Vacation Biding

[thedownhillEXPRESS]

The problem is there no longer is any top out time - that went away in 2009. NO ONE can state when or if they'll ever top out, since Express choose to eliminate the last vestiges of their "pay progression system" back in 2009. Anyone who is isn't at 80%+ or so of progression right now, will NEVER top out for as long as they are with Express. Any who believe to the contrary are so drunk on the purple Kool-Aid, that they are beyond hope.

I'm drunk, but I believe its red wine..

 

[Ricochet1a]

Its probably one reason they are not offering buyouts to senior couriers.

I commented on this a couple of years ago I think. Express keeps the career Couriers right now to help dilute the pool to make organizing just a bit harder. If Express was made of Couriers with a median 5 years in, organizing them would be a snap under current conditions.

As the median years of service continue to drop, so will those opposed to signing union cards.

You're catching on quick.... That is why Express has to carefully time its moves (not so much now as they did when they were at risk of losing the RLA status), to keep the Courier population from being overwhelming in favor of organizing.

Get those cards signed and send them in people, its a collective long term plan.

It is a plan whose time is running short. When DRA is perfected, the game will be over for the Couriers and they will become as dispensable as handlers are to Express.

 

[FedExcrement]

The annual vacation bidding process does offer the chance to gather some VITAL information about the typical Express Courier (which would determine if Express has a snowball's chance in hell of organizing). Express already has this information as part of their employee demographic information - if a serious attempt at organizing is to be done, the organizers will need to know the 'lay of the land' prior to really getting into the process...

Here's the logic...

Most Couriers with between 2 and 10 years in almost always want to sign a union card if given the opportunity (all from my first hand experience while I was a Courier). Those with over 20 years will almost NEVER sign a card if offered and are openly hostile to the concept. Those with 10-15 years in want the extra compensation being a union member would offer, but are very hesitant to sign a card without some list of 'guarantees' being met prior. Those with 15-20 years in are generally against, but if they are ticked off enough, are willing.

What is needed is an idea of what the median 'time in' is for Express Couriers.

With the vacation bidding listings out, this info can be gathered on a station level basis quite easily.

Look at the vacation bidding sheet. Look at the total number of Couriers listed. Divide that number by 2, then look for that Courier's date of hire.

Example: Your station has 48 Couriers bidding for vacation. Divide 48 by 2 to get '24'. Look down the roster to the 24th Courier, and note their date of hire. That's it. It is called the statistical median, and is useful in generating information as to where the 'dividing line' is between the top and bottom half of a population (in this case, the 'population' of station Couriers).

If my 'hypothesis' is correct, if the median Express Courier has 10 or less years in (hire date 2003 or later), then Express Couriers have a DAMN GOOD CHANCE of pulling off organizing if they get to work NOW. If the median Express Courier has 13 or more years in (median hire date 2000 or earlier), then the odds are slim (in my opinion).

What would be needed is as many posters here to report this information in. DO NOT GIVE STATION ID. Just give the median date of hire for the station you work at and leave it at that. If you want, give the REGION you are in, but nothing lower down (no info as to what district you are in).

There aren't enough posters here among all the Express stations to give a really hyper-accurate statistic, but there should be enough to give a decent idea (large statistical margin of error).

If you guys and gals are serious about organizing, this is part of the process, gathering the information about the group you wish to organize and making a determination as to whether or not it is actually possible - or just wishful thinking on your part.

The more that submit the median date of hire for their station the better, but at least 20 would be needed to have any sort of 'confidence' in that the data is applicable to the US as a whole (RLA is nationwide, not location by location).

WEST REGION........Median starts at around 8 1/2 years of service.....

 

[Nolimitz]

It is a plan whose time is running short. When DRA is perfected, the game will be over for the Couriers and they will become as dispensable as handlers are to Express.

