Eric, that is the way it should be. Ford should simply state, we will reopen the plant, even with the contract, but this is how it is going to be, if not, no cookie. The first thing to go would be the strike. I know Virginia is a right to work state, I have worked there and the time I was there, I made more money in 5 years than what I made in 15 when I returned home. I should have stayed in Norfolk. And I did not work in a Union atmosphere and had better benefits than those who did. I had full health coverage, no 80/20, no dedutible, and I was bringing home $1,200 a week after taxes. Yes, I was a real dumb one for quitting. By now, I would have had enough time for a retirement (they only wanted 20 years) with full benefits and I still have 14 years left before retiring. Can you imagine the retirement package I would have had? Plus while working, traveling all around the world.

 

Not long after Ford shut down, the state of Va was scrambling to recover from the economic trickle down. They courted Toyota, Hyundia and a few other high end manufacturers, to no avail, the plant continues to sit. The Norfolk plant was consistantly rated #1 in F-150 build quailty. So, why was it closed? Were the business taxes too high? Is it a logistical nightmare to ship and recieve from this area? I don't know. It very could have been as simple as a Ford decision maker putting on his/ her blind fold and blindly pointing the finger on the map. Where the finger lands, the plant closes. Now that's kind of a silly statement, but, closing a top rated assembly plant is plain idiotic, given Norfolk's vast shipping network, barge, rail, truck and container ship.

The question: Does Ford still own the plant? If so, why tool up an other plant to produce econoboxes when the realestate exists right here.

Tim

 

Question... do you have supporting data (not supplied by the Postal Union)? I'm curious about this, because UPS does a great job. They use lot of non-career temps, especially during the holidays and I haven't seen their service suffer because of it. I see examples out there of contractors who have had problems, but I also see examples of Postal employees who have problems.

Maybe its just me, but it seems union workers talk about unions the way voters talk about Congressmen. Its always someone else's Congressman who has abuse and pork-barrell spendng. When their own Congressman brings home earmarks its "taking care of his constituency." I'm not saying you personally... but it is a pattern I've seen repeatedly on the forums over the years.

 

In other parts of the country, the PO has contracted some delivery services at a much lower hourly rate than what I earn and with no paid bennies what so ever. I don't have proof, I'm simply basing my statement on monthly newsletters from the PO and from the union. All of the PO's competetors do a fantastic job. Not saying that they don't. They pay a great starting wage and offer some great bennies. The spectrum of our service is less expensive, far more vast and much more involved than our competetors. The point is, if the union were less accomodating, then they could very possibly fight tooth and nail with the PO every time a new service is offered and expected to be provided at existing mail volumes in an eight hour day. Instead of complaining about new or added services, we provide them as efficiently as possible knowing that it's best for the company.

Tim

 

My experience doesn't quite match that. Sure, I can ship cheaper with the Post Office depending on where it goes, but its usually with discounted service. Once I add insurance and delivery confirmation to a Priority Mail package the Post Office often loses its competitive edge. Not in every case though.

One thing I have to wonder... if the Post Office will ever stop fighting access by UPS, FedEx and DHL to mail-boxes? It seems to be a government enforced monopoly (I know, I'm going off on a tangent here that's not about unions). When you give consumers more choice prices go down and quality goes up as a result. Look at how import brands forced Detroit to make better vehicles as an example (though the price argument doesn't work here because there are many things included in new vehicles which weren't before such as anti-lock brakes, air bags, etc.).

I see competition as benefitting not only the customer, but in the long run the Post Office as well. Just imagine if some of the pressure of delivering letters cheaply was assumed by competitors, freeing up more USPS resources for more profitable types of shipping. Everyone wins in the long run.

(correct me if I'm wrong) Since workers are working the same number of hours, I must assume the work load has merely changed over the years, rather than increased? I used to mail 20+ checks per month to pay bills. Now its all online except for 1 check. People used to write letters to keep in touch, now they send email. On the reverse side of the coin, with the Internet I ship more packages than ever to my home.

