Sr. AMT Al Reese in Indianapolis was one of a group of FedEx Express workers who attended the FedEx shareholders meeting this year. Here are Al’s thoughts at what happened:

“I was able to ask Fred Smith some questions:

I asked about the reductions, elimination, or replacement, of many of our benefits and some of our pay. His response was that WE have not seen any reductions in compensation. Can you believe that? In fact, Fred commented on pay and bonus reductions of the management ranks. He also said that benefit reductions or changes, were just solid business decisions.

I asked if he had plans to communicate to the stockholders detailed information regarding the status of H.R. 915 (the FAA reauthorization act of 2009), and the likelihood of our pro-worker language being inserted into the final draft of the bill. I asked Fred if he had plans to communicate to the shareholders detailed information regarding the likelihood of many of the company’s employees forming unions. I believe that Fred dismissed the likelihood of employees forming into legally protected labor unions at this time. However, Fred did say more than once that it is “OUR CHOICE” to unionize and that the company respects our right to do so.

I also had a personal message that I wanted to share. I stated that many of us, the FedEx Express workforce, feel betrayed by the board's actions. I said that many of us came to work for FedEx based on their compensation package and their People-Service-Profit philosophy. I said that we thought that we could count on him to honor his published compensation package as long as the company remained healthy. I asked if he did not realize that their actions are the reason for our current unionization efforts.

After everything that has gone on at FedEx for 10 years now, I don’t think that we really even hear each other anymore. Management just keeps taking from us and the workforce just keeps taking it. What I did hear is this; we had better use this once in a lifetime opportunity, and join with the Teamsters, to change the status quo. We had better secure a legally binding contract for ourselves and for our families. Only then will management have to deal with us exactly like they deal with anyone else that they contract with. This way, FedEx Corporation will never again be able to arbitrarily issue a letter and take something else away.