"What good are 1,500 part-time jobs going to do for unemployment?"
Fact? "Of the 1,500 eventual jobs the FedEx hub will offer, 500 of them will be fulltime jobs paying an average salary of $34,000." - quoted from www.hubfacts.com

Join the Blue Ribbon Online Free Speech Campaign!

Fact? "The 1,000 part-time employees will see an average salary of $12/hour, guaranteed work for 17.5 hours/week, and enjoy full-time employee benefits including health insurance and college tuition reimbursement." - quoted from www.hubfacts.com
FedEx's own career pages list wages of $10.05 an hour currently for many of the exact same positions that will be used here. Starting pay between now and the time the hub opens would have to increase nearly 10% per year to reach $12/hour. Even at $12/hour this works out to only $10,920 per year before taxes and before the employee's portion of the insurance are taken out, at the "guaranteed 17.5 hours per week". This works out to (at the standard 28% of pay as deductions) to only $7862.40 per year after deductions, or less than half the official "poverty level" as defined by "The Living Wage Program".

"Still only 1,500 jobs will be created?" 

Fact? "According to the draft environmental impact statement study conducted for the FAA by URS Greiner, the creation of the FedEx hub is expected to create over 16,000 jobs in a 16-year period and add $7.5 billion to the local economy as a result of the hub itself, existing businesses growing, and new businesses locating in the area."- quoted from www.hubfacts.com
The exact same "Draft Environmental Impact Statement" they are quoting says "In Indianapolis, it would appear that cargo shipment capacity has not yet emerged as an important location factor in attracting new industry to this area." Source: DEIS, Appendix E, Page 4-15.
There are no guarantees that FedEx will attract ANY new businesses. Indeed, FedEx itself refuses to commit to our public officials hiring any people beyond the original 225 full-time employees and 525 part-time employees it estimates will be hired or brought in when the first module comes on line. An interesting side note is that they have only committed to hiring this first group of people, not hiring replacements if they quit or are fired.

"Won't college students be the biggest segment filling the part-time jobs?"
Fact? "Qualified persons will be placed in jobs at FedEx. Both the recently released McKinsey Report and the Social Capital Survey conducted by area foundations have shown the area is losing significant numbers of 21 to 34 year olds to other metropolitan areas in the state. The more of this age group, including college graduates, that can be retained here, the more attractive the area looks to potential new businesses." - quoted from www.hubfacts.com
"The advanced technology, high value-adding companies likely to be attracted to a transportation and distribution cluster in the Triad are the very companies most likely to be influenced positively by smart growth strategies that avoid congestion, prevent sprawl, and protect the environment." (Pg. 5; RTS report)
These are the very factors that recent surveys of our youth have shown as the top reasons why our young people in this age range are leaving our area in high numbers. The FedEx hub will add to congestion (400 to 800 trucks per night or MORE entering and leaving the airport, with many using Bryon Blvd, I-40/I-85 and Hwy 68), sprawl (USA Today rated Greensboro as number 3 in the nation in urban sprawl - find the article here & click on "show me the 25 worst sites ), and dramatically increase air pollution in an area rated as one of the worst on the east coast. These factors will insure the young college graduates will continue to leave the area for "greener pastures".

"How will FedEx jobs help minorities?"
Fact? "40% of FedEx's workforce is comprised of minorities, and 27% of FedEx officials and managers are minorities." - quoted from www.hubfacts.com
Roughly translated, if you are a minority you are 50% more likely to end up in a non-management job. It should be equal. If 40% of their workforce is comprised of minorities, then shouldn't 40% of the officials and managers should also be minorities?

"What guarantee is there that FedEx will attract new business?"
Fact? "There is not one. However, in the four metropolitan areas where FedEx has built a hub, high tech, pharmaceutical, consumer products and electronics companies such as Intel, Eli Lily and CompUSA have cited the FedEx hub as a reason for their location or expansion decisions." - quoted from www.hubfacts.com
"IN OUR EXPERIENCE, NO FIRM LOCATES ANYWHERE OR GROWS ANYWHERE, BECAUSE OF ONLY ONE FACTOR." (Pg. 81; RTS report) Note that the above statement says "as a reason" and not "as the reason".

Fact? "The Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce lists 40 FedEx customers in the last five years that have located to or expanded in Memphis because of FedEx, representing $710 million in new investment and 9,813 new jobs." - quoted from www.hubfacts.com
Again, "IN OUR EXPERIENCE, NO FIRM LOCATES ANYWHERE OR GROWS ANYWHERE, BECAUSE OF ONLY ONE FACTOR." (Pg. 81; RTS report)
If any company has moved there exclusively because FedEx was there, or because FedEx was the number one reason, then why don't they name the company and the person who is making that statement? The answer is, they can't, because no such list exists. Just because a company uses FedEx doesn't mean they moved to a specific place because of FedEx.

"What happens if FedEx doesn't locate here?"
Fact? "The Triad's loss will be a competitive city's gain in terms of attracting new business, which studies like the McKinsey Report say the region cannot afford to lose. And there would be a loss of federal monies the FedEx hub will pour into the economy - monies that are needed to keep the area moving forward." - quoted from www.hubfacts.com
For starters, the area will not lose $80,000,000 in tax incentives or corporate welfare to a multi-billion dollar company. Taxpayers will not be forced to foot the bill to buy out houses that would otherwise become part of the airport's property and thus no longer contributing millions of dollars in property taxes. (Airport property, no matter what the usage, is exempt from paying Guilford County Property Taxes.) There would be no need to spend $39,000,000 to re-route Bryon Blvd, a road that millions of dollars were spent on recently to upgrade and repair it. The $39,000,000 could instead be used to repair other roads that are in bad shape. We could instead work to attract other, higher paying high tech businesses that would otherwise stay away because of increased congestion and sprawl. In short, we would easily be much better off without FedEx. The people who want FedEx are a small group of people who stand to make the most money from it. 99.9% of the population would not receive any benefits from the hub but instead end up paying the most for it.

What can I do to help? Click here.

Mirror This Site!