Don't shoot the messenger
 

This letter was in the WSJ today. Bon apetit!

With your editorial "The Big Brown Union Bailout" (April 26), the Journal has bought into a fundamentally distorted view of efforts by Congress to level the competitive playing field in the express delivery business.
Your premise is that legislation now before Congress somehow will force FedEx Corp. to unionize and thereby destroy its business model. This ignores a basic fact: FedEx has had more than 100,000 employees governed for years by the very labor law that now is portrayed as a union-friendly dagger to the heart of its business model. Yet not one of those FedEx employees has ever joined a union, and there is no reason to expect otherwise.
To meet the needs of the modern economy, package delivery businesses such as UPS and FedEx have evolved to operate networks that utilize both air and ground transportation. Pilots and airline mechanics in the air operations of UPS and FedEx are governed by the Railway Labor Act.
The proposed legislation does not affect employees involved in airline-specific duties such as flying planes; it affects people driving trucks.
Drivers at UPS, FedEx and the nation's other delivery companies do the same work, drive the same kinds of trucks, follow similar schedules, and deliver to the same customers. There is absolutely no reason they should be governed by different labor laws.
For years, FedEx has used its unique position under the law to try to lure customers from other delivery companies by claiming that its service somehow is more reliable. FedEx has leveraged its special treatment under the law to avoid fair and open competition.
FedEx argues that because it was originally organized as an airline it is somehow different from its competitors, and its drivers ought to be governed under laws relating to airlines. The facts and common sense tell a different tale.
FedEx says, and your editorial repeats, that 85% of its packages are delivered by air, and somehow that makes the company different than its competitors. Such statements by FedEx are intentionally misleading.
The reality is that all FedEx and UPS packages are delivered by drivers in trucks. UPS and FedEx both operate airlines, and drivers for each company deliver approximately two million express packages each day.
Congress has a clear and easy choice. It's long past time that drivers doing the same business should be under the same laws.
Scott Davis
Chairman and CEO
UPS Inc.
Atlanta

I'm confused. Who's that? The FDX Ground guys?

Yep. Freddo had a carve out (earmark) put in the 1996 FAA reauthorization that specifically prohibits FedEx ground guys from having union representation by claiming they come under the RLA, as opposed to the NLRA that governs every other similar job in the US. He's had Lamar carrying his water...and cashing his checks...since then.

www.fedexdriversarentpilots.com

Huh? No reason to expect otherwise? Then, why would he care what labor laws they organize under?

It's simple, just have two groups of UPS drivers, like Fedex. One group delivers air packages(RLA), and one group delivers ground packages(NLRB). There...The playing field is level.

1) No one at FedEx is specifically prohibited from having union representaion.

2) Only workers for "FedEx Express" operate under the RLA. The other 140,000+/- employees of Fedex Corporation are NOT covered under the RLA.

Hey Scott Davis, the airline industry is deregulated, for good or for bad.

That means that companies settle their differences through straight competition and business models, not by crying to the government about the other companies.

Here we go......

This is gonna be fun to watch!!:D

Disclaimer: I work for UPS

Uh, Mr. Davis? If you don't think they are going to organize anyway, why do YOU care if the FedEx drivers are covered under the RLA or NLRA?

What i don't get is why Davis is trying to unionize fedex while him and his budds in atlanta are constantly beating and trying to break up the unions at brown. AHHHHH FORGOT IT'S ABOUT MONEY AGAIN>:rolleyes:

I don't think either company is claiming the high ground on this.

How about training your guns on market share, free trade, China expansion, India expansion, Europe expansion - go get us some more business. Truckers making 80 a year versus 40 a year shouldn't be the prime directive right now. It's soaking up all our press time. We should be making headlines by cutting red ribbons on new facilities and buying more airplanes.