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6/14/97

By now, many, if not all of you, have heard that the NLRB finally handed down the long-awaited decision concerning the jurisdictional disposition of FedEx employees. For those of you who haven't heard, the NLRB decided that FedEx is subject to the RLA and therefore falls under the jurisdiction of the NMB (National Mediation Board).

Already, I've heard reports of FedEx management thumping their chests and declaring victory over the unions while cheerfully reporting this news to employees! I'm reminded of the old Chicago Daily Tribune blunder when the staff prematurely printed an edition of their paper with the headline "Dewey Defeats Truman" only to be humiliated when Truman won the election. Such reports of unfounded bravado on the part of some management people only serves to illustrate just how little they understand the cause we support and the tenacity of our collective will! The fat lady has not even appeared on the distant horizon but some managers seem convinced that the final curtain is falling on the union movement at FedEx. Let them believe that! Let them rest on their laurels! It will make our job all the the more easier and our victory all the more sweet....

To begin with, the NLRB's ruling was predictable. I've said as much several times already in other articles on this site. Union officials have privately confided that they too expected this decision. From the very beginning, we've all realized that we would almost certainly have to face up to the reality that organizing FedEx employees would require a national campaign and our efforts have been continuously focused toward attaining that goal. We all knew that regardless of how unwarranted our being under the control of the RLA is, Fred, his lobbyists and his money carry far too much weight in Washington to be thwarted by something as feeble as common sense, industrial realities and justice...

It would be a grave mistake though, if we were to say that the ruling means absolutely nothing to us! Off the top of my head, I can think of two very important things the ruling demonstrates. First of all, it clearly proves that for the first time in the entire history of FedEx, our organizing efforts have attained such strength that the NLRB, which has been sitting on this ruling for 6 years, was finally convinced that there was enough union activity within FedEx to warrant considering the issue and finally making a ruling! That fact, in and of itself, should have FedEx employees everywhere celebrating! It should also demonstrate just how stupid those in management who are currently thumping their chests really are!

The second effect the ruling should have on us is to strengthen our resolve! After all, we now have proof that the NLRB is just another Washington bureaucracy which cannot be relied upon to break away from Fritz Hollings and the other Washington political hacks who willingly ignore the original intent of the RLA in favor of political expediency! Now, more than ever, we should be determined to unite and teach the bosses, pols, lobbyists and bureaucrats that dignity has no price tag on it!

The only question that the ruling really raises which we must contend with is by what method will we gauge future progress in our organizing efforts? Until now, the unions have been filing station and district-sized petitions with the NLRB as we have secured the support of majorities of workers in those units. It was those petitions which served as an odometer of our progress. In speaking with two union officials, two future strategies were postulated. One possibility is that we could continue to file petitions with the NLRB even though they will now be rejected. The second option is to simply report whenever a majority of workers at any given location have signed authorization cards. There may be other options that have not yet been raised as well. In any event, a method of reporting our progress will most certainly be decided upon shortly and I'll let everyone know as soon as I find out what that method will be.

It really surprised me that some of my coworkers came to me last week with fear in their voices and dread in their hearts over the news of the ruling! Pause a moment and just think about all we have accomplished in the short span of time the union movement has been really active at FedEx! In one year we've put enough pressure on the powers that be to wake the NLRB up after a 6 year nap and shake two raises out of Fred's wallet after a 7 year famine! In short, this has been a banner season for our cause! So, if you were one of those who saw gloom and doom in the news of the ruling or were bullied by management's cocky posturing over it, I offer this advice. As a courier, you were taught five cardinal rules of safe driving. One of those rules is "get the big picture!" That rule will serve you well if you apply it to more than just your driving....

