FedEx pilots overwhelmingly authorize a strike

After nearly two years of negotiations and with no resolution on the horizon, FedEx Express pilots voted today in favor of a strike — if needed — against FedEx Corp. [caption id="attachment_57132087" align="alignleft" width="300"] (Photo/FedEx)[/caption] More than 97% of the pilots, who are members of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), voted, and 99% of those votes authorized the union to call a strike, according to a release from the union. “Today, FedEx pilots spoke with one unified voice and sent a clear message to management that we are willing to go the distance to secure a new contract,” Capt. Chris Norman , chair of the FedEx ALPA Master Executive Council, said in the release. “Now is the time for FedEx to deliver a new contract that reflects the value we bring to FedEx as highly skilled professionals who deliver FedEx’s Purple Promise every day. Our goal is to reach an agreement, not to strike. The ball is in management’s court, and it’s time for the company to get serious at the bargaining table and invest in our pilots.” Negotiations began in May 2021, six months before the contract became amendable, the union said in the release. Getting to a fair deal Nearly a month and a half ago, FedEx announced consolidation of its core businesses into FedEx Express Corp., a move industry leaders said was prompted by Wall Street demand. Dean Maciuba , managing partner at Crossroads Parcel Consulting , told Air Cargo Next at the time that he did not know if FedEx management would be up for fighting a strike with all the company was facing. “In the middle of consolidating these two separate companies that are under FedEx, now they have to manage renegotiation of the pilots’ contracts,” Maciuba said. “And I think, ultimately, they’re going to settle. … Their hands are full. And here’s the question: Is FedEx management up to this?” FedEx has more than 5,500 pilots and flies to over 650 locations, worldwide Air Cargo Next previously reported. In recent months the organization began working on an “auto crew” system – a technology which aims to fill open pilot seats by sending out notifications of the vacancy to nearby and eligible pilots, Scot Struminger , FedEx EVP and CEO of aviation at the express company explained during a Wings Club event in February. “If you’re in the aviation business, you know one of the toughest things you have to deal with is … open [pilot] seats,” Struminger said. “That’s just a fact of life in aviation: You have to fill seats.” The federal government may still have some moves to make before a strike can take place, ALPA release stated. “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,” it stated. “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 are governed under the Railway Labor Act, as the company was founded as an airline . Competitor UPS ’ pilots are governed by the National Relations Labor Act — a less heavy-handed set of regulations, according to Air Cargo Next consultant Cathy Roberson . “It’s extremely disappointing that negotiations remain open,” ALPA’s Norman said in the release. “We want to reach a fair deal with management, but it must be one that recognizes the value we bring to FedEx every day.”

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