August Update |
I'm pleased and relieved to announce that the Fed Up Home Page mirror site is now up and running at http://www. megsinet.com/kevinosiowy/. I'm sorry it took so long to complete this project and that it has taken so much of my time away from putting up new articles as well as answering my e-mail. I gave priority to creating the mirror site because Compuserve has proven somewhat unreliable at times and some of you have reported not being able to access the site. I don't know if this is because Compuserve's servers are experiencing growing pains or if (as it has been rumored) Compuserve is now primarily focused on corporate accounts and is deliberately neglecting it's individual subscribers needs. There have even been rumors that Compuserve may discontinue its individual subscription service altogether. In the face of these rumors and the sporadic access problems, I felt it necessary to make certain that FedEx people do not lose this small avenue of communication with one another in the event that any of the rumors about Compuserve prove to be true.
The choice of which site you continue to visit is entirely yours of course. If you haven't experienced problems at the Compuserve site, there's no reason to switch. However, I would encourage everyone to add the new site to your bookmarks/favorite places in your web browser so that you have the URL available just in case... For those of you with advanced knowledge of the web, I could use all the help I can get in getting the new site listed on the net's many search engines so if you have some spare time, I'd really appreciate the help!
I've also made some cosmetic and technical changes to the site after receiving some much-appreciated web publishing advice from a professional web page designer. I removed the multi-colored document backgrounds so that reading the articles isn't as difficult as some of you might have been experiencing. I'll try to add some variety to the backgrounds in the future, but I'll stick to those that are very light pastel shades rather than using the spectrum gradient types I had been using on many of the pages before. I've also added some internal HTML tags and text which will make it easier for search engines to find my sites.
I found out the hard way that creating a web site on an independent ISP isn't quite as easy as doing it on Compuserve! For those of you interested in the technical reasons, read the next paragraph. The rest of you can simply skip reading it and move on to the next article heading. In any case, I'd like as many of you as possible to visit the mirror site and check everything out to make sure all the pages and links are working properly. If you find anything amiss, please e-mail me about the problem(s) you find. I think I've fixed all the glitches, but like the occasional van scan or POD, I might have missed something. It's a good thing that web publishing isn't on my performance review where anything less than robotic perfection costs us....
As for the technical stuff regarding the mirror site, unlike Compuserve where a web publishing program is provided that does most of the grunt work for you, dedicated ISPs require that you utilize DOS-like commands to manually upload your web pages to the site. The particular ISP I chose also was extremely temperamental where file names were concerned. All file names had to be in lower case and the home page had to be given a particular name. This meant that I had to create a completely different set of pages for the ISP where I had to go into each page and change many of the HTML tags and file names to conform to the idiosyncrasies of the ISP's server. Last, but not least, I had to ferret around for a new hit counter because I couldn't use the same one from my Compuserve site for reasons that are way too involved to explain here.
At the risk of being accused of being an opportunist trying to capitalize on the tragic death of the UPS manager who died in Nashville this past week, I'm compelled to tread where few have yet to do so. Perhaps the silence on this matter from both the media and the union is due to deference for the family of the UPS worker who are mourning their loss. In the case of the Teamsters Union, it probably would look bad to many of the public if they had keyed in on the implications of the tragedy as it would be hard to dispute adversarial claims that they were cashing in on a horrible accident. While not nearly as susceptible to such accusations because of their supposed disinterested third-party positioning, the media probably laid low on this matter to avoid making it appear that they were indirectly supporting the union's side in their dispute with UPS management.
Make no mistake about it. I'd just as soon not be writing about the loss of someone's life even though it might support contentions which favor our cause. Yet, I think that the very magnitude of this tragedy merits far more public discourse than issues of decorum have thus far seemingly dictated it receive. For at the center of this tragedy lies the matter of the public's safety! I think anyone would agree that preventing more accidents of a related kind outweighs concerns for the possible effect such a discussion might have on the feelings of the mourning family and friends of the victim of the Nashville UPS accident.
Long before the Nashville tragedy, FedEx workers have often made comments that the most dangerous time to be on the roads in America is between 10:00 A.M. and 10:30 A.M. on weekdays because it is during that particular span of a half an hour that FedEx workers all across the country are scrambling to get those last few stops off before our commitment deadline. I've heard more than one FedExer comment that our 10:30 deadline is every bit as dangerous to the public as the old Domino's Pizza half-hour delivery guarantee was before enough people died and were injured to make that corporation see the folly of placing such performance pressures on its employees! Yet, for the most part, those of us who are indeed rushing to make those deliveries are experienced drivers who are used to driving the vehicles we are piloting and are also familiar with the roads and terrain we are traveling over.
In the case of the Nashville accident though, while UPS asserted that the victim had taught safety to UPS workers and had current driving credentials, the question left unasked and unanswered is whether those facts qualified the victim as being every bit as competent as any other UPS feeder driver? For if they did not, then the case could, and most probably will be made that UPS placed not only the victim in grave danger by "pressing him into service" as a driver as one WLS radio newscaster described it, but that UPS also placed the public at large in jeopardy with their gamble!
