I received 2 responses from my previous entry on the FedEx UPS fiasco. Interestingly, a blogger using the name Cager & Maris (as it appears in my responses sections) states the following:
"FedEx predominatly does business using aircraft. UPS predominatly does business using trucks. That's the difference in why FedEx is under one set of laws and UPS is under another set of laws."
My original argument still stands. If FedEx just went away, would the shipping world cease to do business. The original intention of the RLA was because railroads were a lifeblood of this country. If the railroads stopped working, no automobiles would be delivered to dealerships anywhere. If the Air Traffic Controllers stopped working, ALL airports would shut down. FedEx and UPS both would be shut down. If FedEx Pilots stopped working, what would happen. The world would run to UPS, or the USPS or elsewhere. Cager & Maris did not convince me that simply because a majority of their business is done by plane, that they qualify for some seriously restrictive labor laws.
I'm further bothered by the "bailout" term they use. The've even gone so far as to register the websites UPSBAILOUT.COM and BROWNBAILOUT.COM. When I first heard of these sites, I thought UPS was in trouble and looking for the kind of help that the banks and auto companies were looking for. I was wrong. It was FedEx looking to make UPS look bad. UPS doesn't have a website called FedExMonopoly.com or some other silly name. If you want their side of it, you go to UPS.COM and then to their NEWSROOM page.
I'm no fan of the bailouts that the Feds handed out like door prizes, but this isn't, in my opinion, a bailout. This is an attempt to level the playing field. Again, the RLA was for companies and jobs that, if they went away by strike or mass walkout, would stop the flow of goods and services in the United States. With the exception of the ATC and the railroads, I don't see very many others who would qualify.
I encourage all to read the 2 responses in the previous UPS FedEx post
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
The UPS bailout
There is a fight at full boil in Washington DC over a loophole in a law that allows FedEx to operate without interference from such issues as labor unions and labor concerns. I am just now becoming aware of this issue as it has not drawn much attention from the AP which seems to be the only news source on the web. CNN, MSNBC, and many others post AP stories directly or a rewrite of them in some form.
The fight, as I understand it, boils down to this. UPS is a company that must operate under the National Labor Relations Act. Under this act, it is less difficult for employees to unionize and demand acceptable standards of pay and benefits. FedEx on the other hand operates under the Railroad Labor Act, which makes it much more difficult to unionize and when they can unionize, the unions have few if any teeth they can use for bargaining.
The fight on the UPS/Teamsters side of the issue is that both companies are essentially the same. Both have trucks that pick up packages at businesses and deliver them anywhere in their network, again by truck, for a fee. UPS has a fleet of planes that they use for expedited shipping of packages. FedEx has a fleet of planes that they use for expedited shipping of packages. Both will ship ground.
FedEx on the other hand states that it ships 85% of its packages via air while UPS ships 85% of its packages via ground. Further FedEx states that this law will stifle competition. By keeping the FedEx employees under the more restrictive Railroad Labor Act, it makes it easier for companies to be competitive.
I went to both sites for a comparison of shipping times. I entered into both UPS and FEDEX shipping calculators the following information:
Here's the rub. FedEx says that if they are forced to work under the National Labor Relations Act, this would put the shipping industry into very grave danger because a strike would cripple the industry world wide. Lets look at that, shall we.
According to UPS, there are 45 other parcel delivery options available to customers if you don't include FedEx and UPS. I will only examine 1, the United States Postal Service. When the Teamsters union walked out at UPS a few years back, did the mail stop running? UPS openly stated that the walkout cost them market share. Did they earn it back, I don't know, but they are still running a company that is still number one in the business. If FedEx was shut down by a strike, would the parcel delivery system just stop. Would UPS be put into jeopardy because of it.
Having its own fleet of planes, UPS does not rely heavily, if at all, on FedEx to move UPS packages overnight from NYC to LA. The USPS also has overnight options for letters and small packages, so if all else fails, they can do what USP and FedEx wouldn't be able to in an almost impossible to happen simultaneous strike.
With the advent of fax and e-mail, how much business did everybody loose because we can now send a text document from Keokuk Ia. to Auckland NZ. electronically? I didn't see FedEx or UPS put up a stink about that.