A senior manager involved in a pyramid scheme where his own employees were ripped off at Christmas time? A manager running a car wash business out of his FedEx office? Employees having $.41 an hour taken away in a FedEx sleight-of-hand called "red circling?" An annual uniform allowance of $110? A sixteen month suspension of safety shoe allowances? Surely John Denver wasn't singing about CKB or it's satellite station CKB-SC when he was singing the praises of West Virginia in "Take Me Home, Country Roads!"

Jim Mayfield has one of those country boy voices and an easygoing demeanor that make you instantly want to call him friend! Furthermore, his voice doesn't betray his feelings as he carefully recites the above litany of injustices that have been going on at his station (CKB) and the smaller satellite station (CKB-SC) where many of his friends work. Instead, he simply states the facts as he knows them in an even-toned and tempered matter-of-fact manner that instantly lets you know that you can take his word to the bank! In fact, back when FedEx instituted an investigation of the manager who was involved in the pyramid scheme, the folks at the district management level sent the investigator to talk to Jim because they knew he'd shoot straight with him.

As a 14 year FedEx employee, Jim has seen it all. He has watched in disbelief as managers at his station have screwed over friends they've known for years that they hired themselves! Imagine a manager in a station where about 80% of the employees are his so-called personal friends, taking away the safety shoe allowance for 16 months until being threatened with a GFT? What kind of "friend" would reduce the annual uniform allowance to $110 (here in Chicago, the allowance is $250) in an area where couriers load their vehicles outdoors in the mountainous terrain of West Virginia where -35 degree wind chills blow through the valleys and four-wheel drive delivery vans are necessary!? Wasn't it bad enough that FedEx "red-circled" CKB-SC and took $.41 an hour from them? Even with the recent 3% raise, those poor folks are still $.02 in the hole from where they were a year ago!!! And even though the folks at CKB have a roof over their heads to sort under, they had to beg and complain repeatedly until management finally got off a few bucks to buy a fan to offset some of the sweat box effect of their tin-roofed station in the summer months! Of course, they still have to contend with having extension cords lying in water on the floor when snow melts off their vehicles in winter! Sounds like OSHA would have a field day at this FedEx gulag!

Well, FedEx pushed Jim and his coworkers just a bit too far. Even laid-back country folks have their limit! Of course, when word of employees meeting with Teamster officials got back to management, all hell broke loose! FedEx sent a personnel honcho from their Washington, DC office out to CKB to perform damage control. Jim said that it was the first time in 14 years that anyone had even laid eyes on anyone from personnel at his station! Jim's manager, Kevin Smith, was virtually frothing at the mouth when he told employees that if a union came in Fred would probably shut the station down and subcontract deliveries out as FedEx used to do in the area! Kevin also said that since FedEx would likely use him to hire the subcontractors, he'd be calling the shots as to who got to work and who was left out in the cold altogether! I wonder if Kevin realizes that threatening to shut a facility down because of union activity is a violation of federal law.....? I can't believe that someone with a great name like Kevin could behave so badly! Then again, his last name is Smith....

Jim also finds himself wondering how it is that his station has suddenly won "Best Practices" two months running and appears to have a lock on second place this month as well? He seems to suspect that someone is cooking the books at his station or at the district level to use "Best Practices" as a source of hush money to quell the restless natives and thwart the union's efforts. Unfortunately for FedEx, it is likely too late to jam the genie back in the bottle at Clarksburg and Elkins. Better than a third of the 60 or so employees from the three area stations showed up at their first union meeting! Several employees expressed support for the cause even though they couldn't make it to the meeting because of vacations or prior commitments, so getting a majority to sign authorization cards is pretty much in the bag there already!

There must be something strange in the waters out in Modesto, California! At least in the waters FedEx management out there imbibes. It seems that not only did they see the NLRB ruling as a reason to call a "State of the Station" meeting to gloat about the ruling, but they then saw fit to remove Pilar Barton from the meeting to prevent her from dousing their parade with a little rain of truth! Of course, Pilar was not removed from the meeting before one of her co-workers, a fellow by the name of Steve Prescott, remarked that the maybe the ruling would "shut these idiots up" while looking straight at Pilar! If that weren't bad enough, little Stevie Prescott then asked Pilar "How much are the Teamsters paying you?" in front of everyone at the meeting! It was only when Pilar told the managers and the Personnel Director who were present at the meeting that she demanded a letter for unacceptable conduct be placed in Stevie's file that the Personnel Director took her out of the meeting!