We've all probably heard the old wisdom that goes "Those that can,...do! Those that can't,... teach!" If ever there were a circumstance where this wisdom could be applied without much fear of reproach, it would seem that this would be it. Lecturing people about safety from behind a rostrum and critiquing their performance from the driver's seat is hardly comparable to the actual experience of safely controlling several tons of steel laden with even more tons of freight from behind the wheel!
Being an ex-UPS management type myself, I can just about imagine the mentality of many UPS managers once the strike became a reality. I have little doubt that many, eager to get out of the office and "play" with trucks after so many years of being desk-bound observers, were literally chomping at the bit to get out and tool around town in their big brown "Tonka" trucks. And let's not forget the high state of competitiveness UPS fosters among their management staff. Even managers who felt uncomfortable about getting behind the wheel after so many years of getting splinters in their backsides would be very reluctant to express their concerns for fear of looking like weak sisters in the eyes of their fellow managers. Of course, eagerness to look good in the eyes of their own managers would also doubtlessly be a strong motivation to keep their worries about going back on the road to themselves. I can't help but recall a scene from the movie "Midway" where Charlton Heston plays the part of a senior officer who, though he had an arm injury that wasn't fully healed, eagerly said yes when his commanding officer asked him if he could fly one of their planes when they became short short of pilots. Heston wound up crashing the plane in a ball of fire when he couldn't control his shot-up aircraft with his bad arm!
I also have several questions I'd ask UPS officials if I were in a position to do so. For instance, were any of the management and other salaried types now driving their trucks and vans road tested before putting them behind the wheel? Were any of them even given the choice of whether or not to go on the road? I'd also like to know if UPS management put any sort of limitations on qualifications to drive like not allowing anyone to go on the road if it had been X number of years since they had last driven a UPS truck? Is short, were they at all selective in who they "pressed into service?"
According to Reuters, a striking UPS worker who arrived on the scene of the accident told reporters, "This is what happens when management starts to drive, some of them haven't driven in years, they aren't familiar with the roads, they're nervous... things like this are going to happen." It would appear that at least one other person was prepared to make the speculations I've made even in the face of the tragic circumstances of this accident.
We are all cognizant of the fact that, in the course of just living out our normal everyday lives, we all take calculated risks. The possibilities of being injured or killed are around us everywhere. From slipping in a bathtub to being involved in a vehicular accident, we are constantly at risk even under the most mundane of circumstances. However, when someone loses their life because they were needlessly placed in a situation of much greater risk than is normal, I don't think it is at all unreasonable to examine the criminal implications of such a situation. In other words, I don't think it is at all unfair or inappropriate to ask ourselves whether this was just an accident or a case of murder committed in the name of the almighty dollar....?
Once the UPS strike began and our system quickly became choked by all the additional volume we picked up, agonizingly long work days became yet another cross we were expected to bear with mute obedience. However, most of us did have the expectation that with these extraordinary circumstances would also come a relaxation of the demands normally placed upon our shoulders. After all, Fred and the boyzz had suspended our guarantees to our customers as soon as pressure began to mount on our system due to the impending strike. It therefore wasn't unreasonable of us to expect our management to make a grand gesture something along the lines of telling us to just do the best we can and service levels be damned! I mean, let's face it, our customers are probably utterly grateful to be getting their packages at all considering all the UPS customers who won't see their packages any time in the foreseeable future!
On the first day of the strike, I looked my manager in the eye and asked the rhetorical question "I take it that we won't be dinged for lates now?" When he replied that we indeed wouldn't, I naturally figured that this implied that we could run our routes as easily as we could. Silly me! It only took the management at GYY a couple of days before they were again blabbering about service levels, stand-alone P2 deliveries and even talking about BPP!!! I found myself biting my tongue till it bled for fear of blowing up and losing my job if I told them exactly what I thought they should do with BPP and the friggin' service levels!
I suppose I should be beyond such anger over management stupidity by this time in my career experience, but this time, their lack of compassion for us grunts even surprised my jaded sensibilities! If it was okay for the corporate honchos to back off on the company's financial commitments to our customers, I automatically thought those same corporate leaders would see the utter hypocrisy of continuing to make us live up to our normal performance commitment levels! I honestly couldn't imagine even FedEx management being capable of this level of "do as I say, not as I do" disparate treatment of its employees!
Consider the big picture for a moment. FedEx is making money hand over fist because of the strike. Not only has our volume shot up, but we're actually turning away business! We're handling volumes in excess of any peak season we've ever known! Combine that with the fact that we're not paying a penny out in service guarantees and you have a scenario for windfall profit beyond anything Fred and the boyzz ever dared imagine in their wildest dreams of avarice! Wouldn't you think that management, wrapped in the warm fuzzy revelry of incredible profits, might be moved to temporary spasms of goodwill toward its overworked employees? Apparently that's too much to expect!
This ridiculous attitude on the part of management may very well come back to haunt them though, in a very terrible way! I've already heard rumors about some actions FedEx workers in different parts of the country are contemplating and believe me, things could get real hairy for management if these ideas are acted out! Don't the suits realize that there's a whole lot of people now working the equivalent of almost two extra full 8 hour days each week? Is it so difficult to understand that when people are bone-tired and have no time or energy for any kind life after work, it might not be such a good idea to even mention service commitments, a few stand-alone P2s and most definitely, BPP?