My point is this. They are both working the same businesses as seen by the consumer. Both offer essentially the same services to the consumer. Both have 8 shipping options with 1 difference between the 2. FedEx offers a same day delivery option and UPS will get it there the next day by 9am. If FedEx went away for good, would the shipping business be in such trouble that UPS and the Postal Service would just fold up? Why should FedEx be allowed to operate under a different set of rules then UPS. I've never been a fan of unions having worked in one and seen that it does nothing for its employees. A comment on the internet under a commentary article about this issue stated we shouldn't need unions, but business has a habit of treating its employees very poorly. Now is a time when I've never in my 50+ years seen such bad behavior by employers and poor treatment of employees on such a grand scale. I'm changing my take on unions in general.
Finally, FedEx is saying that because it can't improve performance, UPS is looking to cripple the competition with unique laws aimed expressly at FedEx. If you call UPS and state that you need late delivery to a residence, they will do their best to oblige. FedEx on the other hand will be happy to tell you tough luck. Who has the better customer service? By the way, that is my personal experience after receiving several packages from both.
The fight, as I understand it, boils down to this. UPS is a company that must operate under the National Labor Relations Act. Under this act, it is less difficult for employees to unionize and demand acceptable standards of pay and benefits. FedEx on the other hand operates under the Railroad Labor Act, which makes it much more difficult to unionize and when they can unionize, the unions have few if any teeth they can use for bargaining.
The fight on the UPS/Teamsters side of the issue is that both companies are essentially the same. Both have trucks that pick up packages at businesses and deliver them anywhere in their network, again by truck, for a fee. UPS has a fleet of planes that they use for expedited shipping of packages. FedEx has a fleet of planes that they use for expedited shipping of packages. Both will ship ground.
FedEx on the other hand states that it ships 85% of its packages via air while UPS ships 85% of its packages via ground. Further FedEx states that this law will stifle competition. By keeping the FedEx employees under the more restrictive Railroad Labor Act, it makes it easier for companies to be competitive.
I went to both sites for a comparison of shipping times. I entered into both UPS and FEDEX shipping calculators the following information:
- 1 package with a weight of 5 pounds
- the origination zip code of 33612
- the termination zip code of 11530
- checked the option box for residential delivery
Here's the rub. FedEx says that if they are forced to work under the National Labor Relations Act, this would put the shipping industry into very grave danger because a strike would cripple the industry world wide. Lets look at that, shall we.
According to UPS, there are 45 other parcel delivery options available to customers if you don't include FedEx and UPS. I will only examine 1, the United States Postal Service. When the Teamsters union walked out at UPS a few years back, did the mail stop running? UPS openly stated that the walkout cost them market share. Did they earn it back, I don't know, but they are still running a company that is still number one in the business. If FedEx was shut down by a strike, would the parcel delivery system just stop. Would UPS be put into jeopardy because of it.
Having its own fleet of planes, UPS does not rely heavily, if at all, on FedEx to move UPS packages overnight from NYC to LA. The USPS also has overnight options for letters and small packages, so if all else fails, they can do what USP and FedEx wouldn't be able to in an almost impossible to happen simultaneous strike.
With the advent of fax and e-mail, how much business did everybody loose because we can now send a text document from Keokuk Ia. to Auckland NZ. electronically? I didn't see FedEx or UPS put up a stink about that.
My point is this. They are both working the same businesses as seen by the consumer. Both offer essentially the same services to the consumer. Both have 8 shipping options with 1 difference between the 2. FedEx offers a same day delivery option and UPS will get it there the next day by 9am. If FedEx went away for good, would the shipping business be in such trouble that UPS and the Postal Service would just fold up? Why should FedEx be allowed to operate under a different set of rules then UPS. I've never been a fan of unions having worked in one and seen that it does nothing for its employees. A comment on the internet under a commentary article about this issue stated we shouldn't need unions, but business has a habit of treating its employees very poorly. Now is a time when I've never in my 50+ years seen such bad behavior by employers and poor treatment of employees on such a grand scale. I'm changing my take on unions in general.