The Personnel Director claimed that he had been sent to discuss charges Pilar had filed with the NLRB. When Pilar said she wanted to attend the meeting and suggested that they discuss the matter afterwards, the Personnel Director told her she could not attend the meeting. Pilar then proceeded to inform the Personnel Director that she had documented everything that she perceived as unfair labor practices which she had observed over the past 3 1/2 years. The Personnel Director then told Pilar that her charges with the NLRB meant nothing. He did seem to be a bit disconcerted, however, when Pilar mentioned that she had also filed them with the EEOC....

What a brave bunch of folks those Modesto managers are! They're so frightened of the truth that they orchestrate the removal of any dissident voices from their meeting so they can spout their drivel without fear of contradiction! And ain't it grand that we work for a company where little boys like Stevie Prescott can pull on the girls' pigtails with impunity while our management looks on with mute approval. I wonder if little Stevie would be such a tough guy if his target were a man...?

In any case, regardless of what tricks management in Modesto resorts to and no matter how much they allow little Stevie to torment those that he feels threatened by, one irrefutable fact will always remain. We've got the majority at Modesto on our side and Pilar was the one that did it.....!

I would like to get my hands on a photo or two of our beloved leader, Fred, for use on the web site but every one I have access to are images with copyright implications. If Fred visited your station or if you are in Memphis (or Washington) and have a photo you took of him, I'd really like to have a copy! I promise that the photos will be put to good use and that the results will be hilarious! E-mail me if you have such a photo.

I thought I'd start a regular feature in my monthly updates where I'd include excerpts from e-mail I receive and my answers/comments to these snippets where applicable. This will enable people to see what is on the minds of other FedExers besides yours truly and might also answer questions visitors to the site may have been thinking of asking. Each set of asterisks (***) denotes that the excerpt is from a different sender. Here's the first batch.

***Let's not forget that our work force includes more than just drivers. Customer Service Agents need a contract, also. A handler or courier brought into the office to do CSA work takes money out of my pocket. I have watch them fire someone in the office and replace them with a part time handler. When I mentioned to this individual that she was doing CSA work at handler pay she replied "sometimes you have to do what you have to do". Does that include taking the food off the table of someone else?

I certainly haven't forgotten you CSAs! I've mentioned the trails and tribulations you folks have to deal with in a couple of articles on this site already and will continue to do so as I am made aware of new problems unique to your positions.

As for handlers being used by management to do CSA work, I can't say that I'm surprised by that. After all, we're working for a company which strings handlers along for years before making them couriers while having them regularly run routes, strings part-timers along for years before making them full-time while regularly having them put in 8 hour days and would probably steal flies from a blind spider if given the opportunity! Just as handlers are taking bread off the tables of CSAs at your station, so also do part-time couriers working full-time hours take bread off the table of full-time couriers. If there's one thing FedEx management has mastered, it's the art of exploiting people without properly compensating them. At the same time, such exploitation sets employees against one another and creates the "every man for himself" mentality your cargo handler coworker clearly expressed to you! This only serves to enhance and expand the power management has because a fragmented work force at odds with one another is an isolated work force that is easily controlled. It's just another subtle variation of the "divide and conquer" strategy that has become the hallmark of FedEx management.

***Many of our Fedex employees are looking at retirement in the next 2 to 5 years. One of my co-workers voiced his concerns that when Fedex does become a unionized organization, the company may take away the retirement pkg they now offer. I would like to see the retirement package that is already in place be secured, and future benefits increased to look more like what the UPS employees are receiving.