Speaking of BPP, I've heard many people remark that Fred will owe us something once this strike is over. Talk of bonuses, maybe another raise and most certainly, fat profit sharing checks is becoming commonplace. Well, in my humble opinion, I wouldn't advise getting your hopes up for anything beyond perhaps a little larger profit sharing check. Squeezing money out of Fred takes union pressure. He's not going to open his wallet unless he again feels the hot breath of the unions on his neck! However, I thought of a gesture Fred could extend to his employees as thanks for a job well done during these extraordinarily hard times. He could issue all of us a sort of "Get Out Of Jail Free" card that we could either use now or in the future to remove one of any kind of disciplinary letter from our files. The way I see it, working under the strain of this strike is punishment enough to exonerate all of us from any transgression that would get us a letter. What about it Fred? It won't cost you a dime....
With all the talk about the UPS strike in the various forms of the media lately, it's been difficult not to pick up all sorts of information about the lot of the American worker in our society today. One piece of information that I've heard repeated by several different sources is that between 65 and 70% of American workers are part-time! I would have never guessed that the percentage was that high, but once I heard it repeated enough times to accept it as factual, I began trying to rationalize the justification for so many members of our society being in the uncertain and unenviable position of only being employed part time.
The first thing I considered was the age demographics of our population. Perhaps, I thought, the reason so many of my countrymen are only employed part-time is that the majority of our citizens are either retired and only need or want part-time work to supplement their retirement pensions and/or Social Security benefits or are young high-school and college students who only have enough free time to work at a part-time job. In order to find out if the demographics of our population might be the justification for all these part-time workers, I had to do a bit of research. I paid a visit to the U.S. Census Bureau's web site and downloaded the population segment of the Statistical Abstract of the U.S.
What I found in studying the figures from the Census Bureau did not at all bear out corporate America's trend toward offering the percentage of part-time jobs it presently does. In 1995, the U.S. population was approximately 263,755,000. Of that number, 190,257,000 fall into the age range of 15 to 74 which I feel is the realistic range covering the overwhelming majority of employable people. Of that number, only 54,706,000 or 28% comprise the age ranges of 15 to 24 and 65 to 74 which are arguably the prime ages when part-time work is likely to be both necessary and most desirable.
Now if the media pundits I heard were accurate, that would mean that almost half of the part-time jobs in America are being held by people who, logic itself seems to suggest, would rather be working full-time and who indeed are at the age where they need full-time jobs to live with any sort of dignity as adults on their own.
I've also heard many talking heads in the media making fun of Ron Carey's indictments of "corporate greed." I've heard every slant on Carey's statements from people who actually celebrate corporate greed to those who state that huge corporate profits are simply facts of life in our capitalistic system. Yet what happens when profit is placed before the welfare of the folks instrumental in generating it? It was not long ago when the American public rebelled against Hollywood's reaping of huge profits while turning out films that consistently pandered to the most violent element of our society and caused the film moguls to retreat and tone down the content of their product. In the same way, corporate America, for the sake of the almighty buck, is willingly contributing to the social erosion of our country by exploiting part-time workers who are paid wages that, for the most part, don't even get the worker out of the poverty level of income! As I watched Nightline one evening, I saw a striking UPS worker perfectly summarize the plight of all too many part-time workers in this country when he said; "We don't have a part-time light bill! We don't have a part time mortgage! We don't have part-time children!"
It's unfortunate that the media was so completely asleep at the wheel that nobody thought to solicit FedEx workers about their feelings on the issues the UPS strike was addressing! If the public so strongly supported the plight of part-timers at UPS, can you imagine how outraged it would become once it learned that FedEx part-timers are not only in the same boat financially as the UPS part-timers are, but that FedEx also typically strings its part-timers along for 6 or more years before giving them a chance at full-time work!
It is very notable that FedEx's spinmeisters have now turned out two consecutive and closely spaced in time propaganda sheets ("Matters Of Fact") concerning the strike. This preoccupation with the strike as well as the consistent slant of the two publications seems a bit strange when you think about it. After all, while FedEx management is seemingly wringing its hands and crying crocodile tears for all those employees and businesses who are being impacted negatively by the strike, our company is raking in money hand over fist as a result of it and stands to pick up at least some of UPS' overnight business in the long term. So why is the company using the strike to turn out so much anti-union rhetoric? Well, there's more to FedEx's fixation with the strike than meets the eye here. FedEx management is watching with abated breath as the strike progresses because they fully realize that if the Teamsters emerge victorious, the pro-union movement at FedEx will very likely blossom out of control immediately afterwards! In a way, FedEx management stands to lose even more than UPS if the strike goes badly for the UPS suits. For not only will a Teamster victory further widen the ever-growing gap between FedEx and UPS where wages, benefits and working conditions are concerned and make the disadvantages of remaining non-union even more obvious to FedEx's rank and file workers, but the very strike itself has provided clear evidence that the Railway Labor Act is an archaic law which has been especially unfairly applied to FedEx employees! This potential one-two punch has to have FedEx management tossing and turning in their sleep! Maybe that's why management at GYY has practically wallpapered the station with copies of this anti-union version of the old Soviet newspaper "Pravda!"
"TH" sent us...
