One of the advantages of carpooling with a FedEx co-worker is the time spent letting off steam after a long day of pushing packages for the company. By the time one arrives home, the tension that comes with working for the vaunted "People Company" has melted away and one may spend his or her few remaining waking hours being human with family or friends without dwelling on the manure that's heaped on us from the wee hours till dusk. Out of these daily treks evolved the union movement at SJCA.
In March of 1996 the employees of SJCA began being fed the first few morsels of Individual Performance Pay, or IPP. As an ex-manager, I saw it coming and would describe to John how the company would try to eke out just a little more productivity out of it's employees in the form of stops per hour in exchange for a bonus.
Over the next few months, check rides were performed in order to establish MAPs, or Minimum Acceptable Performance expectations, with a deadline no less (anytime a deadline is enforced, quality of work suffers). At the same time, workgroup meetings were held in order to get "buy in" from the couriers. Our manager repeatedly said that a 5.9 would essentially reap the same pay out as a 6.5/above Propay pay out. This bothered us. Why would our manager stress a "neutral pay out" when the company was promising a 10% bonus for working harder? We didn't wait long to find out..........
Soon the MAPs were handed out. The numbers were astronomical! Some resi routes were set so high that achieving a MAP 4 was beyond the abilities of the best of couriers. Others were ridiculously easy. For example, John's route is resi/rural. In other words, he had (at the time) residential and an outlying area of ranches and farms requiring extended trips back and forth. Yet he was set at 14 sph in the pure and mix cycle. Four miles away, another route, requiring far less driving in an urban area, was set at 14 and 12 sph respectively (John later found out that our our manager, since departed, falsified a check ride on me and applied the bogus numbers to his MAP). This picture repeated itself around the station In one loop, the manager falsified some of his MAPs (This info is from a manager). One thing was consistent, however: Few couriers were made aware of the fact that the MAP is an agreement between manager and courier of expected performance. Many drivers were handed their MAPS, told to sign and did so without complaint. Few disputed the expectations. Most could have.
John and I jawed over this throughout the summer, and fall. What if we had a union? We explored the idea and concluded that MAPS, IPP, the whole idea of Fred's Goal Congruent Pay was just another way of avoiding cost of living raises while getting us to work harder. With a union, we could at least negotiate concessions from FedEx in exchange for a "productivity clause" in a collective bargaining agreement. And our pc would take into consideration "public safety.'
Convinced the unions would come to our rescue, we began discussing other issues at FedEx. The GFTP, or how to stand up to a Ten Billion Dollar company and all it's resources without benefit of counsel or a union steward at your side; a conduct and performance policy that can get you canned for three entirely unrelated issues, while our UPS, Airborne and Emery brothers and sisters are protected by a collective bargaining agreement; pay raises that occur, coincidentally, during periods of heavy union activity (Remember '93 and the UAW raise? Remember our current round of increases?); A slow erosion of medical benefits at a higher employee cost. "Out sourcing" of jobs that have been traditionally performed by dedicated, well trained FedEx employees. And lastly, the slow erosion of our DIGNITY. Quite frankly, we FedEx workers are liabilities, a hindrance to company fiscal performance.
After many trips up and down highway 87, John and I were convinced FedEx employees were in dire need of third party representation to deal fairly with FedEx. I even conducted an informal poll of couriers at our station and found a majority of those I spoke with would support a union movement. So what to do? Neither myself or John had ever been exposed to a union environment or for that matter, an organizing effort. We didn't have a clue as to where to start. So, while on vacation after the hideous Peak of '96, I just called the Teamsters at Local 287. The conversation went something like this.
"Local 287.", answered the receptionist.
"Hi, can I speak with a business agent?", I asked
"What company do you work for?"
"FedEx."
Silence. Then, "But FedEx isn't union."
Chuckling, I replied, "I know, that's why I'm calling. We want to change that."
The receptionist put me on hold for a good five minutes. Then she connected me with business agent Ralph Rodriguez-Barriz. He essentially asked me the same questions the receptionist at first, but the conversation expanded to include working conditions, pay, how FedEx applied discipline and how the union operated. I also disclosed my management past at FedEx. That really intrigued him. After about an hour, we agreed to meet the day before the Super Bowl.
The big day arrived, and turnout was pretty much what we expected. Just 14 couriers with the obligatory company mole. Our problem was not a lack of support, but lousy communication. News of the meeting was spread by word of mouth, so naturally, there was confusion about the date and time. Nevertheless, we considered it a success since the Teamsters counseled us on our rights as Americans to unionize. This information, by itself, was immensely useful to those in attendance with no exposure to unions (FedEx trained me in anti-union seminars; I knew exactly what we could and could not do. Armed with videos, flyers and union cards we went on our way.
On the following Monday, our senior manager mentioned the meeting. My, that was fast! Dispassionately, he stated that FedEx employees didn't need a union. His father was a member of one in San Francisco(?) and it wasn't great. Not once did he say, "Don't sign the card!". Good for us.
Later that week, we were informed that someone at the meeting told the senior manager who was there and what was discussed. This bothered me. I called Ralph Rodriguez-Barriz and told him what happened and he said that's to be expected in any organizing effort. Still, I know most of the couriers in the station, some for more than 14 years and to think that one of them was a little mole left me unsettled. Later, we came to accept this problem as natural. It's just human nature. After all, someone turned in Anne Frank to the Nazis, someone was always turning in Russians to the KGB, someone will always be there to inform on others for personal gain. We now accept this phenomenon, however distasteful.
Since our historic meeting, we have formed an organizing committee of 6 dedicated, pissed off unionists. We have since had another meeting at the hall, 2 at coffee shops and have attended 2 conference calls with other locals across the nation. We now know we have support throughout America and Canada. We have the FEDUP web site. We know we are not alone. We are now firmly entrenched at SJCA.
And we've received 2 raises with another coming in October. Gee, this union stuff really pays off!
Now, six months into our organizing effort we have a lull. To get 50% of 250 employees to sign cards is indeed a formidable task. But there's light at the end of the tunnel. In August, our station is splitting off a good hunk of our work force to the new RHVA station. At that time we intend to go all out to obtain our 50% since we'll have fewer employees at SJCA. Our goal is be the first large West Coast station to petition for Teamster representation by January 1, 1998, Railway Act be damned! Until the split, we will continue to get signed cards and document labor violations (most of the organizing committee members keep a personal journal) which is not difficult, considering the extreme pressure we are under to perform as a Station Review Process location. Management really has been a help to our efforts!
The only real problem we haven't been able to overcome is fear. Our employees fear FedEx management despite their rights under the law. What our fearful brothers and sisters need to understand is, outside of propaganda FedEx can do absolutely nothing to organizers without ending up in court or fighting unfair labor violation allegations. This is America, not Red China or some other totalitarian backwater state. Management can't drive tanks into the union hall and grind us into hamburger, although some managers may fantasize about such an act. They can't fire us, they can't harass us, they can't even question us about union activity; we have to initiate the conversation. All pro-union employees must know they have the unions and the laws of the United States of America behind them.
We hope this essay will encourage others to contact their local Teamsters. We can say confidently that they will embrace you enthusiastically and provide you with all the support you need. We can't tell you how supportive the great people at Local 287 have been to our cause. Call any time, make copies of flyers, etc. And now, after a slow start, they have dedicated a national organizer solely to the FedEx drive. With the recent decision by the NLRB, we now face a national battle to unionize. We need every one of you, you who wish retain your dignity and maybe even your job!
Call today!!!!!!.