After re-reading, I concur, sorry FH. I guess I'm just upset at those whom are voicing their vilification towards our fellow pilots in HKG. Thought I read a post from you earlier towards that effect. It was another person.

Ok lets take this scenario.... one child lives on Mars and his wife is a teamster in Detroit and they want to meet half way in ......oh never mind

And nonenforceability of some of the terms of the LOA. Case in point: I know one of the fired pilots and he definitely did not lie when he signed the LOA or the housing certification form. The company never asked his spouse to sign anything. PWC has confirmed that the pilot established residency in HKG based on IRS criteria. (Note that the IRS "allows" married couples to live in different places.) FDX's last chance offer to this pilot did not involve any tax issues, just a six figure repayment of the HA (plus 35% interest -- on funds that were already in a landlord's pocket!), several months' unpaid suspension, admittance of guilt, cancellation of a state civil rights complaint, and career-long probation.

Amazingly, word is the company was surprised the pilot did not consider this a great deal. Memphis needs to get its head out of its parochial little box and realize that what it did was set a value for the alternative to acceding to the company's demands. Give FDX six figures and spend the rest of your career twitching at loud noises, or take a multi-month vacation and spend the money on legal fees, with a good chance of winning the state civil rights case?

Even if it were legal for FDX to use different criteria in awarding the housing allowance to single v. married pilots -- which it's not this pilot's state AND which also violates corporate policy -- FDX is not going to prevail if it tries to argue that the pilot was lying on the LOA or HC merely because the pilot was unable to get his spouse to stay in HKG for however many days are needed to create a "center of gravity" there.

All the pilot has control over is whether THE PILOT moved to HKG, and therefore all that matters when it comes to deciding whether he or she signed these documents in good faith is his or her own behavior. Getting a HKG ID card, moving household goods, signing successive 1-year leases for his own apartment, signing up for utilities, etc., all while showing up rested and ready for every trip and flying with no adverse incidents is strong evidence of good faith. Not being able to order your spouse to "sit and stay" is not evidence of anything except a modern marriage between consenting US citizens. Who knows what kinds of discussions the pilot and spouse had about this, but even if FDX or the arbitrator could find out (they can't due to spousal privilege), you can't punish one person for the perfectly legal behavior of another.

None of the documents FDX had these pilots sign involved commitments for the pilot to be somewhere specific on his or her days off. None of them dictated how many days/month spouses needed to be in HKG, or whether days when the spouse was in HKG working v. shopping counted towards the total. Such requirements would likely not be legal or enforceable even if they had been spelled out in the LOA, but the fact is, they were not. Yet the company has fired three pilots so far, with more waiting in the wings, in an attempt to use intimidation to get the rest of the crew force to comply with its social engineering experiment.

People are getting talking divorce in desperation, trying to get this corporate bully off their backs and out of their bedrooms. FDX fully deserves to have the base blow up in its face.:mad:

Maybe I missed it somewhere along the way, but what representative of Fedex held a gun to these guys heads and forced them to bid HKG, to sign the HKG move package stipend agreeing to move their families with them and then forced them to move to HKG and commute to the US every month or so? I must have been lucky the Fedex bullies didn't get to me because I read the HKG loa and realized that to bid HKG as a commuter was not worth it, much less without the housing stipend. I never really entertained the option of commuting and taking the $4.5K per month at the same time....duh.... It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that since Fedex is claiming expat status for these guys with the IRS, then the IRS might object to these guys having their passports scanned in the US every month upon entry. Just sayin..... What baffles me is why these guys didn't take the amnesty package and then hire some lawyers to fight for their cause while they still have a job as opposed to pushing the issue, getting fired, and then lawyering up and fighting for their cause and their jobs back....This is a mess and I hope everyone gets their reinstated and can move past all to this and get back to moving freight....

Yikes! Talk about choosing between a turd and a douchebag! I hope he works out a better deal.

I would seriously consider doing a paper divorce before signing off on HKG to allow for the (ex)wife to have travel flexibility.

Really? The LOA did not specify that you had to meet any IRS requirement so the company "could" claim the foreign earnings tax credit on you. One only had to become an ex pat resident of HKG. Nothing in the LOA says they have to stay in HKG on their days off. Should we all take your stance when the company comes after you and claim you're an idiot for doing what you did regardless of what the contract/LOA said? Way to go supporting the rest of the crew force....

Past...

BM's email stated they were not asking for any interest on the repayment.

Ask any of the 5 pilots offered LCAs and see what they tell you. I have.

Amazingly, there appears to be some pilots here that think a guy can dictate where his wife spends every minute of everyday.

This isn't Sunni Law.....

"So let me get this straight: You require your employees who are
American citizens to tell their spouses, who don't even work for you, where they must spend their own time???"

I can't wait to see this in court. Real court. Not talking about the arbitrator that FedEx pays to make fair decisions against fedex on behalf of the pilots.

Our LOA doen't specify where the $hitter is in the HKG hub but each one of our guys/gals somehow all manage to find it. Amazing..... If we are unsure of something we ask for clarification. I guess many of us can read between the lines when it comes to the meaning of expat and how that definition may be affected by repeated travel to the US. Like I said, I truly hope our guys get their job back at the end of the day and hopefully there was no willful lying and deceit when they signed the document stating they moved their families with them.

I sure hope I am not somewhere with you when I need my back covered! Seriously.

As far as clarification goes, the LOA needs it, it seems. Read between the lines? You have to be kidding. Obviously the Companies reading/interpretation is different than at least 3 pilots interpretation.

As far as "moving their families"; when can, and for how any days, can those family members leave HKG? Good Q, I would say. Not spelled out is it?