Finally, FedEx is saying that because it can't improve performance, UPS is looking to cripple the competition with unique laws aimed expressly at FedEx. If you call UPS and state that you need late delivery to a residence, they will do their best to oblige. FedEx on the other hand will be happy to tell you tough luck. Who has the better customer service? By the way, that is my personal experience after receiving several packages from both.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
God Bless Us All
Its time for another rant I guess. I look around and see such chaos in the world. I fear for my wife and kids, I fear for my friends and their children. Political correctness has so permeated our society that we can not talk about anything for fear of offending somebody. The rules of popularity and money have taken over common sense and decency.
Gays: We must support equal rights for gays or risk being abused and attacked by the gay community in often vicious and callous ways (see Carrie Prejean). The one thing that nobody can bring up is that there is credible evidence that children raised in gay households suffer from not having both male and female influences to learn from. To bring up this scientific fact, draws the ire of the gay community in often vile and sometimes violent ways. Somebody on the net published a "report" that children of gay unions turn out better. No evidence was supplied nor was there a breakdown of who was surveyed etc. Some woman on Slate.com simply used heart strings to point out what a good job her sister was doing providing a loving home with her partner. It doesn't seem to matter that scientific evidence shows that children in homes without fathers do suffer. But the gays must have equal rights.
Government: Where do I start. The cliff notes version is simply this. Big business owns and runs this country as evidenced by such things as the bailout package for the banks and the bankruptcy laws that "W" signed. If you go into bankruptcy as an individual, you will need to pay off ALL outstanding balances. If you are a corporation, then that isn't necessary. The Republican propaganda machine is out of control. When Obama wanted to talk to school children about the need to stay in school, the Republicans were up in arms that he was pushing his political agenda on these young impressionable minds. Everybody is finding some way to blame Clinton for our current mess. Truth is, it doesn't take a genius to figure out it was Ronald Reagan. Reagan ran this country on the credit card and refused to pay the bill. Clinton balanced the budget and "W" came in and gave away the PROJECTED SURPLUS in his first year. Every deregulation law that Reagan signed along with Daddy and "W" Bush, took just a little bit more out of our pockets and gave it to business. That's what put our economy in the crapper, not Clinton. As for Congress, when Ken Starr couldn't get enough dirt on Clinton, he kept expanding the investigation.
The media: The news media no longer reports the news. They are nothing but propaganda machines for their respective owners. I've said it before and I'll say it again, there is more spin in Bill O'Reilly's no spin zone then in a bey blade stadium. When GE bought NBC, one of Jack Welch's first orders to the new found resource was that they couldn't report on anything that could adversely affect the stock price. Fox news has a daily memo of what to harp on today at their Fox New Channel. Watch it over the period of a day and you can't help but see it. CNN, MSNBC, The NY Times etc. are all the same way. Report the party line or get out.
Sports and Entertainment: I don't know who's cereal Michael Vick pissed in to warrant the wrath he had to endure, but when we give a sports figure that much money, what did you expect to find him doing when he gets board? Pete Rose was banned from baseball for life for betting, but Darryl Strawberry was given chance after chance to clean up. How many times have you seen this athlete or that entertainer pulled for drugs or DUI. TMZ has a picture of one rapper in a bar partying before he went to Va. to do community service. The drinking age nationwide is 21 and this guy is 20. Why wasn't that bar closed down. Paris (I'm a good role model) Hilton was photographed taking her younger brother into a bar for his birthday....His 19th or 20th birthday. Why wasn't that bar closed down.
In General: The number of celebrity women who are having babies without benefit of a wedding ring is atrocious. Lest they forget, they are the roll models for today's young girls. Why is marriage so yesterday. It shows children what commitment is. I guess I could go on and on but I believe I've made my point.