Does Fedex now have to follow the provisions of the Railway act even if we
are not represented by a union? Hmm..... Get the Full Story and see if you
see what I see at this great site for the Full Text of the RLA.. Anyone
else see a class action lawsuit here?
I'd like you all to read this.. . It is the text straight from the Railway
labor Act. Since Fedex fought so hard to have our employees constrained
under this law, I feel its about time they started following it..
"TH" also sent...
Here's another link people can use. It was linked through the GFT Help home
page but maybe a broad category other than GFT can attract more people to
check on their rights BEFORE a GFT comes around.
"TH" has long been a regular visitor to the Fed Up Home Page and has been very active in providing me with much valuable information I have used on this site in the past.
All sorts of news and wisdom from "Capt. Barney!"
"I tell you, sir, the only safeguard of order and discipline in the modern world is a standardized worker with interchangeable parts. That would solve the entire problem of management."
Jean Giraudoux, French writer, diplomat
See: http://www.memphisflyer.com
Issue 438 (current), City Reporter/Landmarks page 8,
FedEx Loses Demotion Lawsuit
by Jacqueline Marino
FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION HAS lost a potentially precedent-setting
lawsuit brought by a former 16-year employee who accused the company of
demoting him unfairly.
FedEx has said Keith Keltner, a former senior manager in Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania, was demoted from his $61,000 position in 1994 for hiring
his wife, which he denies. Keltner says the real reason for his demotion
was that his wife refused the sexual advances of his former supervisor,
who instigated an investigation into her hiring and demoted Keltner to a
non-management position a month later.
FedEx denies the Keltners' charges, and, in February, Keltner's wife,
Diane Sarbiewski-Keltner, lost a sexual-harassment lawsuit against the
company in a Pennsylvania U.S. district court. The same jury, however,
decided in favor of Keltner, who sued FedEx for not following the proper
internal grievance procedures as set forth in the company's employee
manual. Keltner was awarded $3,500 in damages.
"The law that was established in this case is a great victory for the
employees of Federal Express," says Franklin E. Fink, Keltner's
attorney. "It establishes that the guaranteed fair treatment procedure
(GFTP) is a policy that Federal Express can't walk away from."
Senior FedEx attorney Colby Morgan declined to be interviewed. But
through a spokesperson he said, "Neither the court nor the jury ever
found that the Federal Express Corporation's policy and procedures,
including the guaranteed fair treatment procedure, constitutes a binding
contract."
Keltner, now an operations manager at Waste Management of Pennsylvania
in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, says FedEx managers did not properly
investigate his claims or give his case a serious review.
"What really makes it worse is that this is not a case of a disgruntled
employee," Keltner says. "I loved the company and always did. I would
still work there. I loved my job. People say I was purple-blooded."
Memphis Commercial Appeal, Wednesday, July 30, 1997
EEOC sues FedEx, says firing was retaliation
by John Semien
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Federal Express Tuesday, accusing the company of suspending and firing an employee last year in retaliation for filing sexual harassment complaints.
The suit was filed in federal court on behalf of Patricia A. Paige, a former senior claims agent who was fired April 15, 1996.
She felt like she had been sexually harassed, so she complained by filing a guaranteed fair treatment complaint and an EEOC charge, and in retaliation she was fired, said Katherine W. Kores, acting regional attorney for EEOC. Its one thing to have rights under the law, but if you get disciplined or discharged, it takes away some of the value of the rights.
The suit alleges that beginning in March 1996, FedEx officials threatened and suspended Paige because of her complaint.
The actions placed a chilling effect on other employees rights to file internal grievances under defendants Guaranteed Fair Treatment Procedure and to file charges of discrimination with the commission, the suit states.
EEOC alleges FedEx violated a special section of civil rights law that prevents retaliation against employees who file complaints against a company.
The Commercial Appeal
FedEx hit with discrimination suit
Seven present of former employees of FedEx have filed a racial discrimination suit in which they allege that the states largest employer had a disproportionate number of black employees in its hourly work force in hub operations and too few in management positions.
The Circuit court suit claims FedEx treats black employees unfairly by denying them promotions, applying discipline and dismissal policies arbitrarily, maintaining different pay scales and by retaliating against employees who assert their civil rights.
FedEx officials said Tuesday the plaintiffs suit is without merit and that it will vigorously defend its position.
The claims being made by these individuals have been thoroughly reviewed and they are without substance, James A. Perkins, senior vice president of human resources and personnel, said in a prepared statement. FedEx has been widely recognized as one of the best places to work and we are proud of our track record.
Attorneys for FedEx have 30 days to respond to the suit.
FedEx has some 27,000 local employees and more than 125,000 worldwide. The company says about 30 percent of its U.S. employees are black, compared with 11 percent of the country's civilian workforce.
According to company statistics, black employees in the hub operations make up 44 percent of front line managers, 26 percent of senior managers, 40 percent of managing directors and one of two vice presidents.
The suit says black employees make up 85 percent of the company's hourly workforce, while FedEx says the number is closer to 80 percent.
Plaintiffs in the suit include Michael D. Webb, Robert Newman, Roy Scott, Corey Mayhorn, all managers in hub operations, and former managers Joseph Watkins, who was fired, Terry Cole, who was demoted, and Steve Middlebrook who resigned.
All say they have been targeted for being vocal in their complaints about company employment practices.
