Throughout my employment at FedEx, virtually every manager I've ever worked for, as well as several coworkers, have asked me why I never chose to go into management. I've answered them by simply saying that I enjoy the liberating reality of being able to punch a clock and completely walk away from my job each day to pursue those things which I genuinely enjoy. I don't want my phone ringing in the evening or on a weekend only to find that I have to deal with some work-related problem. I also don't want to be separated from my family and friends for weeks at a time because I have to attend some sort of training or seminar in Memphis. To me, 8 hours a day is all I'm willing to devote to enriching somebody else with my efforts.
When I began this web site, I had no idea that it would become the focus of so much attention from my fellow employees. I figured that it would be a place where key organizing people would come to get materials that they could share with their coworkers and that would be that. In short, I never envisioned it to be anything more than an electronic newsletter. For something like that, all I ever figured I would have devote to it would be maybe a couple of afternoons a month to create new articles. Instead, it has turned into a repository for just about every sort of FedEx- related horror story one could imagine!
Aside from my family and friends, my greatest love in life is music. I have over 900 vinyl albums lovingly stored in my basement and I replaced them with over 800 CDs which reside in a hand-made wall rack in my den. If I'm in the garage working on my cars, music is playing on the boom box. If I'm in the basement shop doing some woodworking, music is playing on the stereo I rigged up down there. Even as I write this article, a CD is spinning in the bookshelf system a few feet from me. Away from work, my life has a continuous soundtrack accompanying it.
A few months ago, prices finally came down far enough where I could actually afford to make a dream literally come true for myself. Ever since the advent of CDs, I've wanted to own a CD burner so that I could create my own exact digital copies of my music collection. You see, I bought a whole lot of albums and CDs just for one or two songs I happened to like on those albums or discs. It's always been a source of major irritation for me to have to load 5 discs into a CD deck just to listen to a few songs and have to program the deck each time to boot. And although making cassettes of the songs I like was fine for the car stereo, listening to tape hiss on a home stereo is downright painful to my ears. So when I could finally afford a CD burner and could begin making custom CDs of my favorite songs, my new toy gave me an excuse to disengage from the web site and engage in a bit of escapism.
To be blunt, I was burned out! After a year of organizing meetings, attending meetings, talking to people all over the country on the phone at night and being bombarded by e-mail asking for advice or detailing sagas of harassment and unfairness at the hands of management, I just took the phone off the hook figuratively speaking and immersed myself in my music. Condemn me if you wish, but I needed to step away from it all. My life had become precisely that which I had sought to avoid by not becoming part of FedEx management. I was spending way too much of my own time thinking about the job.
When I started this web site, there was another pro-union web site run by a FedEx employee on the web and several other individuals promised to start sites of their own. In short, I wasn't banking on being the sole ball-carrier on the Internet where the FedEx organizing movement was concerned. The other sites never materialized with the exception of Capt. Claude (Barney) Barnhardt's GFT Help site, and it enjoyed an all too short life span on the web. Meanwhile, my sole companion site on the web, namely the "Bravo Zulu" web site, faded into the ether as well. That left my site completely alone to serve as a terminus for all of the FedEx organizing traffic on the web. Fortunately, late last month, Bob Kutchko of Kansas City went online with his "Fed-Up Web Site" at http://members.aol.com/UnionTips/Kutchko/index.html. Hopefully many of you will visit Bob's new site and give him all the encouragement and support he deserves for his fine efforts!
I need to get this web site back on track and I need your help in doing so. I cannot be the advice columnist equivalent of "Dear Abby" for every FedEx employee who is experiencing problems! That's more than a full-time job in and of itself as I have had to learn the hard way. All I ever sought to do is to apply whatever computer and writing skills I have to the task of sharing information with my coworkers. That task, alone, is quite time consuming for someone who already has a full-time job. For this reason, I'm asking everyone to understand and respect my limitations. I sincerely do want to hear your stories about the all-too-common transgressions and oppressions FedEx management has committed against you or those you know. Rest assured that I read every piece of e-mail I get. However, that's got to be the extent of our interaction with one another. I simply don't have the time to respond to every message I receive on the site anymore.
I have made, and will continue to make, a conscientious effort to share as much information with you as I can via the articles on the site. And, quite frankly, a whole lot of the questions you folks have been asking me have already been answered via the articles which are already up on the site! Can you imagine how frustrating it is for me to find my e-mail stuffed with messages asking for advice on how to prepare an effective GFT when I specifically wrote an article about that very same subject almost a year ago and it's clearly still available on the site!? So please, take the time to read what's already been posted here. Chances are, that whatever problem you are experiencing has already been chronicled and addressed somewhere on the site before. However, if your particular problem is indeed unique and I feel it needs to be addressed on an individual basis, I'll definitely make time to get back to you. But again, I ask everyone to understand that I am being neither rude nor indifferent if I don't send some sort of response to your message! Just remember that I am merely one fellow who is trying to share as much information as I can with my coworkers while still maintaining some semblance of sanity and a life apart from FedEx...