God Bless us all
Gays: We must support equal rights for gays or risk being abused and attacked by the gay community in often vicious and callous ways (see Carrie Prejean). The one thing that nobody can bring up is that there is credible evidence that children raised in gay households suffer from not having both male and female influences to learn from. To bring up this scientific fact, draws the ire of the gay community in often vile and sometimes violent ways. Somebody on the net published a "report" that children of gay unions turn out better. No evidence was supplied nor was there a breakdown of who was surveyed etc. Some woman on Slate.com simply used heart strings to point out what a good job her sister was doing providing a loving home with her partner. It doesn't seem to matter that scientific evidence shows that children in homes without fathers do suffer. But the gays must have equal rights.
Government: Where do I start. The cliff notes version is simply this. Big business owns and runs this country as evidenced by such things as the bailout package for the banks and the bankruptcy laws that "W" signed. If you go into bankruptcy as an individual, you will need to pay off ALL outstanding balances. If you are a corporation, then that isn't necessary. The Republican propaganda machine is out of control. When Obama wanted to talk to school children about the need to stay in school, the Republicans were up in arms that he was pushing his political agenda on these young impressionable minds. Everybody is finding some way to blame Clinton for our current mess. Truth is, it doesn't take a genius to figure out it was Ronald Reagan. Reagan ran this country on the credit card and refused to pay the bill. Clinton balanced the budget and "W" came in and gave away the PROJECTED SURPLUS in his first year. Every deregulation law that Reagan signed along with Daddy and "W" Bush, took just a little bit more out of our pockets and gave it to business. That's what put our economy in the crapper, not Clinton. As for Congress, when Ken Starr couldn't get enough dirt on Clinton, he kept expanding the investigation.
The media: The news media no longer reports the news. They are nothing but propaganda machines for their respective owners. I've said it before and I'll say it again, there is more spin in Bill O'Reilly's no spin zone then in a bey blade stadium. When GE bought NBC, one of Jack Welch's first orders to the new found resource was that they couldn't report on anything that could adversely affect the stock price. Fox news has a daily memo of what to harp on today at their Fox New Channel. Watch it over the period of a day and you can't help but see it. CNN, MSNBC, The NY Times etc. are all the same way. Report the party line or get out.
Sports and Entertainment: I don't know who's cereal Michael Vick pissed in to warrant the wrath he had to endure, but when we give a sports figure that much money, what did you expect to find him doing when he gets board? Pete Rose was banned from baseball for life for betting, but Darryl Strawberry was given chance after chance to clean up. How many times have you seen this athlete or that entertainer pulled for drugs or DUI. TMZ has a picture of one rapper in a bar partying before he went to Va. to do community service. The drinking age nationwide is 21 and this guy is 20. Why wasn't that bar closed down. Paris (I'm a good role model) Hilton was photographed taking her younger brother into a bar for his birthday....His 19th or 20th birthday. Why wasn't that bar closed down.
In General: The number of celebrity women who are having babies without benefit of a wedding ring is atrocious. Lest they forget, they are the roll models for today's young girls. Why is marriage so yesterday. It shows children what commitment is. I guess I could go on and on but I believe I've made my point.
God Bless us all
Sunday, April 26, 2009
An open letter to NBC and Donald Trump
An open letter to NBC and Donald Trump
I have been watching this fiasco unfold about Carrie Prejean. I can not believe the retaliation that this poor girl is made to suffer. A judge that called her answer "polarizing". Pageant directors who tried to humiliate her with news (true or false) of a breast enhancement that she denies. Statements from those same pageant directors about her opportunism. All this because she gave an honest answer to a question from a judge with an agenda.
What were the pageant officials thinking when they invited a militant homosexual with his own agenda to judge this disaster. Mario Lavendiera is a man on a mission. His biggest claim to fame is a website where he draws mustaches and cocaine on pictures of celebrities. This is a man who's command of the english language is so deep and so broad that the best insult he could come up with is to call her a f***ing b*tch. His assesment of poor Miley Cyrus is "sl*t" I'm less then impressed with who you chose to select the ultimate girl next door. That's what this competition is supposed to be about, the perfect girl next door who wants the American dream, home, family, career, isn't it.