Your coworker's "concerns" are entirely unfounded but are typical and understandable given the years and years of anti-union propaganda everyone at FedEx has been exposed to. Think about it! How can anyone possibly believe that a union would ask workers to give away what they already have and have the remotest of hopes of getting those workers to vote for a contract that included such stipulations!? Would you trade in your car in for the same make, year and model with less accessories? Would you trade a three bedroom home for one that has two bedrooms right next door to you?

I don't mean to sound as though I'm accusing your coworker of being stupid, but isn't it clear that he or she has been thoroughly brainwashed by the company if he or she could even harbor such an unreasonable concern? Who would be foolish enough to vote for a contract where we all lose ground rather than gaining ground? Who would even vote for a contract where we stay at our current level of wages, benefits and protection? Who is stupid enough to pay dues to an organization that bargained what we already have away? I know that FedEx managers throughout the country have tried to convince people that they might actually lose ground if they unionize and that no union can guarantee gains, but the fact that people are so blind as to buy this tripe is utterly fascinating to me! A union that fails to lead workers to a more bountiful table than they already sit at is a union that will never get a contract vote or a penny of dues! That's just plain old common sense!

***I just wanted to write you a short message to let you know how much I enjoy your web site. It is informative and contains much needed information that most employees at Fedex don't know, and management doesn't want us to know.

Your writing skills are superb, and it is obvious that you are well educated. I just wish there was a way this information could be more widely distributed to the employees at Fedex. Keep up the good work!!

Thanks for your kind words about the site! As for your wish that this information be more widely distributed to FedEx employees, the granting of that wish is entirely in your very own hands. You and others who find information that you think your peers should have access to can do more at the grass roots level than you can imagine to get the word out. Make copies of the articles on my site and other sites or sources. Give them to your trusted coworkers or place them where other employees will be able to find them like break rooms, locker rooms and parking lots. Stick with non-work areas so management can't harass or discipline you.

By the way, Local 710 here in Chicago has been willing to make as many copies of flyers and articles from my site as I've asked for. I'm certain that your local union office will also be equally happy to help you in this regard, so you won't have to use your own money to make copies of literature you want to distribute. Stop by their office and ask them. If they seem uncooperative, please let me know and perhaps I can have one of the union officials I'm in touch with contact your local office to get them on board with your efforts. I doubt if you'll need this type of intervention though.

Just remember that Federal law protects your right to engage in such activities in non-work areas like the aforementioned and that the unions have pledged their legal support for anyone who loses their job for engaging in such activities. FedEx tries to scare people by constantly redefining "solicitation" and designating areas as work areas when they clearly are not, but if taken to court over such tactics, they know that they'd lose BIG TIME! That's why GFTs concerning such cases of "solicitation" are routinely overturned once they reach VP level because the Veeps and Directors know that there isn't a judge in the land who would side with FedEx for calling a break room filled with vending machines, a microwave, and a coffee maker a "work area" just because there's a TV in it that is used occasionally to watch FXTV. A FedEx lawyer would have the judge's foot print on the seat of his Armani slacks if he ever tried to present such a lame argument in court and FedEx knows this!

So now that you've found the site, visit often and spread the word. Whether you do it by printing the articles and sharing them or just passing along the site address to your coworkers with computers, you hold the key to making your own wish a reality.

***Unfortunately, although there are many unhappy, complaining employees at my station, the anti-union sentiment is still strong somehow, and it's been an uphill battle...despite all of the negative changes at Fedex, to convince people that a supporting a union is a good thing for them. So myself and a few other employees have felt very frustrated in our attempts to get anything going. The company has been very successful in it's efforts to dissuade union interest at my station.

