FedEx Express Pension Gone Overnight
I am on the mailing list at FedExWatch.com; and received the following this afternoon. I thought to post with a video to help spread the word. This is also a cross-post from TeamsterPower.com
For most of the 35 years at Federal Express, the hard work and dedication of the Express workforce delivered the profits that fueled the so-called “People-Service-Profit” slogan. But something happened between 1998 and 2000 when Federal Express became “FedEx” and the company bought RPS/Caliber. Those people – the workers at Express – who delivered all those years of profit saw more and more money going to acquisitions and less and less money put into their wages and workplace benefits like health care and pension. Bookmark/Search this post with: |
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Good story, but as always,
Good comment, let me explain
The facts are not exactly getting in the way of this story -- the facts that are presented are, in fact, the story. If you were a FedEx employee you would trust this because the video of the FedEx worker would be your coworker. In addtion, just to be fair, the content of this was written by the people at the Teamsters Union who are working on the FedEx Watch campaign. I simply copied and pasted it to Union Review to help spread the word -- which I mentioned in the opening of the post.
I am not sure that mentioning the pilots union is misleading at all since that appears to be the case. A contract is a contract, no?
Either way, thanks for your comment ... I don't agree with anything you are saying and you have given me no reason to believe you anymore than you are believing the writer of this piece. & this is not to be a total asshole, I hope I don't sound that way. I am just saying that if you want to have a discussion on this issue, we should get into the facts a little more. Tell us what you know and don't know based on your own experiences and let me do some added talking with the folks at FedEx watch ... I have no problem being wrong -- but nothing you wrote makes me think that anything in the FedEx Watch piece is inaccurate.
Thanks,
Richard /Union Review
Sorry, didn't mean to imply
Sorry, didn't mean to imply that you wrote the article. You clearly stated that you didn't and I apologize for implying that you did.
The headline of the story, or at least the headline posted, states that the pension is gone. Even the employee in the video says that it's not gone. If I understand it correctly, employees covered by the old plan, still have that pension, it's just that it's locked in at 2008 dollars. They also start earning under the new plan. He even says in the video that it is a good deal for him. His concern is new employees. Fair enough.
What the story doesn't tell is why the switch. FedEx (and lots of other companies) decided to make changes due to the change in the ERISA rules. They simply couldn't afford to continue under a traditional plan. Interestingly, this apparently was true in some way, shape, or form for UPS as they decided it was worth $6.1 Billion to get out of the Central States Fund.
Regarding the pilots, yes a contract is a contract but my point was that the story insinuates that had the other FedEx employees had a contract, their pension plan wouldn't be gone. As the employee in the video states, it's not gone, so the implication is, as I said, misleading at best. Given the ERISA change, contract or not, FedEx would have had to do something to change the plan type. Is the new plan the best they could do? That would be worthy of discussion and a less misleading story.
On Wed
of this week I will see some of the people at FedEx Watch and the Teamsters. I will ask them to either come on to the site and respond in kind, or give me the information needed so you are responded to.
Thanks for the discussion.
ups pension
I am an aircraft mechanic for UPS and a PROUD member of the TEAMSTERS LOCAL 2727......not real clear what was ment by "LIKE UPS AND FEDEX" changing or eliminating their pension plan? WE in the LOCAL 2727 STILL have a very solid and GROWING pension along with a match 401k plan....which is agreed to and detailed within THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT BETWEEN UPS AND THE LOCAL 2727....SO with that being said with our contract in place our plan CANNOT be changed or eliminated unless agreed by both UPS and our local....so the basic idea is ..WITHOUT A CONTRACT YOUR LIFE IS AT WHATEVER THE COMPANY DECIDES FOR YOU...
thanks
FedEx not honest with employees
I have been a FedEx Express courier for over 12 years, when I first started they worked me from morning until night, rarely did I see my 3 children. I am the mother and this tore me apart. After 8 years they then slacked off, this was around the RPS transition. I was happy about the break. When I started I signed a contract to work Saturdays, after a couple of years I signed a new contract stating I would work Monday through Friday. This has given me the time to spend with my children, recently my manager called me into his office and informed me that he is voiding my contract and he forced me to sign a new contract requiring me to work Tuesday through Saturday. I was extremely upset and ask why the part timers and not the ones with less seniority like we were told all those years. My manager stated station needs, then stated if you want to support your family you will sign it or you can go on a type of probation were you risk losing your job all together. Now after all these years FedEx Express can turn around strip me of my seniority and cancel a contract. They have suggested we seek employment elsewhere. Yes FedEx may not lay off but they force people to quit. My station is overstaffed due to management decisions and now we the part timers reap the wrath of threats. Even the couriers with less seniority mock and make jokes about this whole Saturday issue. So if you think it is a great place to work think again. On a regular basis anymore we are reminded how lucky we are to ever have a job.
The Fortune 100 results are a joke because my station scored FedEx with a 35% and I don’t find that very impressive.
D-
Fedxmx.com
I think that it is fantastic that we are getting a discussion going on here at UnionReview.com -- and I don't want it to stop -- but ... why don't we take this chat over to www.fedxmx.com? That is the site that was set up for the Mechanics Class and Craft -- and you know what ... I bet they love to see this discussion over there so that they can chime in. So, whose going to take the plunge and hit that site up first?
fedex express gone overnight
I would like to state that I
I would like to state that I was a faithful employee at FedEx and then FedEx Services for 7 years, retiring in June of 2004. Health issues prompted me to accept that I could no longer work the 10-12 hour days 6 days a week and 5 hours on Sunday any longer. I had contracted Rheumatoid Arthritis in May of the year before and it became too difficult to sit at my desk for such long hours.
I can state unequivocally that your source information is absolutely accurate. I am one of those who was "thrown under the bus" by FedEx by the elimination of my pension. Yes, I still receive a pension amount automatically deposited into my bank account each month - it is in the amount of $ .21. That's not a typo. I receive notification of exactly twenty-one cents as my monthly pension amount. That's $2.52 annually; not enough to even report to the IRS.
As a result, with just my Social Security check as income, I've had to give up my apartment and rent a room in someone's home, I had to give up my car and my quality of life is null and void. I used to volunteer wherever I could, meet with friends on occasion for dinner and a show with a small trip once a year as a treat to myself.
After 32 years of hard work, I didn't feel that was asking too much. As much as I loved my job at FedEx and the people I worked with (save my last boss), I would still work there if I could and if they had not ruined my retirement years. I've been looking for part-time employment for 2 years since I was part of a downsizing at the church at which I was employed as Receptionist - perfect for me because I love interacting with people.
I appealed to the FedEx principles to re-think their decision but have had no consideration from them. By the way, your reporter neglected to chronicle the sponsoring of the Nascar race car and all the incredible money that entails.
Respectfully submitted
P.H.