fredex attempts to blackmail the government
 

Looks like Fred is getting desperate, finally the playing ground between fdx and ups will be leveled. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

$6.7 billion threat: FedEx warns lawmakers over union legislation : fdx : Memphis Commercial Appeal

nightrider

Rrrrrreeeeewwwwwweeerrr, hiss, hiss, spit spit.........easy there kitty-kitty:D

I'm puttin' my money on Fred and that he will get his way. Seems he always does.

Blackmail is such an ugly word.

Fred built one of the world's best companies from the ground up, and you are nobody.

Futureman......you forgot the smiley face..........and.......does a cape come with the moniker?:);)

According to wikipedia, On June 18, 1971, Smith founded Federal Express with his $4 million inheritance. He also had the help of some of the country's elite families like the Bushes and other Skull and Bones types.

He did indeed build a great company, but he wouldn't have been able to do it without his dad's money and his dad's connections.

This really has nothing to do with it. The fact is that he did it. How many people with the same connections actually do succeed. Being successful requires that one take advantage of the connections that we have. How did many of us get the jobs that we have. How is that different?

In today's dollars, he had about 25 million bucks from his dad to get his company started.

That's a pretty good head start over all of us. If I had $25 million to start a company, I bet I could make it a success too - especially if you throw in a few of daddy's senator friends, etc.

But FedEx is a great company, no doubt about it.

You are right no vision there. Anyone could have done it.:confused:

Freds daddy died when he was 4.

Well I guess his daddy's $25 million and influence had nothing to do with his success then. :p

More Data:

FedEx Threatens to Cancel Jet Orders - WSJ.com

Fed officials say policies must tackle growth, prices

Senatorial influence from the grave, no wonder you just fly airplanes:p

You pilots should be happy that you have a union to back you up. I'm one of the RTD's let me tell you, I can't wait for the chance to see us "drivers" fall under the NLRB, and I hope that you will give us the support that is needed to make this happen.

When we were called Federal Express things were different, now that we are called FedEx Express things have changed for the worse for the hourly employees.

GJ.

Yeah, you're probably right. Once a very rich and powerful man dies, his influence ends right then and there.

I can see you are quite taken with Fred. Sorry, I feel like I kicked your dog and insulted your wife or something and personally insulted you. Feel free to love Fred all you want. It's really okay with me. :D

Bad mouth Fred all you want, especially when you get furloughed, I am sure you will haver plenty of free time on your hands to do so:eek:

You're right Timo.

I love Fred too now. He is the bestest of the best. Fred is cooler than cool ranch Doritos.

Do you have a Fred shrine above your bed that I can borrow so I can worship him and love him like you do? :D

Maybe, you can gaze at it with starry eyes and the goosebumps of the man envy that you seem to be displaying in fine childish form:D:D

So you do have a Fred shrine then huh?

Weirdo!


:cool:

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

deleted........

Dear Dear Capt Cook,

I'm soory you cannot uphold the ethics and standards of your self chosen moniker. Instead of a bold, honest and self critical pioneer, you chose to be a shallow, sniping whiner. Change your avatar or change your tune.......if you have any integrity or ethics at all at all.:) cheers

I prefer to use the word extortion.

After reading your posts, I'd bet you couldn't.

TimoC,

Regardless of what you think about FS, this is at least the second time since January 2009 when you joined this forum that you have taunted fellow pilots about potential furloughs.

Very, very cool.

Wouldn't this scenario be great.
 

UPS announces that it will take over the delivery slots for the 777's that Fred is using to extort the government with. :D


At UPS there is Union loyalty with the Teamsters and the IPA. What does the pilot group at Fed Ex think about this?

Fed Ex is retiring alot of aircraft in the next few years. MD-10's are not new aircraft after conversion. If Fred cancels the 777 and the economy rebounds which we all know it will. This would hurt Fed Ex bad due to lack of lift.

Nice Sabre Rattling Fred. Not a good choice though.