When I launched this web site well over a year ago, I presented a detailed justification for creating the Fed Up Home Page which was also the basis for my support for the unionization of FedEx. In the short period of time that this web site has existed, FedEx management has conceded that I was absolutely correct on virtually every single issue I detailed as my motivation in creating the site and supporting unionization! The final vindication of my numerous indictments of FedEx's corporate policies and procedures was delivered in black and white into my hands at a work group meeting I attended two weeks ago. That final vindication came in the form of an "inter-office memorandum" dated March 12, 1998 and issued by Charles W. Thomson. The subject of the memorandum was "Acceptable Conduct & Performance Improvement Policy Changes." I hope management has gotten around to telling everyone who visits this site about this "memorandum," but in case you haven't heard about it yet, I'll give you the details now.
Essentially, the "memorandum" announced that effective March 22, 1998, "Warning Letters and/or Performance Reminders" have reverted back to their original "active" shelf life of 12 months where terminations are concerned and "Performance Reminders" have had their "active" periods reduced to 6 months. The same rollback from the former 18 month "active" period back to a 12 month shelf life was also applied to "Acceptable Conduct" warning letters where JCAs are concerned. In essence, FedEx management has tucked its tail between its legs and backed away from the last vestiges of what I like to describe as its "Night of the Long Knives" policies which I firmly believe were instituted a couple of years back to thin out its most senior rank and file employees!
Before I go any further, perhaps I had better explain the "Night of the Long Knives" reference to those of you who may not recognize its meaning. Back when Hitler was jockeying for power in pre-war Germany, he had legions of devoted followers who marched all over the country drumming up support for him. Those legions were the brown-shirted SA headed by Hitler's long-time friend and slavish follower, Ernst Rohm. As the SA grew in numbers, they made the regular military establishment in Germany extremely nervous. The old generals and field marshals feared that if Hitler came to power, the officers and men of the SA would be forcibly absorbed by the regular military and that the power of the military establishment would be diluted by this influx of amateurish para-military wannabees. The old generals and field marshals bluntly told Hitler that his rise to power would not be tolerated unless he did something to rein in the rapidly growing SA. Hitler, when given a choice between standing by his old friends and closest supporters or betraying them to please the military establishment, opted to plunge a dagger into the backs of his devoted SA in what came to be known as the "Night of the Long Knives." Hitler had his black-shirted SS round up the key leaders of the SA, including his old friend Rohm, pronounce them all guilty of treason, and summarily execute them. In this way, Hitler rewarded those who had worked so hard to bring him to power in much the same way as FedEx rewarded so many senior employees for their devoted service. When forced to choose between the bottom line or the welfare of its employees, FedEx management also opted for the dagger.....
The question that needs to be asked at this point is why FedEx management has now decided to add the Warning Letter and Performance Reminder policies to the list of issues it has back-pedaled on over the past year? After all, as far as I have been able to tell, union activities have not been very intense throughout the company during the first quarter of this year. So why the sudden change of heart? One thing is certain. You can bet that fairness was the furthest thing from FedEx management's mind when it decided to change the policy! We've all clearly come to realize that fairness is only forthcoming from FedEx management when they have their backs against the wall! So what's the answer to this riddle? Well, as luck would have it, GYY's senior manager, Bob Bodziak, attended the meeting of my work group when this latest policy change was trotted out and he offered some unwitting insight into what may indeed be the company's real motivation behind the policy retreat.
Some time during the meeting, Bob lamented the difficulty FedEx was having in our area in recruiting qualified people to fill jobs! It seems that the labor pool in the Metro Chicago area is drying up due to the economic well being of the country. After the meeting was over, it suddenly hit me that I had just heard a FedEx manager bemoaning the shortage of qualified workers at precisely the same time as FedEx was announcing a relaxation of corporate policies that had so drastically reduced the ranks of the qualified work force within FedEx! What a sweet irony! During leaner economic times, when FedEx held all the aces, it could, and did, treat its employees like cheap commodities to be cavalierly used and discarded with unconscionable abandon. However, now that FedEx no longer has a bottomless well of qualified prospective employees to draw from, it has been forced to try and hold on to its employees rather than trading them in for newer models each year.
As I said at the beginning of this article, with this last set of policy changes, FedEx has completed the involuntary task of completely vindicating this web site, the union movement as a whole and the thousands of pieces of supportive e-mail I've received since beginning this site. The revision of the JKT policy has removed the venom from what should have always been simply a learning tool, the disciplinary letter policy is now back in line with what is generally standard throughout corporate America and we received three genuine raises that eventually will affect most FedEx employees because they were raises in the top-of-scale wage ceiling. All three of the aforementioned issues formed the very foundation of this web site upon its inception and indeed, also formed the basis for the widespread support of the unionization movement.
