I think you (fedex RTD) are beginning to realize what many already have - that Express isn't an employee friendly environment and is actually employee hostile.
When I first started Express in AGFS, I was appalled at the deliberate use of deception, distortion and outright lies towards the wage employees by all levels of management. It got to the point where if an Express manager said "up" - I reflexively believed the truth was "down". In the vast majority of cases, they believed all that was important was fullfilling the operational mission - and if they had to tell some white lies or even whoppers to get it done, it was alright. There was no such thing as "falsification" when it came to what a manager stated - only if they put it down in black and white and put their signature on it did they take a risk. Needless to say, I learned that any instruction that was outside of policy, to get it in writing with a signature - that request ended a lot of dubious practices. There were a handful of managers I came across who did NOT do this (lie as standard personnel management tool) - they didn't last long as managers. They either stepped back down to a wage position, or left the company before they had originally planned.
Each month watching the propaganda video, I saw an Express exec stating one thing (usually things were "bleak" for Express) to justify why compensation was stagnant - then in the business news, FedEx stock doing quite well with "buy" recommendations from virtually all rating companies. I knew that Express was talking out of both sides of its mouth and that I - as an employee - was getting insulted everytime a piece of corporate propaganda came out that we were forced to watch.
Express can and does pay what it wants, where it wants. Changing the computer system to a different pay scheme doesn't require any massive software redesign - all they have to do is eliminate one form of compensation, then add in another form to get the final end pay they want to give to employees.
I'm still trying to get some rationale as to why Express did this (eliminate shift pay) with such a knee jerk reaction. They went to a lot of effort to justify the 2012 pay actions (in reality what they did was an attempt to buy off some senior employees and reduce solidarity between senior and junior employees - in otherwords, reduce unionization risks for Express). By pulling this little stunt with the shift pay, they shot themselves in the foot with a very important group of employees. The employees which do receive shift pay are the ones with a lower level of ongoing supervision, need to be the ones with a higher level of operational knowledge (they are often forced to make decisions on their own without supervisory input) and have the greatest ability to throw a proverbial monkey wrench into the operation should they so choose. You don't piss these people off - that is why there is shift pay in the first place, to keep them a bit happier.
It appears that the decision was made within the "black hole" of FedEx - the legal department. There are no leaks out of there, and it does appear that the decision was made and the execs of Express did what they were told and ended that form of pay. Since California law does have requirements for split shift pay, the question is begged: "What is Express doing for employees in California to satisfy the current law?" They can eliminate shift pay on a national level, but they still have to adhere to each state's law where that is more restrictive than federal law when it comes to compensation. Come next week, how are California employees going to receive pay that will satisfy the requirements of California state law concerning split shifts?
I also think the coincidence of the end of shift pay and the beginning of what I've heard of a new pay statement format is just too much to pass off as chance. These things are linked to the same litigation.
I don't think this is any form of "vindictive" move by Express. They are smart enough not to engage in that form of behavior. If it was vindictive - there would be a whistleblower who would out Express and open Express up to other forms of litigation. Express got caught with its pants down, made a knee jerk reaction to either solve a problem or ward off an impeding problem -and is trying to do damage control among its employees - badly from what is coming out.
I think that many Express employees - who in the past - believed that Express was "looking out for them" and staying honest in how they were treated, are beginning to learn more about how Express really sees them as employees.
It goes without saying (I'll say it here...), if Express employees had a negotiated labor contract, NONE of this would be occurring. The contract would spell out how compensation is to be granted, and unless state law specified a higher (more advantageous to employees) form of compensation was due - the contract would be the controlling legal document.
I think the real "positive" of this whole situation will be a growing awareness among the Express wage employees who previously may have consumed tiny bits of the purple KoolAid - that they aren't as important or as valued to Express as they believe they are. When it comes right down to it, the wage employees will get tossed under the bus in a heartbeat (in this situation it was over a weekend) - then Express will cook up a lie to tell them why they did what they did. Catching Express in the lie will only make things worse (Express management HATES being caught in a lie). It makes them look bad (not for lying) but for not thinking up of a better way of preventing the truth from being found out.