any bad news (for us) is always done in a most weasely way.

 

[Cactus]

If Fedex doesn't expect a windfall and no cuts are needed, what makes you think you will be thrown under the bus?

Fred's way too predictable when push comes to shove. He's been doing that for over 20 years. If you were an express employee you know that.

 

[vantexan]

If Fedex doesn't expect a windfall and no cuts are needed, what makes you think you will be thrown under the bus?

You sure read that wrong. He's saying Fred DIDN'T MENTION the fact that the company WILL make a windfall and that we're facing cuts in hours. We ARE getting thrown under the bus to increase profits. I wonder if in the history of corporate America has a company trashed the employees of one division to increase overall profits? Sounds like something they'll be studying at Harvard some day.

 

[TUT]

I still believe Express would be very very happy if their customers decided to ship a lot more Express and that would benefit anyone under the Express umbrella.

 

[bbsam]

Fred's way too predictable when push comes to shove. He's been doing that for over 20 years. If you were an express employee you know that.

I am trying to "flesh this out" for your less sharp co-workers. Are you guys saying that Fred is a liar?

 

[vantexan]

I still believe Express would be very very happy if their customers decided to ship a lot more Express and that would benefit anyone under the Express umbrella.

And they'd be ecstatic if everyone shipped Ground because the profit margins are higher. Think how profitable they'd be if they could completely shut down Express altogether! But there's still a need for overnight service and you can't drive to Europe or Asia so they're stuck with us.

 

[TUT]

And they'd be ecstatic if everyone shipped Ground because the profit margins are higher. Think how profitable they'd be if they could completely shut down Express altogether! But there's still a need for overnight service and you can't drive to Europe or Asia so they're stuck with us.

Well then I trump that they would be even more happy if everyone switched to First Overnight service. The shippers are dictating the service, nothing has changed with the services per say, what has changed is the money people are willing to spend. How numbers work, there is a large profit margin for Express to if volumes were high enough to obtain them.

 

[vantexan]

Well then I trump that they would be even more happy if everyone switched to First Overnight service. The shippers are dictating the service, nothing has changed with the services per say, what has changed is the money people are willing to spend. How numbers work, there is a large profit margin for Express to if volumes were high enough to obtain them.

They'll increase Express operating margins by eliminating OT with shift to Ground. Plus the switch to more efficient aircraft with smaller crews. There's only so much volume current Express can handle and due to higher costs the profit isn't as high as Ground. If they had Peak volume year'round with the same number of employees everyone would quit. Especially since, knowing them, they'd try to maximize profit at employees' expense.

 

[MrFedEx]

If Fedex doesn't expect a windfall and no cuts are needed, what makes you think you will be thrown under the bus?

Fred would never openly admit to anything negative. You must remember, everything at FedEx is lollipops and rainbows and that we all support Smith. We know what's going to happen now, and that we've already been thrown under the bus. A few of us will survive and crawl away from the wheels just in time. The rest...hose job.

 

[MrFedEx]

I am trying to "flesh this out" for your less sharp co-workers. Are you guys saying that Fred is a liar?

Yes. Fred has steadily screwed us for 20 years. Major liar.

 

[59 Dano]

Yes. Fred has steadily screwed us for 20 years. Major liar.

And you stood there and took every last bit of it and asked for more.

Sheep.

 

[DECKARD B26354]

Think he also mentioned that Ground made profits for 59 straight quarters. Strange that memo was on the Fed Ex site at the beginning of July and I talked to my co workers about it and most of them didn't believe me and then the other day a few of them mentioned it to me because they got it via snail mail. That memo is just laying the ground work for the screwing you will be receiving if you decide to hang around and take it.

 

[MrFedEx]

And you stood there and took every last bit of it and asked for more.

Sheep.