DRA is total FUBAR at this point. the base computer infrastructure at express cant handle it now let alone running 100% of the company. When DRA does not populate now, even the old timers are saying stuff like "I forgot how to setup my rte to run SRA"
The rtes dont revert back to the original SRA either.

 

[thedownhillEXPRESS]

DRA is total FUBAR at this point. the base computer infrastructure at express cant handle it now let alone running 100% of the company. When DRA does not populate now, even the old timers are saying stuff like "I forgot how to setup my rte to run SRA"
The rtes dont revert back to the original SRA either.

My experience and knowledge is much the same.

It seems to me that DRA is going to take perhaps a decade to perfect, it is a humiliating disaster right now.

But don't fool yourself thinking Memphis is just going to throw in the towel, what they are throwing in is tens of millions of dollars to get it right.

And they will eventually, time doesn't stop for technology.

 

[SmithBarney]

DRA is total FUBAR at this point. the base computer infrastructure at express cant handle it now let alone running 100% of the company. When DRA does not populate now, even the old timers are saying stuff like "I forgot how to setup my rte to run SRA"
The rtes dont revert back to the original SRA either.

Amen, when roads goes down(which is does) senior sorters can't figure out a split... READ The LABEL! but there's a zero on the yellow tag.. This company is destined for something.

 

[whenIgetthere]

Amen, when roads goes down(which is does) senior sorters can't figure out a split... READ The LABEL! but there's a zero on the yellow tag.. This company is destined for something.

When ROADS started here, the belts were sped up a little bit. When ROADS is done, managers don't slow the belts down! Takes a bit longer to read an address on the belt thana ROADS label. So when it is down, there is a huge pile of packages at the end of each belt.

 

[tnt24]

I'm a 25 year guy who has been doing Dra for a few weeks now and between DRA and all the blacked out vacation days and a host of other crap would sign a union card in a heartbeat. As I told my personel rep the other day as she blankly gave me the typical corporate answer, " I'm patiently waiting for the union to come in". She agreed to disagree.

 

[overflowed]

I'm a 25 year guy who has been doing Dra for a few weeks now and between DRA and all the blacked out vacation days and a host of other crap would sign a union card in a heartbeat. As I told my personel rep the other day as she blankly gave me the typical corporate answer, " I'm patiently waiting for the union to come in". She agreed to disagree.

Welcome. Now I have a question regarding DRA since it sounds like the devil itself. I remember hearing that it just creates rtes when the the numbers exceed the 195's. Also, I remember that there aren't enough couriers for the rtes it creates. So, who takes the freight out it the individual rtes don't, and there aren't enough personnel or rtes to do so? When I say remember I mean on BC, discussed here. Anyone?

 

[Goldilocks]

The problem is there no longer is any top out time - that went away in 2009. NO ONE can state when or if they'll ever top out, since Express choose to eliminate the last vestiges of their "pay progression system" back in 2009. Anyone who is isn't at 80%+ or so of progression right now, will NEVER top out for as long as they are with Express. Any who believe to the contrary are so drunk on the purple Kool-Aid, that they are beyond hope.

The Senior Couriers at our station and the surrounding stations are no longer Kool Aid drinkers. Morale has hit ROCK BOTTOM. Purple Bleeders are a thing of the Past, kinda like the "Milk Man delivering Milk to your front door"

 

[Goldilocks]

I'm a 25 year guy who has been doing Dra for a few weeks now and between DRA and all the blacked out vacation days and a host of other crap would sign a union card in a heartbeat. As I told my personel rep the other day as she blankly gave me the typical corporate answer, " I'm patiently waiting for the union to come in". She agreed to disagree.

More and more Senior employees are opening their eyes and are coming on this site.

 

[Goldilocks]

Welcome. Now I have a question regarding DRA since it sounds like the devil itself. I remember hearing that it just creates rtes when the the numbers exceed the 195's. Also, I remember that there aren't enough couriers for the rtes it creates. So, who takes the freight out it the individual rtes don't, and there aren't enough personnel or rtes to do so? When I say remember I mean on BC, discussed here. Anyone?

