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Who recklessly and undemocratically threatened to hold 140,000 employees and the entire FedEx customer base hostage?
Is an entire employee group-- united around the righteous goals of dignity, respect, and economic justice-- to blame?
Or is a mere handful of wealthy stockholders and money managers, centered around a near-billionaire-- clinging to the plantation mentality of total control & work done "on the cheap"-- shamefully responsible?
Our Brothers & Sisters in the FedEx Pilots Association have offered an "olive branch" to management. They have ended their "overtime refusal" job action, and FPA has pledged not to strike for at least 60 days. These overtures followed FPA's call for binding outside arbitration and an agreement based upon the Oct. 30 proposal. Management immediately refused those Union offers, so quickly, in fact, that their negative reply obviously appears predetermined. Now the company has agreed to resume negotiations, but says its Oct. 30 offer will be reduced by the costs of their strike contingency plans!
FedEx management continues to "up the ante" and "raise the bar," an approach designed to force confrontation. In glaring contrast to the pilots' responsible, reasonable, and exceptionally patient approach to contract negotiations, which have literally gone on in one form or another for several years, FedEx engages in union-busting pure and simple, wishing to housebreak proud human beings.
Management is operating in classic union-busting "101" fashion. Their anti-union campaign is totally predictable and un-original, based upon strategies and techniques taught and practiced by a shadowy industry of union-busting consultant firms. Management's overall strategy is: pit pilot against pilot, ground worker against pilot, customer against pilot, and public opinion against pilot.
In a veritable declaration of war, management has aimed an impressive array of weapons at our valiant pilots. But closer scrutiny of this "arsenal" exhibits a classic union-busting "101" trick: mix in a multitude of fake, dummy weapons with the live ammunition to exaggerate the company's strength, so as to scare Union members. The aim is to split some pilots away from their trusted union leadership, to get a substantial number of them to vote against authorizing a strike, and to force splits within the Union's leadership, all of which combine to reduce the effectiveness and bargaining clout of the Union.
Let's look at some of management's threats, along with possible scare-tactic considerations that must be weighed and evaluated by our pilots:
announcing a $1 billion credit line [at, say, a 6% interest rate, wouldn't that be $60 million per year just in debt servicing, not to mention repayment of the principle? and would any business really risk loaning out that kind of money to a self-destructive agenda?]
expanding subcontractor air capacity [typical practice for peak time of year anyway?]
threatening to downsize the airline portion of FedEx in favor of a vastly increased ground trucking operation [and risk losing the anti-union Railway Labor Act, leading to a string of major cities voting UNION faster than Fred can choke on the word "TEAMSTER"?]
encouraging an anti-pilot rally by Memphis employees [do two to three thousand almost exclusively salaried people, out of 30,000 Memphis-area FedEx employees, really reflect a company-wide hatred of Union pilots?]
encouraging, or perhaps even arranging, the posting of the anti-pilot "Our Future at FedEx" website [is this anonymous concoction reflective of salaried, not hourly, opinion?]
discarding letters of agreement allowing pilots' time off on Union business [is this a sign that FPA strike support committees scare the hell out of management?]
threatening to furlough hundreds of pilots [could air routes really be adequately covered with so many pilots laid off?]
emailing Fred Smith's threat to the pilots on Nov. 17 [is Smith really so egomaniacal and off-center that he would risk destroying the company and his own base of wealth?]
Many of our pilots have actually faced live gunfire and dangerous flack. They know the difference between effective, deadly fire and a scarey-looking but harmless smokescreen. And they also know that sometimes a tactical retreat is needed to regroup the troops and catch one's breath before the next charge. These are decisions that have to be made in the heat of battle, are never easy, and are never guaranteed to be correct.
One thing is certain, though. The grand sum of all the pilots' issues concerning pay, pension, safety, working conditions, and job security add up to the human qualities of dignity, fairness, and the well-being of one's family. If FPA's olive branch offer does not result in a contract over the next few weeks which can satisfy enough of those aspirations to pass a membership vote, the struggle by pilots for justice will continue. And we ground workers will continue to offer them our unconditional support.
In the Sept/Oct issue of FedEx World Update, our pilots are pictured almost as a rare and wonderful breed, as "the rocket men and women who move the world.... members of.... a fraternity for a select few. Their walk is proud, a confidence beyond swagger.... Their world, in most cases, is stereotyped by people who don't understand it." Quite a colorful and complimentary description of our pilots!
But within weeks management's words radically changed, from glowing praise to vicious tirades. And if management can systematically treat such intelligent, highly skilled, and wonderful human assets with contempt, what does the "people company" of Fred Smith really have in store for the $8-an-hour casual handler or the 45-year-old courier?
By declaring war on our pilots, management has conclusively proven to the world that the FedEx "people company" does not exist. This huge multinational corporation operates through psychological warfare, brutal intimidation, and threats of force. Fred Smith's tyrannical behavior demonstrates that for love of money and power he is willing to take a chance on wrecking Federal Express in the way that the Frank Lorenzos and Carl Icahns destroyed or crippled proud airlines such as Eastern, Continental, and TWA.
To reflect this reality, perhaps the company colors should be changed from ORANGE & PURPLE, to GREEN-- the color of money.
Hang in There, FPA!
now, continue onward to the:
Nov. 21 FPA Solidarity update menu
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