FedEx Pilots Mark Four Years of Protracted Contract Negotiations

385
0



Editorial photo credit: Cerib – stock.adobe.com

MEMPHIS, Tenn.— Sunday marked the fourth anniversary since the exchange of openers in pilot contract negotiations. FedEx pilots continue to express their displeasure with protracted contract negotiations.

Pilots are operating on an outdated Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed on November 2, 2015. According to the FedEx Master Executive Council (MEC) of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), the goal of the current bargaining effort is to solidify an industry-leading contract that meets our members' focused priorities of enhanced retirement benefits and pay rates with targeted quality of life improvements.

The FedEx Corporation and the Association entered into a Protocol Agreement on March 24, 2021. In the Protocol Agreement, the parties committed to focus discussions on a limited number of sections, with the goal of reaching a Tentative Agreement between the respective Negotiating Committees by the end of May 2022. Consistent with this approach, eight sections of the CBA were opened by ALPA, and eight were opened by the Company. The parties reached an initial agreement in May 2023, but the agreement was ultimately rejected in July 2023 by the pilot group, which, in an overwhelming voter turnout, cited concerns with scope provisions, economic shortfalls, and quality of life concessions.

The case has been under federal mediation since October 2022. Since then, FedEx has implemented a financially engineered corporate transformation under a cost-savings discipline termed “DRIVE” and a “One FedEx” business strategy that aims to merge air and ground network operations. The Corporation has since closed a pilot base in Europe and outsourced all mainline 757 trunk aircraft European air operations to foreign carriers. The pilot group is disappointed at FedEx’s failure to address its plans during initial bargaining efforts, and it expects to change pace with a contract that reflects a collaborative future and growth in international market share. A recent statement by FedEx MEC chair Capt. Jose Nieves calls on “management to reassess the impact of recent optimization decisions and collaborate with us on a way ahead—a future that balances safety, productivity, and quality of life in a challenging operating environment.”

According to the National Mediation Board, which oversees bargaining efforts, the parties met twice in April and have additional dates planned for mediated negotiations.

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the largest airline pilot union in the world and represents more than 79,000 pilots at 42 U.S. and Canadian airlines. Visit ALPA.org or follow us on Twitter @ALPAPilots.




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.