If challenged the task facing FDX will be to prove to the courts satisfaction as to WHY is still needs that exemption given that the structure of the company bears little resemblance to what it was a generation earlier.
Ground taking over
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It will be fine
Well-Known Member
Blah blah. 2 of you clowns just said the same thing. You think there’s no way Ground can handle Express freight because you need to believe Express couriers are special. They’re not. You’re easily replaced by the cheaper Ground drivers. I’m sure the super special skills of the unemployed Express drivers will be in high demand as they are laid off.
MAKAVELI
Well-Known Member
Everyone is replaceable. Even you. The bottom line is the cheaper ground driver that isn't employed/ controlled by FedEx will not give the service you and FedEx believes will be given.
Gone fishin
Well-Known Member
Are you new to the business ?
Airlines are under the RLA, no? FedEx Express is a scheduled airline. That it distributes freight differently than 20 years ago has no bearing on that. If FedEx contracts all its air freight to third party contractors to fly it that would be an argument against it being a scheduled airline. As long as it flys its own planes then Ground guys delivering Express freight has no bearing on that.
Spot on. The transfer of air box to Ground was as has been fully explained a cheaper alternative to directly employed FDX drivers.
As a result contractors could very easily find themselves worse off than they were before they started hauling air box.
While hauling FDX's air box might not be all that hard....The hard part is getting the money out of them .
After the world class screwing contractors took when they got Smart Post dumped on them this could be Smart Post...the sequel.
MAKAVELI
Well-Known Member
FedEx has said it will be relying on third party airlift for deferred freight. They are trying to contract as much as possible with their Network 2.0 and DRIVE initiatives.
There was a time when couriers had to know something about haz and international deliveries. More to it than just schlepping boxes. FedEx simplified the job with technology to where the customer pretty much handled all the requirements which freed up the courier to handle more stops. More productivity, less employees. But here's the thing about what you're saying. Those "entitled" couriers are just people trying to take care of their families, have a future. Your drivers only have a future if they work very long hours and sacrifice. They don't have medical so every day is a roll of the dice. They don't have the better pay. Express was, if no longer, about the employee having something for themselves too. Ground is about guys like you being rewarded along with the company. The drivers are cannon fodder. Exploited for your benefit. I can see why you think couriers are entitled. That's money going to them that you think should be going in your pocket.
If the percentage of total tonnage it directly handles falls low enough and the vast majority of the tonnage along with the logistics and final mile delivery is being handled third party leaving FDX as a stand off name only little more than an observer then if challenged the courts would have every right to require FDX to explain to the satisfaction of the courts WHY it still needs that exemption.
They would certainly have to provide a sufficient number of credible reasons for it's exemption other than labor cost protection.
Yes I read that here. If they keep a token number of jets to make it look like they are in compliance with the RLA then maybe the government will call them on it. If it's a full blown operation still then I doubt it.
If what they are still doing is operating a scheduled airline with hundreds of flights daily then how much tonnage they're carrying should have no bearing. If it's determined they're doing minimal flights just to keep up appearances then just maybe someone will rule in the Express employees favor. Which means most likely FedEx will do whatever it can legally get away with to minimize the impact of a union.
MAKAVELI
Well-Known Member
Came close to loosing it in 2010 without all this BS. Why do you think a few token planes will keep it's divers under the RLA?
And if their stated claim to be needing an exemption is not in any way shape or form an effort to suppress labor costs and the percentage of the total tonnage under their direct control ends up as low as it appears it's going to be then what would they still need it for?
You misunderstood my post. I said if they keep a token number to look like they are in compliance with the RLA then maybe the government will call them on it. But it'll have to be proved that's what they're doing. How many lobbyists do Express employees employ in Washington?
That's a big if. They could go back to flying small jets. Hundreds of flights a day to feed the much more limited Express station network would still make them a scheduled airline.
Gone fishin
Well-Known Member
Do you not think of the possibility of the recession being over or another pandemic that express will not rebound ?
Fred's Myth
Nonhyphenated American
What makes you think they won’t be flying the freight they’re handing off to Ground?
Gone fishin
Well-Known Member
Standard and some p2 freight has to be flown in
Still comes back once again to the need to get somebody to work for nothing. And here's a good story along those lines:
Yesterday I just happened to come across this help wanted ad. The guy wanted people to do this thing called "kitting" .
So today with nothing else to do and it wasn't far away I decide to go check it out.
As it turned out this so called "kitting" is nothing more than bulk breaking and repackaging for this guy who has a contract with
among others Amazon So I talked to the owner and he showed me what it was all about what the job was going to entail along with the pay of x number of dollars per hour but I would be paid as a 1099 non employee.
I said to him...."1099 is an independent contractor. Now what you want me to do is to serve at your direction convenience and command and control and you want me to pay your share of Social Security and Medicare (FICA) and absolve your company of all workplace health and safety related liability. In addition the IRS has a 20 test protocol to determine whether a person is an employee or an independent contractor and on the basis of what you told me, you've already failed half of them. And remember all a person has to do is to fill out and mail in IRS Form SS-8 and the IRS will tell you what they are".
We parted company politely and obviously I'll never heard from him again. As a young business school graduate, he knew what he was doing. Just another one going along for as long as nobody suspects it and for as long as he can get away with it.
MAKAVELI
Well-Known Member
Like I said FedEx has taken a 180 since then. Fred is not the CEO anymore and likely has less influence theses days. There was no compliance in 2010, just political influence.