We took it because there was no alternative (a union). Fred's money, and supporters like you created this reality we're stuck with, and the sheeple ensured that nobody would rock Smith's boat. Trouble is, flaks like you try and create the image that Fred did this because he had to, which is utterly false. He did it because he wanted to and because he could. Paying-off your political buddies with millions helps create a vise from which your employees cannot escape. How much has Fred spent on keeping the RLA over the years...$100M, $200M? My guess is that it's far more than that, but he's saved himself hundreds of millions by having the ability to screw us at will.

 

[bbsam]

We took it because there was no alternative (a union). Fred's money, and supporters like you created this reality we're stuck with, and the sheeple ensured that nobody would rock Smith's boat. Trouble is, flaks like you try and create the image that Fred did this because he had to, which is utterly false. He did it because he wanted to and because he could. Paying-off your political buddies with millions helps create a vise from which your employees cannot escape. How much has Fred spent on keeping the RLA over the years...$100M, $200M? My guess is that it's far more than that, but he's saved himself hundreds of millions by having the ability to screw us at will.

Started 20 years ago and no alternative? C'mon MFE. You don't believe that. R1a's formula was as good then as it is now. "Leave, organize, or bend over." Granted, none of that is easy, but bending over is the choice most made and continue to make. That the thrusting is coming harder and faster now doesn't change the reality of the choices that have always been there.

 

[Ricochet1a]

I wonder if in the history of corporate America has a company trashed the employees of one division to increase overall profits? Sounds like something they'll be studying at Harvard some day.

The concept has been studied at business schools for decades, trust me.

Outsourcing of manufacturing has been done for at least four decades now. Japan began by getting their lower complexity components manufactured in the Pacific Rim (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand) where labor cost was substantially lower than in Japan. Then by the 1980's, entire devices were manufactured in these countries for the export market (US and Europe).

Up until a decade or so ago, "outsourcing" of service industries wasn't really possible. What many countries did (Persian Gulf) was to import the labor to perform service jobs that weren't getting filled by nationals. These countries had enough wealth to import the labor - and no citizenry was displaced out of employment in the process.

What has happened with FedEx, is that Fred has managed to develop a way to "outsource" work WITHIN the borders of a nation - all by selective use and manipulation of labor law to his advantage. The airlines actually started this back in the early-90's with the development of "regional carriers" tied to the large airlines.

On the one hand, part of Fred's volume is moved by employees who are covered under one form of labor law (RLA), which prevents them from easily organizing. On the other hand, his "non-express" volume is moved by yet another group of "un-employees" (contractors), who aren't able to organize (due to their both being "un-employees" and working for numerous diffferent contractors). It is literally having and eating your cake at the same time.


So Fred managed to get around the intent of almost a century's worth of labor law - by both paying off the right people AND through deliberate division of tasks among different "operating companies" with different labor cost structures. So in this manner, one can say he did rewrite the book on labor utiliztion within the US.

And so far, that labor isn't doing much about it other than pissing and moaning about it - again, all part of the master plan of FedEx.

 

[MrFedEx]

Started 20 years ago and no alternative? C'mon MFE. You don't believe that. R1a's formula was as good then as it is now. "Leave, organize, or bend over." Granted, none of that is easy, but bending over is the choice most made and continue to make. That the thrusting is coming harder and faster now doesn't change the reality of the choices that have always been there.

His formula is fine, but organizing has always been a near impossibility at Express. If you combine the RLA with the anti-union culture, and add a bunch of employees too dumb to see that they needed representation... there was "no alternative". A passive and slovenly Teamsters union also didn't help. If the IBT had stepped-up and offered legal assistance and done a real membership drive, we could have had a union.Technically, the choices have always been there, but the reality is that Fred has created a monster that is very tough to fight, much less slay.

 

[Mr Fedex]

I still believe Express would be very very happy if their customers decided to ship a lot more Express and that would benefit anyone under the Express umbrella.

Liar !! Shill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mr Fedex]

Yes. Fred has steadily screwed us for 20 years. Major liar.

he has screwed us for 20 years by paying us a good wage with benefits.The sad thing is that even though you knew he was lying for 20 years,you stayed.Why didnt you leave the company 20 years ago and go to DHL or UPS?