Other routes that are "lighter" will absorb those extra routes. Also PMers are called in.

 

[!Retired!]

Also, I remember that there aren't enough couriers for the rtes it creates. So, who takes the freight out it the individual rtes don't, and there aren't enough personnel or rtes to do so?

Not your problem, so don't worry about it. That's what managers are paid for. It used to be if I was light, I would ask if anyone needed help....1 courier helping another. Now, if its not on my DRA list, I won't take it. DRA made you to heavy? So sorry.

Other routes that are "lighter" will absorb those extra routes. Also PMers are called in.

The lowest number in any given loop can become an overflow for any given loop. Sometimes that means for your loop, but sometimes you can go to an area you've never even driven through. Also, by the time they realize they need more couriers, its to late to call PMers in. 1 day last week, DRA added 11 P1 routes and 15 P2 routes. How was this handled? Don't know and frankly, don't care. I loaded my truck and went on my way.


Back on topic.....swings bid with 'regular' couriers, but CSA's and handlers bid separately. There have been more blacked out dates, but their allowing 1 more person off/week than last year. It used to be 9 in June/July/August and 8 the rest of the year. This year its 10 and 9.

 

[hypo hanna]

The Senior Couriers at our station and the surrounding stations are no longer Kool Aid drinkers. Morale has hit ROCK BOTTOM. Purple Bleeders are a thing of the Past, kinda like the "Milk Man delivering Milk to your front door"

It's the same at my station.

 

[DontThrowPackages]

Even though Brown works harder, I bet there's a lot of you that feel you chose the wrong company to work for.

 

[Operational needs]

Even though Brown works harder, I bet there's a lot of you that feel you chose the wrong company to work for.

I'm not afraid of hard work as long as I'm getting paid for it.

 

[ManInBrown]

The Senior Couriers at our station and the surrounding stations are no longer Kool Aid drinkers. Morale has hit ROCK BOTTOM. Purple Bleeders are a thing of the Past, kinda like the "Milk Man delivering Milk to your front door"

Wish I could say the same for my station. From what I see, still plenty showing up every day with their capes on ready to be heroes. They are standing right on the tracks with a freight train coming and they don't even see it. And if you try to tell them about it they either don't care or think you are crazy.

 

[Robin us blind]

20 year plus employee here and I would WELCOME the Union at FedEx. In fact I would bet that most employees that have been around a long time would look back at everything that has been taken away and would be pro-union. We do have a few heros at my station (almost all being swing drivers) but for the most part the apathy is turning to anger.

 

[DontThrowPackages]

And to kick the mid range and lower employee more, the fine print says we can no long choose a vacation week just to lock in a certain day(s) in that week i.e. birthday, school graduations. If we do choose the week and would like to make any changes, we must give the whole week up and it will go up for bids. If no one with higher seniority takes it, the employee may have back those days of the week he wanted from his original week. Sad.

 

[Ricochet1a]

Other routes that are "lighter" will absorb those extra routes. Also PMers are called in.

Also, by the time they realize they need more couriers, its to late to call PMers in. 1 day last week, DRA added 11 P1 routes and 15 P2 routes. How was this handled? Don't know and frankly, don't care. I loaded my truck and went on my way.

They are looking to hire additional AM part-timers to provide 'float' to enable DRA to be 'cut loose' and assign routes as it wants. As the program is optimized, the positions will be closed, and natural attrition will handle any excess of personnel (the 'extra' part-timers will take an open established route, or be moved to the PM if there are openings there).

Right now the goal is optimizing DRA in the stations that have it. They aren't really worried about hours RIGHT NOW (they will once they have DRA optimized in a station). So if your station is having trouble with DRA, look for additional AM part-timers to be hired in the next few months. With the turnover they are expecting later this year and early next year, they'll have no problems getting back down to whatever manning level they want.