Your experience is not at all unique so don't feel too discouraged. FedEx has had a quarter of a century to indoctrinate its employees with stories of the evils of unions so resistance to the idea is entirely predictable. Furthermore, if you were to get many of your seemingly unsympathetic coworkers to sit down with you at a local pub and asked them their true feelings over a brew or two, you'd likely find that their unsympathetic attitude about unions is merely a mask for their fear of becoming involved in the cause even to the point of merely filling out an authorization card. For reasons that I've yet to understand, there are a whole lot of folks out there who somehow think that if they fill out an authorization card, FedEx management will know they did and target them for harassment and/or termination. In order to believe that, they must somehow imagine that the union is going to report that they have joined the cause to their managers! Like I said, I don't understand how they make this connection in their minds, but they nevertheless do!

What you need to do is remain steadfast in your commitment while also remaining patient. Don't get frustrated because that frustration will become evident to those you deal with. Try sharing some of the information you find on my site and others with a few of your reluctant coworkers. If I were to suggest any one article on the site as being most conducive to persuading people that something serious is amiss at FedEx, it would be the article "About The Railway Labor Act." The reason I think that article is important is because it clearly demonstrates that FedEx employees are unjustifiably handicapped in their working relationship with management and have been placed in this unenviable situation by the political maneuvers of our CEO. Understanding that (I doubt that many FedExers do) should be enough to stir the anger of any fair-minded individual that believes in a level playing field. The second most persuasive document on the site that you might consider spreading around is the "Why This Web Page Exists" article. It should be persuasive to most people because it is easy to see how any employee could find themselves out of a job for utterly trivial reasons that in no way reflect their proven ability to satisfy our customers! I think it would enable most readers to clearly understand that there's nothing "guaranteed" or necessarily "fair" about the "treatment" management metes out to employees and any one of us could find ourselves in such dire circumstances with just a couple of twists of fate and/or management machinations...

Nothing of any value in life comes easy. The restoration of our dignity as workers at FedEx will be no exception to this rule. It will take our time, our patience and our persistence.

***I thought you would like to know the little rumor that has been spreading like wildfire through vehicle maintenance. We suspect that since we are required to vendor all overflow work and not allowed to work any overtime, Fed Ex is about to sell off the vehicle maintenance to a outside vendor. Rumors are flying that Penske is interested.

I've heard from mechanics elsewhere who rail about the wasteful way in which they are forced to send work out to vendors who charge FedEx far more than it would cost the company if they simply allowed the mechanics to put in overtime to do the jobs themselves. The absurd thing about it is that the only reason the work is vended out is just so The managers of the mechanics can look good on paper! Forget the actual cost to the company! Just make the reports look pretty!

It wouldn't surprise me if FedEx turned vehicle maintenance over to an outside vendor altogether. After all, it was just last year that they discontinued the BERT program and hired a subcontractor to come in and fix our radios and DADs units. It's also been my experience that mechanics seem to be universally pro-union, so maybe that's at least part of the reason why FedEx might be considering such a move...

***Many at the station feel their job is at risk for the smallest of an infraction, morale is at its lowest in the 8 years I have been there. Today I also found out that the UAW lost its appeal to the NLRB board so, no union for the Phila district. It will now be open season on UAW sympathizers. Without name please, call or email if any questions.

I wouldn't worry about an "open season" on union sympathizers if I were you. If a pattern of systematic persecution of pro-union employees is ever evidenced either at a specific location or corporate wide, FedEx would be leaving itself vulnerable to a class-action lawsuit of monumental proportions not to mention fines and/or imprisonment at the hands of federal authorities for violations of labor laws. If you see any evidence of such a concerted effort on the part of management, immediately contact local union officials and appraise them of the situation. They will be able to steer you toward the appropriate course of action.

***The following quotes were recorded at a meeting of RTD drivers after the firing of three managers at SEA Ramp. Chris Savage is a Regional Director ( I think ) in the trucking area (RTD, heavyweight) of Fedex on the west coast. Please note that the three managers were all former Flying Tiger employees and each had above normal scores for their portion of the SFA.