The suit asks that the suit be certified as class-action on behalf of some 500 other black employees in hub operations who the suit says have held or sought managerial positions since 1987.
The plaintiffs are asking for $500 million in damages and other compensations.
Too few black managers, plaintiffs say
by Lawrence Buser
The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Wednesday, July 23, 1997
*********
To reach reporter Lawrence Buser, call 529-2385 or E-mail buser@gomemphis.com
The Memphis Commercial Appeal, Friday, July 17, 1997
Strong demand from shippers boosted revenue at M.S. Carriers 20.5 percent during the quarter that ended June 30.
The Memphis truckload carrier reported second-quarter earnings of 39 cents a share on revenues of $101,5 million, up from 34 cents a share on revenues of $84.3 million during the same period last year.
A Zacks Investment Research survey of eight transportation analysts predicted the company would earn 37 cents a share.
Operating income at M.S. Carriers jumped 18 percent to $9 million from $7,7 million in the 1996 second quarter.
Our strategy of combining to-line growth and cost controls is working. said Mike Starnes, the company's founder and chief executive. Weve successfully increased capacity and revenue per truck. . .
The company's logistics division brought in $8.3 million, a 60 percent rise over last years second quarter.
M.S. Carriers shares on the New York Stock Exchange closed Thursday at $22.62:1/2, down $1.12:1/2, in composite trading
M.S. Carriers revenues surge 20.5% in quarter
by Dave Hirschman
Barney has proved to be a tireless researcher and contributor where concerns of all FedEx employees are concerned. I thank him profusely for all the above FedEx-related news he has been kind enough to search out and share with us! Barney has also begun his own web site dedicated to assisting FedEx employees with their GFTs. You can find his site at: http://site101108.primehost.com.
Sir;
I am a 34 year old ex-employee of Federal Express. I was forced to walk
away from a 6 year service with the company that started as a Foot
Courier, progressed through Courier, and ended as a Tractor Trailer
Driver. This because I decided one day that attending the Ohio State
University part-time in pursuit of a degree in Aviation would benefit my
life, and most certainly the company.
The ensuing 6 month ordeal to keep my "seniority held" local Tractor
Trailer route that made it possible to attend OSU, that was IMMEDIATELY
CHANGED to one that ran out of state to be back by mid-morning as soon
as tuition reimbursement was requested, included every step of the GFT
process, uncalled for "random" drug tests, and utter neglect from every
management figure involved.
The management of Federal Express are the utmost definition of back
stabbing, ungrateful bastards I have ever met. Leaving that company was
the best move I have EVER made in my life. I now hold a professional
position as a Computer Network Administrator, and attend OSU part-time.
You are a god damn genius for putting this page up, and I absolutely,
positively commend you for your efforts. I would most certainly enjoy
posting every page of documentation I have regarding my GFT
nightmare/waste of time should you feel your visitors to your website
would like to read it.
Congratulations- it all starts with little pokes in the side.
Dale S. Dervin
Thanks very much for visiting my site and your kind words! I would very much like to hear the details of your ordeal concerning the garbage you went through after applying for tuition reimbursement! Talk about shooting itself in the foot! FedEx would have been investing in the educational enhancement of an employee who wanted to become a greater asset to the company and instead of bending over backwards to accommodate your needs, they figuratively bent the opposite way and told you to kiss their ass! Great implementation of the "People" philosophy,... huh?
A FedEx manager wrote...
"....you may want to ask salaried folks about the "compression corridor" I
would like to see some talk about this in your pages. Basically that have
done 3 or more "range adjustments" in the last year where the bottom of
range (minimum entry level pay) was
increased, and the top of range brought up by a like amount....but people
already in position were not given raises. Instead, you moved back down to
a lower point on the range. I know several mgrs who have a few years of
experience, but are now back at bottom of range. Gee, remember when they
told you that your performance review dictated the percentage raise that
you got? Kind of wiped that out when the compression corridor change
percent exceeds the last 3 or 4 years raises
that you busted tail to get. Then here comes (name deleted) the new
kid...still fresh from passing their leap panel. They don't know how to
open the doors on a grumman or turn the sort belt on....now being paid the
same as managers with years of experience... boy the people in
compensation really make me feel like the company appreciates our
experience...
We've seen good times, and we've seen bad times....hopefully things will
improve again...My fear is a self fulfilling prophecy as more of the good
experienced people who helped build our company grow frustrated and leave
(usually for better paying jobs) or are terminated for ridiculous things,
that more and more inexperienced people will move to fill the vacated
positions....inexperience often equals incompetence. Due to a
shortage of available people to fill the vacated positions, the corridor is
further compressed, driving off more experienced mgrs, etc. Ask your
manager if he/she has looked at his "percent in range" lately. They kind of
slipped this in on us...most people become surprised, hurt, and sometimes
upset. After all, You wouldn't want to know that you had been "in grade"
for 2-4 years and had to tell your friends that your
pay in grade was still "entry level.""
Hello Management Slime!
Just kidding!! Just Kidding!!! Having been a supervisor for three years at UPS, I have great compassion for front line managers at FedEx who often find themselves in the unenviable position of having to swallow their own bile as they enforce policies they don't personally support. I also admire your candor and trust in sharing your thoughts with me. Rest assured that while I may quote a block of your letter on the site and attribute it to "a manager," I would never betray any personal information about you. I have heard from two other managers who have offered positive and enlightening information so you also need not feel alone in your candor and trust.