Your own pageant directors are quoted on MSNBC as saying she forgot her commitment to the people of California. Lets look at that one shall we. Its the people of California who voted to ban gay marriage by saying yes to proposition 8. Tell me exactly how she would be representing the people of California by denying her religious beliefs and speaking out in favor of the minority. Shanna Moakler and Keith Lewis should be released from their duties ASAP because they have an agenda to humiliate her and make her suffer because she wouldn't speak the party line.
Moakler and Lewis state she has gone beyond her right to her opinion and shown her oportunistic agenda. It wasn't Prejean who started this whole thing, it was the Miss USA pageant officials and its owners for not thinking that a man like Lavendiera with a very known and public agenda wouldn't use time on national television to his own advantage and for that agenda. He openly said he took points from her not because she was inarticulate, but because she gave the wrong answer.
In the 40's when someone wouldn't speak the party line we called it the holocaust. In the 80 when it was the few telling the majority how live, we called it apartied. What do you want to call this? I call it discusting. Perhaps its time to fold the pageants. Since the owners and directors of the Miss USA pageant and its source (state) pageants have blurred the lines between current events and political activism, maybe we should be rethinking what we want from our young girls. Mr Trump, would you have wanted Ivanka to forsake the values you taught her for some silly prize? Why let your staff punish Prejean for not giving up on hers? And for the record I did support the concept of gay civil unions. I'm rethinking that now
I have been watching this fiasco unfold about Carrie Prejean. I can not believe the retaliation that this poor girl is made to suffer. A judge that called her answer "polarizing". Pageant directors who tried to humiliate her with news (true or false) of a breast enhancement that she denies. Statements from those same pageant directors about her opportunism. All this because she gave an honest answer to a question from a judge with an agenda.
What were the pageant officials thinking when they invited a militant homosexual with his own agenda to judge this disaster. Mario Lavendiera is a man on a mission. His biggest claim to fame is a website where he draws mustaches and cocaine on pictures of celebrities. This is a man who's command of the english language is so deep and so broad that the best insult he could come up with is to call her a f***ing b*tch. His assesment of poor Miley Cyrus is "sl*t" I'm less then impressed with who you chose to select the ultimate girl next door. That's what this competition is supposed to be about, the perfect girl next door who wants the American dream, home, family, career, isn't it.
Your own pageant directors are quoted on MSNBC as saying she forgot her commitment to the people of California. Lets look at that one shall we. Its the people of California who voted to ban gay marriage by saying yes to proposition 8. Tell me exactly how she would be representing the people of California by denying her religious beliefs and speaking out in favor of the minority. Shanna Moakler and Keith Lewis should be released from their duties ASAP because they have an agenda to humiliate her and make her suffer because she wouldn't speak the party line.
Moakler and Lewis state she has gone beyond her right to her opinion and shown her oportunistic agenda. It wasn't Prejean who started this whole thing, it was the Miss USA pageant officials and its owners for not thinking that a man like Lavendiera with a very known and public agenda wouldn't use time on national television to his own advantage and for that agenda. He openly said he took points from her not because she was inarticulate, but because she gave the wrong answer.
In the 40's when someone wouldn't speak the party line we called it the holocaust. In the 80 when it was the few telling the majority how live, we called it apartied. What do you want to call this? I call it discusting. Perhaps its time to fold the pageants. Since the owners and directors of the Miss USA pageant and its source (state) pageants have blurred the lines between current events and political activism, maybe we should be rethinking what we want from our young girls. Mr Trump, would you have wanted Ivanka to forsake the values you taught her for some silly prize? Why let your staff punish Prejean for not giving up on hers? And for the record I did support the concept of gay civil unions. I'm rethinking that now
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Political correctness and beauty pageants
I guess its time for another rant. This time its Carrie Prejean.
What was The Donald thinking when he ok'd Perez Hilton as a judge for his Miss USA pagent? Hilton is a militant homosexual on a mission and to think he wouldn't use this platform for his agenda is silly. This is a guy who is famous for calling celebrities names and making life hell for them as well. His claim to fame is photoshopping photo's with imaginary cocaine and mustaches. I am told that after the show, in an interview, he called her answer polarizing. What kind of an answer did he expect to get from a polarizing question?