Chris Savage      12 June 1997

In a mandatory morning meeting of AM Ramp Transport Drivers.

"For those of you folks who don't want to change, and those of you folks that don't want to do what it is we want you to do ; If you don't make the decision, we will make that decision for you. I will promise you that."

"But at this point we have zero tolerance for anybody out there trying to rough the waters; to make it a little more difficult for us. Because there's too much going on; we've got too much to take care of."

Hmmmm... Sounds like Mr. Savage is quite the diplomat! Hope his cattle prod is fully charged! I once had an ex-Tiger manager as my boss and he confided that he thought his Tiger background was a liability insofar as his career at FedEx is concerned. Judging by what happened to your three ex-Tiger managers, it looks as though his paranoia was justified.

***I heard tonight that FedEx is suing A T Kearny. Check around with your contacts, will you?

You think maybe FedEx finally figured out that hiring a bunch of people who look like they've never broken a sweat in their entire lives to measure and determine how much we should produce was a mistake and that they were had!? I haven't heard anything about it yet, but I'm glad you mentioned A.T. Kearny because it reminds me of our last visit from the "kalculator kids." Our resident "engineer" tipped the scales at somewhere in excess of 300 lbs. He used to actually have to walk all the way around the sort belt in the morning because he couldn't fit between the trucks that were normally spaced in their parking spots! Don't get me wrong. I'm not ridiculing the man because of his weight. I'm not exactly svelte myself! It's just that asking such a person to determine the physical capabilities of employees seems as implausible as asking a mechanic to describe the proper technique for performing a heart transplant. I mean, if ever the old saying that "Those that can,... do! Those that can't,... teach!" was ever applicable...

Anyway, I'll ask around. Maybe someone visiting the site has heard something and will e-mail me with the particulars, if any.

***Couriers at HNB are being contacted, at home, by a outside party doing a survey on the SFA for FedEx. Is this company wide? Or just at HNB?

It's news to me! Nobody I know of at GYY has been contacted. Maybe someone visiting the site from another part of the country will let me know if they've been contacted in a similar manner. Was there anything spectacularly dismal about HNB's survey results? Who knows? Maybe more folks than just me have voiced their suspicions about the credibility of the SFA and FedEx is testing the waters to see if the suspicion is systemic.

Getting to the point...the money was great in 1984,85, 86.... But in 1997,... it no longer pays the bills! The figure on my W2 forms is no different now than in the mid 80's.

The "younguns" they hire at our station love it. Where else can a 24 year old kid make 15 bucks an hour in our area?....NO WHERE!! What they don't understand is 15 years from now, when they have wives, children, homes, broken cars and home appliances, they will be asking..."Fred....hast thou forgotten us"? I like to tell these kids that in 1986 I used to stop at roadside restaurants for lunch and get 2 pcs of chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and ice tea w/free refills for $1.75,... Now you can't get sick on a Mac for that price!

The U.A.W. is organizing in the Washington/ Northern Va. area. I emailed the Teamsters over a year ago. I had no idea they were working so hard in the North, West, and Midwest. I have not participated at all with the U.A.W. The Teamsters have been a dream of mine for more than 5 years. I have received several of the "FEDEX NEWS EXPRESS" issues. I will be happy to be the "Underground" for the Teamsters at (identifier deleted).

I hate long emails and you probably do too. You said no one ever hit on Fred because he is so revered....I'll leave you with this....my work written over a year ago that mysteriously appeared on a bulletin board at work...........

What really hurts is after working a Christmas with U.P.S. ('83) I was the only temp that the Mgr. told to call them in March of '84 and he would have a job for me. In Jan. of '84 I was hired by Federal. At that time the 40 cents pay difference was of no consequence. I am sick because my children, wife, and home really needs the 5 dollars an hour more my U.P.S. friends are making today.

What could I possibly add to this except Bravo Zulu!!!