It sounds like this Fred guy is a great God. Where do you worship? lol

Yeah, I'll get right on that.:rolleyes:

Fred is a smart guy and he has alot of other smart guys working for him. If you think that Fred hasnt thought about all the possible scenarios and then FedEx's responses to those scenarios, you would be underestimating the man, the myth, the legend of FRED. Let him do his stuff, he knows what he is doing, he knows how to tweak the stooges up for reelection soon.

Way to go FRED......destroy others right to a better life and working conditions so you can save a buck...

....Why is FRED so afraid of UNIONS.....could it be he knows he is screwing those who make his company what it is???.....

I hope he has jobs for those Boeing workers who could be displaced by his principles.

Blackmail? Extortion? Powerful words.

All because of a clause in a contract. You are some naive folks. If one puts down serious coin on a purchase that is dependent on certain economic assumptions for a successful outcome, you should have clauses in your contract to back out if you need to. If you don't you are assuming more risk than you should. Read--not being as smart as you could be.

Jealousy is such an ugly emotion.

We all know that Fred Smith is anti-union. As Sideshow Bob stated earlier, "Fred Smith has balls" to try something like this, at this time. For the sake of the non union contractors I hope they eventually get a union. Every employee deserves to have similar benefits. If the public doesn't want socialized medicine, or social security benefits then I believe it should be provided by the employer as a benefit of committing a career to their company (I also think that said company should get tax breaks for providing those benefits). As a Brown employee I honestly hope the playing field will eventually be leveled by having a predominately unionized labor force. I know that at UPS, labor unions are certainly necessary, but I can't speak for FedEx since I don't work there.

If Employees.....
 

felt like their employer cared about their welfare then unions would not be needed.

Sadly in this industry we do things for our employer all because "ITS FOR THE COMPANY" .. reality though if we bust a FAR in the process it is our butts on the line and we potentially lose our CERTS....The company has their Attorneys...Do You.....This is where the union comes in as they will provide representation for the hearings at no charge at least mine does.

Fred is showing his true colors holding hostage the welfare of Boeing workers so he can be sure to take care of his own interest...

SELFISHNESS and ARROGANCE

If Unions....
 

were so great congress would not need to eliminate the secret ballot to help shove them down reluctant employee throats.

You girls are taking this much to personally. This was a clause in a contract. Fred wrote the contract with his current business model in mind. If UPS and their stooges in congress change his business model fred may or may not need to change the contract.

Hello pot....this is the___________.

Its just business. With a 30+% advantage on cost would you not go after this as well??

Exactly, reread the posts on these two threads. You have Fedex guys (generally) saying this is business. You have UPS guys (including known union sympathizer AVG Joe:confused:) saying what a peice of excrement Fred is for doing everything he can to keep his costs inline. I can't understand it. :rolleyes:

FedEx in Fight With Organized Labor
 

FedEx in Fight With Organized Labor

Ted Reed
03/27/09 - 04:54 PM EDT
Updated from 11:27 a.m. EDT
As organized labor has gained ascendance with the election of a Democratic president and a Democratic Congress, FedEx(FDX Quote - Cramer on FDX - Stock Picks) has staked out a position as a leader of the opposition.

Democratic gains have boosted support for two measures that are important to labor organizing -- and anathema to FedEx. One is the Employee Free Choice Act, or "card-check" bill.

It would enable a union to be recognized if a majority of employees sign cards requesting one, rather than allowing companies to call for secret-ballot elections. It would also enable either side to request binding arbitration if a contract agreement cannot be reached within 120 days of an election.

The momentum in favor of card check slowed this week, when Sen. Arlen Specter (R., Pa.), who had been considered a key swing vote, reversed a previous indication of support and said he would oppose the bill. Now the act's future is unclear.

Also in play is FedEx's classification under labor law. A change could potentially make it easier for unions to organize and would require FedEx to be treated in the same way as its principal competitor, UPS(UPS Quote - Cramer on UPS - Stock Picks).

FedEx stridently opposes the change, saying congressional approval would force it to abandon plans to order 30 new aircraft from Boeing(BA Quote - Cramer on BA - Stock Picks), potentially dealing a blow to the fragile economy.