I'll put forth the issue of the "compression corridor" in the next article on the site by quoting the following portion of your letter exactly as you see it here if you have no objection.
I have a story for you. My name is Mark Russo and I was a FedEx employee
for almost 11 years. My employee number was 54159 and my start date was
02/14/86. I quit in Oct. or Nov. of 96 because of a problem I had with a
certain manager, his name is Pete Wyszynski (64195). He harassed me for
the 4 years i was in Va. (RIC/R). Most of the time he would say things
about me but for the last 2 years he would say things about my wife. One
time he called me into his office and asked me why I married my wife. I
did not know where he was going with this so I said for love. Well he
showed me a porno playing card with a woman giving a man oral sex. I
told him I did not like that and never to do that again. Another time I
asked him to show me how to print a for sale sign with the computer, so
when he did, the example he used was, and I'll type what he said; (FOR SALE
PATTY'S BIG DILDO) And then he wrote; (FOR SALE MARK'S LITTLE RUBBER). I
know it sounds funny but it hurt a lot, and when I asked him to take it
off the screen he would not, I should have hit him but I was scared of
losing my job. Then another manager came into the room and they all
laughed. Just to give you a little info about me. As long as I've been
with FedEx I never received a warning letter or a reminder and all of my
reviews were over a 6.5 except for my first one and one I got from Pete.
I worked in NJ at the (TEBA) sta. for 7 years and in Richmond for 4
years about. Over the last 4 or 5 years I have said many times that FedEx
was changing for the worse. They no longer cared about us. Well to make
a long story short, Pete got fired for the things he did, not just to me
but all the mistakes he made, he scored a 29 and a 43 on his last 2
SFAs. He was the worst manager I ever had. He went though his GFT
process and failed 1,2,3 on his third attempt the told him he would have
to start all over again!!! Why??? Well he did it again,1,2,3 and
failed the first 2 and on the 3rd he got his job back and put back in
the same sta!! Most of the drivers at the RIC/R are scared because he is
out to get everyone that he thought was responsible for getting him
fired. They have no protection from this manager who has run amuck. A
line of drivers complain about him everyday, but no one listens. They
need a union. You have a great web page. I want to file a lawsuit
against FedEx so my story can be heard. Took enough of your time.
mark russo
That's an incredibly sad story Mark. I wish you would have not let your manager's crass behavior run you out of the company after so many years of service. Did you ever report the lewd comments he made about your wife to anyone above him in management? Also, do you remember the other manager(s) names who saw the sign about "Patty's dildo" in his office and laughed with him? I'd like to detail this outrage in the next update on my web site if you have no objections.
The name of the other manager was Yancy Patterson. He told our senior manager he did not remember what was on the computer screen, but he did tell our senior manager that I was upset. No I never told anyone about what happened until I quit FedEx, My senior manager did not want me to leave. He asked me if it was because of Pete and I said yes. When I told him what he did he freaked out and wanted it in writing so he could take some action. He asked me not to resign but I had enough of FedEx, just like you know, FedEx is not the same company it was 11 years ago. I went to my senior manager many time about Pete, mostly because of favoritism. Did I tell you he got a 29 on his survey feedback. I heard he is telling everyone I got fired, I don't know if it is true. Yes you can tell my story, can you please e-mail me a copy of it. Thx for hearing me out. And thx for the comeback, I have been thinking of sending Fred Smith a letter. Should I? Do you think I should get a lawyer too?
One thing is certain Mark! You need to do *something* about this! Writing Fred might get some internal action, but that's a crap shoot as you've already seen in that your old manager was seemingly given more chances in the GFT process than he was entitled to! Please go to your local union people and ask them for legal advice! They can put you in touch with legal assistance in your area that specialize in labor issues. Don't let this cruelty go unpunished!
The following is my dissection response to two letters a critic of the web site sent.
JRoudon wrote...
I dont think you need to hear this, but the teamsters have caused many of
their members to lose big bucks (UPS employees) they are getting a whole $55
week to be off on strike instead of their usual $900 per week. gee thats a
great pay raise huh!!
Ever hear of the concept of making a sacrifice to take a stand against something you strongly believe is wrong? I know it's an old-fashioned concept, but were it not for millions of people the world over drawing lines somewhere and having the intestinal fortitude to sacrifice everything from their wealth to their very lives, we'd all be under the heels of dictators, monarchs and other assorted despots. It's so shocking to you and probably most of the American public to hear that UPS workers will only be getting a measly $55 a week in strike pay because there are so few people left alive in this country who have ever had to take a stand at any personal sacrifice for any cause. The American mentality has become one of "if it hurts, run from it!"
What else do yguys need? you have a "no lay off policy" "full medical" and many other benefits to your job, such as pay adjustments to take long lunches etc...
Where do you get your information about FedEx from? Wherever it is, it's a seriously flawed source. A "no layoff" policy looks real good on paper until you realize that FedEx can, and routinely does, fire employees for anything and everything as the whim suits management. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if an insignificant percentage of those fired each year from FedEx were terminated for actually failing to meet our customer's expectations in any manner. Furthermore, FedEx has a huge number of employees who are classified as "casuals" which they string along as long as they want to and who are not counted as being laid off when they are told their services are no longer needed.