To those few of you who have written me letters which were critical of this web site, I invite you to do a bit of serious soul searching. In view of the fact that you have condemned me for creating this site, yet FedEx management itself has now completely validated all of my reasons for starting it by reversing itself on virtually every issue I've raised here, can any of you still cling to your belief that I have gone astray in my quest? While it may sound arrogant to you, I have been clearly and consistently right, FedEx has been clearly and consistently wrong, and FedEx management itself has admitted its errors de facto by the aforementioned reversals in policy.
Before anyone sends me any e-mail stating that FedEx's policy reversals speak well of the company's responsiveness to the concerns of its employees, kindly remember that it took demonstrations of mass support for unionization before the company did anything to end the policies that purged so many employees from our ranks! And while the present economic trends may have had more to do with this latest policy reversal than the union threat did, it nevertheless supports my continued assertion that FedEx management will do nothing for its hourly employees unless it has its back against the wall.
Okay, so given that FedEx has now reversed itself on the three main reasons why I began this web site, some of you who have been critics of the site might be tempted to ask where the justification to keep it going lies? Don't give into that temptation because I'll save you the effort by addressing that rhetorical question now. In my heart, I will never again be able to place any trust whatsoever in FedEx management. I don't care if they fix our pension plan so that we'll not have to work for pimple-faced kids at fast food joints or hail cabs for rich folks in our retirement years. It matters not to me if FedEx gives us all the raises we should have been getting all along to keep even with the cost of living. What FedEx gives us grudgingly today, it can just as easily take away from us any time in the future. Until we are working under a contractual agreement with management, we all remain at their complete mercy. And as we've all seen throughout these past 6 to 7 years, mercy from FedEx management is administered in a most miserly fashion...
Last year, when the union movement had Fred and the boyz running scared, did you notice that with each of the first two anti-union raises came the announcement that other raises were scheduled for the immediate future? Did you also happen to notice that when we received the last raise in February that it was conspicuously missing the announcement of any future pay increases? That's because the union impetus began to wane in the fall of ‘97 and Fred and the boyz are sensing that their anti-union tactics of raises and policy reversals have quieted the natives down. This only serves to prove that management at FedEx is anything but pro-active where it's employees' concerns are concerned. It is strictly reactive!
I feel we have arrived at a crossroads where the organizing effort at FedEx is concerned. It is the same fork in the road that we all arrived at several years ago when the UAW mounted its premature national organizing effort against FedEx. At that time, Fred and the boyz quickly suppressed what little support there was for unionization by throwing a raise at all of us. This past year, when pro-union sentiment reached a fever pitch, Fred and the boyz reacted with three raises in rapid succession as well as massive policy reversals. Now, at least here in Chicago, FedEx's anti-union tactics have seemingly again worked to quell the tides of unrest within the rank and file. And while I must level the finger of indictment at my coworkers for being so short-sighted as to allow themselves to be disheartened by management's anti-union tactics, I also lay the blame squarely at the feet of the unions for failing to keep the momentum going.
Although he asked me not to mention anything about it because it was all supposed to be a sort of surprise attack, a source very close to the UAW had told me late last year that the UAW was planning to launch a massive FedEx organizing drive around January, for which it had allocated between $27 - $35 million from its war chest to fund the drive. January, February and now March has come and gone and the UAW has been unheard from and unseen by FedEx workers anywhere so far as I've been able to determine. Was my "source" simply engaging in some sort of wishful thinking, or did the UAW simply give up on us?
As for my own beloved Teamsters, they haven't exactly been storming the ramparts at FedEx either! And though it might hurt or even anger my Teamster brethren to read this, if they could spend $35 million in ‘96 to support Democratic candidates for Congress, would it be asking all that much for them to spend a fraction of that to launch a genuine campaign to organize FedEx? I'll bet there isn't a single UPSer or Airborne employee who would object to a portion of their dues money being devoted to such a truly worthy endeavor. And unlike those members of Congress that the Teamsters lent their financial support to, we FedExers would actually return dividends on whatever the Teamsters invest in organizing us because we'd all become dues-paying members! When was the last time any Congressman paid union dues......?
The support for the union cause is still very much alive and well within the hearts of those who packed the union meetings last year. Fred and the boyz haven't really bought anything but a mild sedative with their raises and policy roll backs. The volcano of discontentment may have been temporarily plugged by the cooling effect of FedEx's anti-union tactics, but the white hot magma of frustration runs deep and continues to rumble closely beneath the surface of that plug. All that is needed is union leadership with the will and commitment to climb to the summit, pry away that fragile crust and release the fury that is still pent up within FedEx. We'll be waiting.....