An AP story on CNN.com or MSNBC.com quotes him as saying she is supposed to represent ALL Americans. First off, how is she supposed to represent me? I'm a 51 year old married male. I've been married for 21 years. I lost interest in beauty pagents years ago. What she is supposed to represent is the perfect girl next door. She is supposed to be the good girl who studies and wants the American dream (husband, family, home etc). Exactly what does Mario know about women other then he wants to be one and wants everyone to accept him as one? He is not and even if he has a sex change, he still has that nasty Y chromasome. Sorry big guy. This is a man who rode Lance Bass and Reichen Lemkuhl so much that they finally broke up. His public comment after the break up was that now Reichen couldn't ride Lance's coattails. Um, I'm guessing that Paris Hilton must be thrilled that Mario is trying to ride hers.
The problem I have with the whole gay acceptance thing is not the lifestyle. Its that they want to legislate religion. The term marriage is a religious one. The gay community wants a law saying that a union between 2 homosexual partners should be called a marriage. The concept of a union between 2 same-sex partners bothers me because it goes against religous law, laws of nature and laws of science. In England, they have that law but to make it work, they don't call it a marriage, they call it a civil union and I'm ok with that.
Now I'm reading that Keith Lewis, co-director of the Miss California competition told FOXNews.com that he was "saddened" by Prejean's statement. Hey Donald, I'm thinking that Keith and Shanna Moakler should be looking for other work right now. Your folks who are openly stating that Prejean was wrong, (Lewis and Shanna Moakler) should be released from their duties. The idea that these 2 believe her answer was hurtful because she relied on her religious upbringing have no business working your competition.
A quote from the Fox article (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517215,00.html)
Charmaine Koonce, the mother of Miss New Mexico USA Bianca Matamoros-Koonce, argued back. "In the Bible it says marriage is between Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!"
God bless mothers. Its time to get political correctness out of America.
What was The Donald thinking when he ok'd Perez Hilton as a judge for his Miss USA pagent? Hilton is a militant homosexual on a mission and to think he wouldn't use this platform for his agenda is silly. This is a guy who is famous for calling celebrities names and making life hell for them as well. His claim to fame is photoshopping photo's with imaginary cocaine and mustaches. I am told that after the show, in an interview, he called her answer polarizing. What kind of an answer did he expect to get from a polarizing question?
An AP story on CNN.com or MSNBC.com quotes him as saying she is supposed to represent ALL Americans. First off, how is she supposed to represent me? I'm a 51 year old married male. I've been married for 21 years. I lost interest in beauty pagents years ago. What she is supposed to represent is the perfect girl next door. She is supposed to be the good girl who studies and wants the American dream (husband, family, home etc). Exactly what does Mario know about women other then he wants to be one and wants everyone to accept him as one? He is not and even if he has a sex change, he still has that nasty Y chromasome. Sorry big guy. This is a man who rode Lance Bass and Reichen Lemkuhl so much that they finally broke up. His public comment after the break up was that now Reichen couldn't ride Lance's coattails. Um, I'm guessing that Paris Hilton must be thrilled that Mario is trying to ride hers.
The problem I have with the whole gay acceptance thing is not the lifestyle. Its that they want to legislate religion. The term marriage is a religious one. The gay community wants a law saying that a union between 2 homosexual partners should be called a marriage. The concept of a union between 2 same-sex partners bothers me because it goes against religous law, laws of nature and laws of science. In England, they have that law but to make it work, they don't call it a marriage, they call it a civil union and I'm ok with that.
Now I'm reading that Keith Lewis, co-director of the Miss California competition told FOXNews.com that he was "saddened" by Prejean's statement. Hey Donald, I'm thinking that Keith and Shanna Moakler should be looking for other work right now. Your folks who are openly stating that Prejean was wrong, (Lewis and Shanna Moakler) should be released from their duties. The idea that these 2 believe her answer was hurtful because she relied on her religious upbringing have no business working your competition.
A quote from the Fox article (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517215,00.html)
Charmaine Koonce, the mother of Miss New Mexico USA Bianca Matamoros-Koonce, argued back. "In the Bible it says marriage is between Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!"
God bless mothers. Its time to get political correctness out of America.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)