I challenge you all
- Thread starter FedExRookie
- Start date
overflowed
Well-Known Member
What for?
GROUNDIsAHugeSCAM
Well-Known Member
FedExRookie, you've been with express EIGHT years and you're now just realizing how bad it is??!?!!?
Cactus
Just telling it like it is
Good for you!
Be sure to send Fred a nice little email and let him know how you feel about this ****house.
Ricochet1a
Well-Known Member
I completely believe the OP when he is just now being 'stirred to action' by how bad things are getting.
For me, Express was my first foray into what I'd call 'blue collar labor'. I'm not going to go into detail about my past, but suffice it to say, that Express was a learning experience for me that opened my eyes to how a different segment of America works and lives.
One of the things that was part of that 'learning process', was finding out that an individual's personality/behavior was very much dependent on personal financial situation (at least in the work environment).
Putting it another way...., when someone doesn't have a hell of a lot of assets to their name - they tend to be a lot more grateful for any employment they have and are FAR less likely to call BS on changes in their compensation for the worse. This phenomena has been called the 'desperation factor' by some. The more desperate someone is for employment and its income, the less likely they are to agitate for increases which may endanger that employment/income (until they have established a 'safety cushion'). On the other end of the spectrum, 'trust fund babies' are prone to walking away from employment at the least little provocation; they know that mom and dad will always take care of them and they will never experience any form of real need - they're taken care of and they know it, so they act accordingly.
Another issue that comes into play is the tendency of an individual to willingly engage in conflict (wolf v. sheep trait). Most people in the world are conflict adverse, they will do practically ANYTHING to avoid conflict (since it causes so much anxiety for them). This trait is VERY prevalent among the Couriers of Express. Now by conflict adverse, I am specifically addressing conflict with authority or those in positions of power over the individual. Express Couriers simply (as a broad generalization), WON'T engage in conflict with those above them on the job. This works VERY MUCH to the advantage of FedEx.
Finally, there is the tendency of people to want to see the best in all things, and do what they can to downplay any realization that they are being treated unfairly by those in positions of power over them - it is all part of anxiety reduction for these people. If someone senses they are being 'screwed', they have two broad general courses of action: fight back or deny they are being screwed (and eliminate the anxiety that would result if they confronted the fact that they are indeed being screwed). Head in sand approach...
So....
The Express Couriers are rather desperate financially (no real assets behind them), they are overwhelming 'sheep' in their personality traits AND they tend to engage in anxiety reduction behaviors (avoidance) when confronted by any realization that they are being screwed. In other words, they are just asking for Fred to do a number on them and it would take a hell of a lot happening in very short order to get them to change their demonstrated tendencies. Fred knows this QUITE well and is using this information to his advantage.
This was the lesson I learned about the Express Couriers while attempting to get them to start to organize within my and a few nearby stations.
That behavior characterization has been confirmed here as well. The posters tend to use this forum as a means of anxiety reduction (they'll bash Fred till they feel better). But when the call went out for them to actually DO SOMETHING, hell, all one could hear was crickets in the background.
Many in Express are just now beginning to deal with what they have been seeing since late 2008 (the pension being yanked was the first realization for most that something was up). After four and a half years of getting their nuts squeezed harder and harder, some are starting to say, "ENOUGH", and want to do something. However, that 'something' has usually been trying to get the IBT to ride in to their rescue and change things back to the way things were over 10 years ago. Isn't going to happen.
The anxiety level in Express will slowly continue to build. Most will eventually quit, those with enough time in will retire and those left will learn to deal with it and become even more 'sheepish' in their behavior. Game, set, match to Fred.