In the last month, two terminations for falsification have been brought to my attention. As falsification terminations are likely to be one of the most common reasons for FedEx employees to wind up among the ranks of the unemployed, two such terminations seem unlikely candidates as a reason for an article. However, since they involved employees with 11 and 17 years seniority, these terminations, at least the way I see it, demand an examination of the issue.
At first, one's instinctive reaction, upon hearing of two senior employees losing their jobs because of falsification, is likely to be one of incredulity. After all, they should know better, right? Considering that all FedEx employees have it repeatedly drummed into their minds that management takes a dim view of falsification in any form, one's gut reaction might understandably be one of a complete lack of sympathy for such individuals. But, to those of us who are prone to stepping back and taking in the larger view, it soon becomes apparent that the practice of falsification, as it is so subtly and widely applied at FedEx, is hardly as cut and dried an issue as it might seem to the casual observer. Indeed, most of us have actually been clearly and deliberately instructed to falsify documents by managers to such an extent throughout our careers that the interpretation of falsification has become as diluted as cheap wine.
I cannot begin to recount the number of times that managers have told me to put entries on my time card that plainly constituted falsification. Blanket applications of training codes where no training actually took place, mass instructions to all employees to enter code 45 on time cards even though great numbers of employees were not affected by the freight delays, the broad application of mix cycle codes that in no way accurately portray actual on-road activity and other even more specific instances of sanctioned falsification have been so numerous throughout my own tenure at FedEx that it would be virtually impossible for me to give an accurate accounting of them!
Compound management's deliberate dilution of the term falsification with ever-increasing demands being placed upon us where on-road performance is concerned and you clearly have a recipe for disaster! The fact that both of these recent terminations were of senior employees, while initially evoking reactions like "They should have known better!", ought to instead sound alarms in the minds of FedExers! For, unlike our peers at UPS, and as I've pointed out in previous articles, FedEx utterly denies the very humanity of its employees. Demands placed upon an employee are no different when he's 45 than they were when he was 25. Routes have MAPS, not individuals. So as an employee ages, though his body may not be capable of the speed and coordination it was 10 years ago, FedEx management will never make such a concession to the reality of our very humanity. Thus, as years pass, the older employee feels an ever-increasing pressure on his job each day to meet his computer-generated goals.
Human beings intrinsically have pride, and in moderation, pride is a healthy and normal attribute. However, when human pride collides with corporate goals, the resulting impact, as evidenced by these two terminations, often has dire consequences for the individuals involved. The pressure to meet goals, the instinct to want to meet those goals and not be cataloged as a slacker, management's own widespread practice of playing fast and loose with numbers and the realities of waning physical ability make falsification an all too attractive alternative to many senior employees.
Unless and until we are working under a contractual agreement with FedEx management that includes the same "age and physical condition" considerations built into the union contracts of our peers in the industry, I fear that falsification may become (if indeed it already hasn't) the weapon of choice for management to use to continue its all-too-obvious vendetta against senior employees. Until then, my only advice to my coworkers is to weigh the consequences of their actions carefully. Might it not make more sense to take the extra time on the route to do what has to be done and possibly take a hit for missed on-road goals when review time comes around rather than jeopardize one's job by doing things, however innocent as you might view them, which management could use to gleefully slam the door on your career at FedEx? It's a lot easier to argue why you had lates or missed your SPH goal than it is to justify a missing signature release... Furthermore, document everything that happens which causes you to miss your goals! I've got a stack of copied time cards on which I've written notes to my manager whenever something has arisen on the route where I've been unable to meet set goals. To be fair, most managers I've dealt with are only too happy to get such written explanations and do consider them at review time. And as much as you might hate them, don't hesitate to demand a check ride if the goals on your route are too difficult for you to meet! Recently, the management of a building on my route changed the way we have to access the building because the U.S. Mail person busted the handicapped entrance door we were using. I immediately informed my manager that he would have to go on-road with me to see first-hand just how adversely the change affected my route. As a result, a large P-1 segment had to be taken off the route.
As always, though, human individuality gives FedEx management the upper hand in such circumstances. While I wont hesitate to inform management whenever I am unable to meet the goals they set for me and I am also able to present them with logical arguments to support my contentions, I am all too keenly aware that many of my peers do not have either the demeanor or debating skills required to defend themselves in a like fashion. It is precisely such individuals whom unscrupulous and/or dispassionate managers most often target and prey upon. Thus, once again, the desperate need for true employee advocacy is clearly manifested when confronted with the realities of our jobs and it is once again made evident that only a union which can provide competent, employee-appointed stewards can meet this need....