"Full medical?" You've got us mixed up with UPS. FedEx employees all pay weekly premiums out of our own checks for health coverage. In fact, depending on how many dependants you have, your premiums can be very costly. For example, I get off cheap because my wife and I have no children so my premium is only $20 a week. On the other hand, people with young children who need coverage for their kids have to pay for an HMO plan designed for dependent children and they pay a lot more than I do.
"Pay adjustments to take long lunches." How is it a benefit that you don't get paid? Sure we can take long lunches, but it doesn't cost the company a penny so how does that qualify as a benefit?
You are well paid and pick up primarily letters, not big 150 pound boxes!
Before you really embarrass yourself in front of anyone else, I strongly suggest that you do your homework about FedEx and UPS! FedEx employees, as a condition of their employment, must agree to deliver packages up to 150 lbs. while UPS employees do not handle anything that exceeds 70 lbs in weight. Furthermore, a FedEx employee must deliver anything under 150 lbs regardless of its size! UPS won't even accept a package bigger than 108 inches in length and girth combined! You've consistently stated notions of what you think working for FedEx is like that are at wide variance with the facts. Perhaps it is your gross misunderstanding of the realities of working for FedEx which causes you to believe as you do.
I would love to have your jobs, I could actually have a life outside of work!
So what's stopping you from applying for a job at FedEx? Just think, you can get strung along for a year or so as a casual then spend another 5 or 6 years as a part-timer getting 50 hours one week and 15 the next and then finally you might just wind up with a full-time job. About the same time as you make full-time you'll probably also just be reaching top-scale wages. Get used to them because you won't see another raise for about 7 years if FedEx remains true to its past track record!
Dont jump on the band wagon of the union, because many shippers such as myself across the nation will drop FedEx like a rock when you go union. Then there wont be a job for you to have, union or not!!!!
Why? What kind of businessman are you? All you should care about is what company best serves your needs. Making a business decision based upon your personal prejudices makes little sense. Furthermore, what makes you think you have your finger on the pulse of other shippers to the point where you feel you can speak for them as well? The post office is unionized but I'll bet you use them. Since UPS and Airborne are also unionized, you'll have to do business with someone who is unionized no matter how much you hate unions....
Think with your head, not your union reps head!!!!
The union doesn't do my thinking for me. In fact, it is the union who has used and distributed materials from my web site....
Be happy you have work at all, there are thousands who dont have them at all...
Actually, unemployment is at a level now where most experts agree that the only people who are out of work now are those where are either chronically unemployed or those who are simply temporarily between jobs. As for me, regardless of the economy, I have always had a job. I am a survivor who would shovel manure out of a stable before I'd go on the dole and the *only* person I have to be grateful to that I have a job is me....
I respect your being true to your fight, I simply feel that in a time where people are making livable wages, there is not a place for the union.
What's your idea of a "livable wage?" Is it one that has remained static for most of the past decade while the average annual rate of inflation has been 3% causing FedEx employees to lose, by a *conservative* estimate, at least 29% in real purchasing power? Is it one that was only about a half a dollar an hour less than our unionized peers a decade ago and is now $4 less per hour than those same unionized peers? And lets not overlook the fact that our benefits have also eroded proportionally to our wage erosion over this same decade!
I am a little bitter over the fact that the Teamsters are costing ME Thousands per week, and when my doors are closed, the UPS workers will report back to work and resume their normal pay.
"A little bitter?" Seems you're a lot more than a little bitter! You blame the strike entirely on the Teamsters yet there are two factions in this dispute, and last I checked, *both* were intransigent! Perhaps I'm no genius, but doesn't it take two to create a stalemate or do you truly believe UPS' demands are completely reasonable while also believing that the Teamster's demands are completely unreasonable....
As far as my information, it comes from a long term relationship with the company and its employees, not on a whim of mis information.
Well let's see now... I worked 9 years for UPS, three of which were in management and two of which were in a package car driver's position. I now have worked for FedEx for 11 years as a courier. Yet you, having worked for neither company, are prepared to say that you are in a better position to make comparisons between the two jobs than I. You'll forgive me if I see this as arrogance without justifiable foundation!
As far as I can see, there is no comparison to UPS. You guys just plain dont work as hard, you run half the stops and carry a thousand pounds at least less per day. The majority of your deliveries are letters. For the job, it is a well paid position.
