FedEx

[pirana 0]

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My brother is a pilot/examiner for fed ex and i can tell you that they are treated like union workers only they don't have to pay the mob dues.

I worked for a non-union GE shop for a while and they treated us very well; didn't want to give anybody a reason to listen to the union recruitment propoganda.

My next job was with Thrall Car, a union shop; and the company treated us like shit - well, as bad as they could without violating the contract.

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[Rookie120 0]

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My next job was with Thrall Car, a union shop; and the company treated us like shit - well, as bad as they could without violating the contract.

I currently work in a union shop. This is my first job that is union and so far it has been good. We have a good relation with managment and respect comes from both directions. Of course there are a couple supervisors out there that are a complete pain in the ass but that seems to be the norm wherever you go.

If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck!

[riddler 0]

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The basic delivery business is a person that purchases the rights to all the packages for a zip code, and a truck.

Ground drivers have to purchase and outfit their trucks - more than just maintenance. They have to buy it on a mortgage, just like everyone else does with a business vehicle, very few of them can afford to purchase outright - it typically takes a few years to pay off a vehicle.

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Now, someone who is really enterprising, can bid to purchase additional zip codes as they come on the "market", trucks to service those zips, and men to drive the trucks. So at that point, you become your own businessman, with your own employees, and a fleet of trucks. Those are the kind of people who can make up to a million bucks a year in the delivery business.

About 100 FedEx divers nationwide have started such subsidies within FedEx that gross over $1 million - the only problem is that it's against the rules (technically) - they really don't want too many eggs in one basket. FedEx tolerates it now, but they can yank those drivers that are not following their contract legalese at any time. The multiple-truck subsidies are tolerated because they help FedEx argue their case about independent contractor status in court.

Whether you can call FedEx Ground delivery people "independent contractors" depends on if you listen to FedEx, or to the judges. In Dec 2007, the IRS ordered FedEx to pay $300 million in back taxes for misrepresenting employees as "independent contractors" (same thing happened to Microsoft a few years earlier). FedEx has extremely tight guidelines for the drivers, so it's arguable if they are really independent, even if FedEx says they are. There are more than 30 lawsuits pending that say that drivers really aren't independent.

Should they be? Sure, I think it's a great idea. But they don't currently fit the definition of an independent contractor, and FedEx escapes employee benefits (and half of social security tax) by calling them such.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD