FedEx pilots request release from mediation

The Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA) – the largest airline pilot union in the world, and one that represents more than 77,000 pilots flying with 42 US and Canadian airlines – has confirmed that FedEx Express pilots that it represents have filed a request with the US National Mediation Board (NMB) to be officially released from mediation.

The NMB is an independent US federal government agency that facilitates labour-management relations. It has the mission of helping to ‘maintain the flow of interstate commerce in the airline and railway industries through representation, mediation and arbitration services’.

ALPA and FedEx management have been in negotiations since May 2021 and in federal mediation since October 2022. The request made by the ALPA-represented pilots represents the first step, the union notes, in organising a legal strike with a view to achieving new contract conditions.

However, before any strike can legally take place, the NMB must first decide that additional mediation efforts would not be successful, and also to offer the parties an opportunity to arbitrate the contract dispute.

If either side or both parties decline the arbitration, they both enter a 30-day cooling-off period, after which the union may resort to a strike or management can introduce a lockout.

Billy Wilson, chair of the FedEx ALPA Master Executive Council, declared: “FedEx pilots have been delivering the world on time for years.

“We have already earned a new agreement, and this step is an intentional demonstration of our unwavering determination to achieve the recognition we deserve.”

Troubled times

According to an ALPA statement: “Following a rejected tentative agreement in July 2023 and mediated negotiations resuming in November 2023, FedEx pilot leaders have become increasingly frustrated with management’s lack of movement on key contract sections.”

In January, ACN reported that FedEx Pilot representatives had expressed their disappointment at the latest round of talks over a new contract while labelling an offer to move to a regional airline as insulting.

ALPA said at the time that it was disappointed to read “management’s comments made to a small group of pilots that downplayed their prospects to provide an industry-leading contract”.

The union also pointed out that the company made record-breaking profits during the pandemic.

ALPA insists that FedEx pilots still hope the express services giant’s management will meet the requested terms for new contracts.