Don't get me wrong, I am not knocking the USPS. The fact that I can send a letter from here to California for 42 cents and have it arrive in 3 days is an amazing feat of worker logistics and technology. These days I use the USPS more than I do UPS for outbound packages, because I send small volume items I'm selling as I clean out my garage, truck project items I didn't use, etc. I don't have daily UPS pickup service so its convenient to put the outbound packages in my oversized mailbox.

For inbound packages I use primarily UPS. Its often quicker (except from the west coast) plus the tracking is a lot more detailed and its automatically insured for items under $100. One of the things I love about UPS is it always feels more personal. I get to know the drivers personally. Admittedly that's because they can't deliver to my mail box and it would change if they could deliver to my mail box.

 

Ken, I basically do the same thing. I ship by the USPS, but usually request items to be sent to me by UPS. I do my best to stay away from FEDEX and DHL due to problems in the past from both carriers. I did find out something interesting from FEDEX the other day. Their delivery people are not FEDEX, but independant contractors. Dell sent a shipment by them and they could not even following the direction on the shipping label. I don't want to go any further, but it took four days beyond a two day shipment for me to get it and I had to go to their terminal to get to get my package. Guess they got put back on the the bad list again. UPS has never given me any problems, even calling me after hours when they missed me to arrange a drop.

 

Actually, its both types of workers at FedEx. Overnight and 2nd day air are employees. Ground is contracted. FedEx bought out RPS many years ago and RPS drivers were contractors -- part of the buyout deal is RPS drivers would remain contractors. Its why you see separate ground and overnight delivery trucks.

You can blame the problems on how the contracts were negotiated. UPS has guaranteed delivery for ground. If it says 2 days it'll take 2 days, 3 days and it'll take 3 days, etc. For FedEx (in the fine print) ground packages do not have to show up for 5 business days, even if the estimate is 2 days. Because of this loophole the delivery drivers will often save up packages for different areas to reduce the number of delivery trips. I learned this from my friendly neighborhood FedEx driver back when my business used them for shipping. I got fed up with this and dropped them, after packages to/from a supplier in Florida would take 4-5 days to show up here in Georgia, when the ground estimates said overnight. I went back to UPS... paid for ground service from Florida and 99% of the time received my packages overnight.

 

As usual Ken, you make very strong points. First class letter volume is down. I can't pretend to be the authority on Postal operations as I've been an employee for only three years. I will add that I have a fantastic relationship with the folks on my route and my presence in thier neighborhood is as regular as the school bus. In the past three years, I've medically assisted 2 elderly people on my route. That's where the career employee argument comes in. I'm in the same community everyday. I know my customer's wants and needs and I cater to them. I know when something just doesn't feel right. Please don't get me wrong, I work with people that could care less about thier job. These folks slow us all down. I bust my tail everyday. I'm regular in attendance, I don't ride the clock, I work efficiently and I'm very proud of what I do. I feel that I'm providing a much needed service and I feel that my service keeps America's wheels turning.

I must apologize for comparing the Postal union to the UAW. This is an awesome truck site.

Tim

 

Don't give the Japanese too much credit just yet. Toyota did a study three years ago that stated that their factory workers were paid to much. Toyota and Nissan are actively outsourcing critical jobs and using increasing amounts of temps instead of hiring employees with benefits. They want to cut wages by a significant percentage.
Their quality ratings are starting to slide, check J.D. Powers for the last two years and look at the trend in quality.
Nissan has offered two huge buyouts to eliminate higher waged employees many of them replaced with temps. Temps can not organize.
Most of the Auto manufacturers, including the Japanese, are actively building large plants in China. Fasten your seatbelt America, are the automakers going Wal-mart on us?
As a side note the U.S. Automakers sure didn't make a very convincing case for a bailout,to the Congress. Do they want to close here and move overseas? Upper management is in greed mode, lookout American workers.