FedEx Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary, Pilots Send Strong Message
FedEx Express pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), announced that the voting window for a strike authorization ballot will open Tuesday, April 18. Mediated negotiations for a new employment contract for the pilots have failed to produce an industry-leading agreement. The pilots’ contract became amendable in November 2021, with negotiations beginning in May 2021.
“At a time when our pilots should be joining our company in celebration of its 50th anniversary, we are instead forced to apply additional pressure to management in an effort to secure a new contract,” said Capt. Chris Norman, chair of the FedEx ALPA Master Executive Council. “We do not make a decision like this lightly, but we intend to send a strong and unified message to management that our pilots are willing to go the distance to achieve the contract we have earned.”
ALPA and FedEx have been in mediated talks under the Railway Labor Act (RLA) since October 2022.
“We have made progress in many sections of our contract with the remaining items fitting on one term sheet,” said Norman. “Our pilots have significantly contributed to FedEx’s success and allowed it to become a logistics powerhouse, and we are tired of management’s empty platitudes. It’s time for FedEx management to get serious at the bargaining table and conclude negotiations with an agreement our pilots will support.”
Approval of the ballot does not mean a job action is inevitable. Before a strike can take place, the National Mediation Board must first decide that additional mediation efforts would not be productive and offer the parties an opportunity to arbitrate the contract dispute. If either side declines the arbitration, both parties enter a 30-day “cooling off” period, after which the parties can engage in self-help—a strike by the union or a lockout by management.
FedEx pilots have continuously shown their support of their Negotiating Committee and their solidarity through informational picketing events over the past year. “This strike authorization ballot allows our pilots to tell management in no uncertain terms that it’s time to invest in us with a contract we have earned and will be proud to ratify.”
For more information regarding the FedEx pilots’ negotiations, visit FDXPilots.com.