At a rally in Los Angeles on Thursday, Teamster leaders, social activists and U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez (D., Calif.), excoriated FedEx and released a report entitled: "Keeping FedEx Jobs in the Middle Class in Los Angeles."

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa says the report "tells us what we know (about) the vicious anti-labor atmosphere that prevails at FedEx" and "shines a light on the cockroaches at FedEx."

Sanchez said FedEx is "trying to create a hostage situation by threatening to pull contracts from Boeing, (but) we will not be cowed into submission."

FedEx spokesman Maury Lane says he's heard it all before. "Every time (Teamster) revenue and membership decline, they pick FedEx to help replenish their numbers and coffers," he said. "It has been this way for over 25 years."

FedEx speaks out regularly against card check, most recently on a March earnings conference call when CEO Fred Smith said "we don't agree with the concept of doing away with the secret ballot," while general counsel Chris Richards said that mandatory arbitration means "a person who knows nothing about the industry or knows little would be setting those wages and benefits."

Most organizing at FedEx currently falls under the Railway Labor Act, which requires companywide employee voting, which is challenging for unions.

By contrast, UPS labor organizing falls under the National Labor Relations Act, which allows workers to organize on a location-by-location basis. That makes it far easier for unions to get a foot in the door. The Teamsters represent 240,000 UPS workers.

In 1996, the Senate inserted a provision in the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill, assuring that the Railway Labor Act covers FedEx, even though Congress had removed a similar provision from applicable laws a year earlier. Now, a pending FAA reauthorization bill would again remove the protection FedEx enjoys.

Lane says FedEx agreed to buy 777s in January, "in a very challenging economic period, when most companies were not making economic commitments." The agreement ends if the company's labor status changes. Union organizing could subject FedEx to "local disruptions," he says, and, "There's no way we can enter into an agreement (without) certainty about our ability to fully utilize these aircraft."

Reminded that UPS operates successfully despite falling under the National Labor Relations Act, Lane said the two companies are different. UPS was a trucking company that created an airline, while FedEx started as an airline, operating under a law created to help key transportation providers avoid labor disruptions.

UPS is larger, with revenue of $51 billion and 425,000 employees, including 355,000 in the U.S. FedEx has revenue of $23 billion and 290,000 employees and contractors, including 230,000 in the U.S. The airline division, FedEx Express, has 143,000 workers: They are covered by the Railway Labor Act.

Because the remainder includes foreign workers, 14,000 drivers who are independent contractors, and many part-time package sorters, all groups unlikely to seek union representation, the Teamsters and the International Association of Machinists have focused on periodic efforts to organize airline workers, particularly drivers and mechanics. (FedEx pilots are represented by a pilots union.)

The IAM, the nation's biggest airline union, says it would renew organizing efforts at FedEx if Congress alters the company's classification. "We would certainly seek to organize the automotive mechanics, the customer service agents and the ground workers," said Robert Roach, general vice president of the International Association of Machinists.

Roach said workers at Flying Tiger Airlines were represented by the IAM before FedEx bought it in the mid-1980s. The union currently represents about 4,000 mechanics at UPS. Roach says having the two companies covered by different laws "is unfair to workers at both UPS and FedEx because workers suffer when you have different standards at a competitor."

As for UPS, it believes that under existing labor laws, "you have some truly illogical and disparate treatment of companies that do the exact same thing," says spokesman Norman Black. "We believe there can be no justification for treating these employees differently. We're glad to see that Congress is moving to correct the inconsistency."

FedEx shares closed down $1.30, or 2.8% to $45.68. UPS shares finished lower by 35 cents or 0.7% to $50.11.

Management's sole 'raison d'être' is to maximize shareholder wealth. That involves paying their machines (people) as little as possible to get the job done. Why does this surprise anyone?

Besides, sometimes the proverbial gun to the government's head is just what the the doctor ordered. A company only gets the union it deserves. Fred knows this and knows it well. Keeping them out is in his best interest and the interest of his rich pals.

Could this be the beginning of a run at the "big house" for Fred?