All you see is two different trucks and drivers in different colors. One drives around in a truck that you see as being jammed full of boxes while the other, by comparison, is a lot emptier and contains smaller boxes. What you don't see is that the FedEx driver is covering four times or more the ground that the UPS driver is. What you don't see is the number of stops *per hour* that the FedEx driver is required to make. What you don't see are the bulk routes where, like those brown trucks, our trucks are also packed to capacity each morning. And what you still don't seem to realize is that I deliver packages routinely which are over *double* the weight my UPS peers are permitted to deliver and I also routinely deliver shipments that are so large in physical dimensions that UPS wouldn't even accept them! Ever see a UPS driver delivering a Persian rug? Ever see a UPS driver deliver a kayak? No you haven't! But I've delivered both during my career as a FedEx courier! You think we have it softer than UPS. Well, since you've got some idle time on your hands, why don't you try simply driving your car to 42 different physical locations one morning, get out of your car at each location and walk say 50 paces (I'm again being conservative here) before getting back in your car. Do this in two hours and then come back and tell me what a cushy job we have compared to UPS.... When I had my UPS route, my area was tiny compared to the area I cover for FedEx. Furthermore, about half my stops consisted of backing up to loading docks or rear shipping entrances and simply dumping my load. At FedEx, everywhere you stop involves walking considerable distances while carrying packages and doing so at a very brisk pace. I've worked both jobs my friend, and insofar as physical exertion is concerned, I'd call the demands placed on a person in either position a draw. Cling to your beliefs if it makes you feel comfortable but I've literally been there and done that....
Just one more thing, the reason I would "drop FedEx" if you went union is not that I am a bad business man, quite the opposite. I would take that action to insure that we as a business do not get put into this same position as UPS has done. That my friend is SMART BUSINESS.
Really? Then why are you now idle? If you were the smart businessman you indeed assert you are, then you should have never placed yourself at the mercy of the unionized boys in brown in the first place. Had you been doing your shipping by the non-union FedEx you now seem enamoured with, you wouldn't be idle now, would you? And let's be totally honest here. Once the strike is over, you aren't going to dump big brown as your main shipper either,....are you?
And in that same vein, you still failed to answer one of my questions. If FedEx does become unionized, and you indeed do drop us as you asserted you and many others would, who are you going to turn to to deliver your goods? Everyone else is unionized too....
Yet another piece of dissected hate mail...
Mike J wrote...
Please help me out here. I'm not sure I understand why you would waste
so much of your time and energy bashing the company you work for.
It's far more logical for me to be motivated to take a stand for the over a decade of my life I have invested in FedEx than it is for you to waste your time the way you obviously do.... Visiting a site narrowly focused on a company you admit you don't even work for is strange enough. That you also stopped to take the time to send hate mail as well, seems to be far more a "waste of time" to me!
Unfortunately, far too many self-involved folks like you populate our society today. That's the reason the divorce rate is so high and so many illegitimate kids are cranked out every day . It's the "get out when the going gets tough" mindset of your ilk that causes people to cavalierly walk away from problems and struggles in marriage or relationships rather than fighting the good fight.
I guess I'm just an old-fashioned dinosaur to someone like you, but I don't believe in turning my back or tucking tail and running while people get away with perpetrating injustices upon others. While it may be commonplace not to get involved nowadays, that doesn't make walking through life with blinders on and turning a deaf ear to pleas for help either ethical or moral.
With unemployment at its lowest in years there are plenty of other companies you can work for.
And I suppose if I wake up tomorrow and my wife and I get into an argument, following your admirable philosophy, I guess I should leave her and see if I can find a gal who's less headstrong. To hell with the over two decades I have invested in our relationship!
What you and other casual interlopers who stumble into my site cannot possibly understand is that when thousands of us went to work for Federal Express over a decade ago, it was a totally different company than it is today! Every time we turned around, the company was doing something nice for us and/or expressing its appreciation for the job we were doing. It was damned near impossible to get fired and our wages and benefits were kissing cousins to those of UPS. Gradually, over the past decade, our wages and benefits have been eroded by a virtual wage freeze while our unionized competitors have enjoyed a steadily escalating standard of living! At the same time, our job security has also eroded proportionally while the pressure to reach perfection in our performance levels has steadily increased. Incrementally, over a decade of time, the changes have taken place so slowly that, for a long time, we really weren't aware of the them. By the time someone thought to sound the alarm, we were already far behind the eight ball. Tens of thousands of us already had invested a huge chunk of our productive working lives in the company. When we dare to confront an employer in which we have so much invested, geniuses like you take issue with that and offer the hare-brained advice of telling us to slink away and write off our investment as if it were inconsequential!
Unions were fine in the fifties, but welcome to the 90's dude. Unions suck!
Why would you want to add unnecessary bureaucracy to an excellent company. As far
as I'm concerned, you don't deserve to work for a company like Fed Ex. Get a job
somewhere else if your not happy. If your half as good as you think you are you
should have no trouble finding another job. It's a shame the world has to be
filled with half baked people like yourself.
Good Luck Loser! GO TO UPS.
PS - No, I am not a Fed Ex employee, but the few people I know that work
for the company are very happy the way things are.
Well, you are certainly an appropriate spokesman for this decade! You preach cowardice, you shun taking a stand for what one believes in, you call people names from behind the safety of your keyboard via an anonymous e-mail service like Hotmail and you have nothing better to do with your time than to stick your nose into the business of people you know nothing about working for a company you have never been employed by! You characterize unions as merely just added levels of bureaucracy that do nothing when, in reality, union carpenters, plumbers, masons, electricians and any other union-protected class or craft enjoy higher wages, better benefits and better standards of living upon retirement than *any* non-union worker in those same crafts or classes! In summation, you are ill-informed, ill-mannered, flippantly judgmental and an overall embarrassment to our species. As such, I reiterate, you are an entirely appropriate spokesman for the '90s you welcomed me to.... Party on "dude!"