I see the blame game going on again here, talking about couriers' unwillingness to sign union cards. Where's the union advocating that we sign cards? Is a courier who has never even been exposed to the idea supposed to wake up one day and decide he'd like to sign one? Want us to sign cards? Get the union reps at our gates. Plenty of upset people will be willing with guidance.
I've been working next to topped out couriers for over 13.5 years now with no hope of ever catching them. Is the company going to force them out when Dynamic Roads is implemented? Are they going to force me out too since I make more than $17hr? Or are they just going to hire in cheaper employees and wait out the older employees who retire, having, as they've done with us in mid-range, people working next to others who make considerably more? Is the company in a huge rush to push us out the door, probably incurring lawsuits, or is it that over time they'll become more and more profitable with more and more cheaper employees as older ones leave? And ultimately if people are willing to hire on and work for that kind of pay, as they are for Ground, do we have a right to protest? FedEx pays what the market will bear.
Who's to blame for the Couriers of Express not organizing.... Yes, blame the big bad unions, who didn't spend millions on a pointless battle against FedEx when the deck is stacked against them. It has been kicked around here in the past, any Express Courier with over a year on the job that doesn't know about the existance of the Teamsters and the fact that UPS is unionized is either mentally deficient or living in the land of Oz.
When I made my plan to get out, I wasn't approached by admission counselors from a variety of graduate programs, telling me they'd take care of everything, do all the legwork and get me a job after completeing their program. I had to do all the legwork, I had to fly all over the country hunting down a job, I had to bear the expense of getting myself out of the mess of Express. So yes, when it comes down to it, the Couriers of Express are solely to blame for their current, and impeding situation. Personal responsibility applies, even when Fred is doing everything he can to screw the Couriers.
I don't believe that FedEx would "force out" high paid Couriers once they have their system optimized - but that doesn't mean that Express wouldn't change their policy on handing out Warning Letters to get rid of high paid Couriers. Express manages their personnel system to balance the costs of training new employees, minimize the impact of deficient employees, keeping the probability of unionization low (they paid big time to get the requirements to even have a certification vote changed) and keeping employee satisifaction at a level which creates acceptable service failures due to employee apathy.
With a fully optimized ROADS system - combined with the victory by Express and other RLA covered companies to increase the requirement to even have a certification election of 50% of craft having signed rep cards - FedEx is in the perfect position to "clean house". What warrants an OLCC now, could very easily be moved up to getting a Warning Letter - all with the unstated goal of getting that one, two, three stikes you're out - against all existing Couriers. You are employment at will with no governing contract - you work solely at the discretion of your employer.
If Express really wanted to clean house, they could very easily place a variety of policy changes on what deficiency warrants a Warning Letter. Have a P1 more than 5 minutes late, Warning Letter. Have a punctuality percentage less than 96%, Warning Letter. Fail to meet SPH by more than 5% for a week, Warning Letter. They can do whatever they please, since there is no contract governing what the company can do - employment at will. They don't do this now, since they know it would push Couriers to sign those union cards (those Couriers that supposedly don't know about a union) - it is the threat of unionization right now that keeps things from becoming even more absurd.
When the need for knowledgeable Couriers is eliminated, what makes you think Fred won't move the "goal posts" yet again on the Couriers? He has a proven track record of moving the goal posts whenever he feels comfortable enough that he can get away with it.
Everyone here has read time and time again from UPS drivers that their DIAD enables drivers with minimal knowledge to get off volume with efficiency close to that of a "regular" route driver. Everyone here has read how Ground can pull in temps to drive trucks, hand them their tracking device and the temp drivers can get off volume with acceptable efficiency. Everyone knows that Express is no longer "special" - it is just another service from FedEx Corporation now. A higher level of service is offered, but with "intelligent" tracking devices, integrated dispatching systems and software that optimizes route traces - what need is there for Couriers that are paid above current entry level wage? Answer is absolutely none.
With the current job market, every station in the country could get enough applicants to come in, get two weeks of training and another week of OJT - then cut loose with a route and get the volume off - all being paid entry level wages and looking at pay raises that are really just adjustments for inflation (what Express has been doing in reality since 2009). The only thing preventing this right now is that the software is still being optimized - they are planning on having it rolled out for use in September (odds are it probably won't be rolled out nationwide till after peak 2012).
Yes, you'll still probably have a job come next year. But what you'll have to do to keep it will most likely be different from what you are doing now. With technology utilization and the threat of unionization eliminated, Express can do whatever it pleases - what would make one think for a minute they wouldn't "tighten down the thumb screws" even tighter when they no longer need experienced Couriers to meet service expectation? It is no secret that FedEx Corporation is doing everything it can to cut labor costs - look at the past 5 years and that is obvious.
Why would FedEx pay someone $20-25/hr to get off volume with route optimization software in place when they can do it with somone they can pay $14-15/hr? Doesn't take an MBA to figure out that one. The only issue for FedEx is how they are going to "dump" those high paid Couriers without getting themselves into a legal bind - that is the $64,000 question. I'm postive that they are already working on that one too.
