MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Pilots with Memphis-based FedEx Express are a step closer to a strike.
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) said the pilots filed a request with the National Mediation Board (NMB) Friday, March 8, 2024, asking to be released from mediation. The step is the first towards a legal strike as they continue contract negotiations.
Negotiations between the pilot’s union and the global shipping giant began in May 2021 and went into federal mediation in October 2022. A tentative agreement was rejected in July 2023 and negotiations resumed in November 2023.
Before a strike can happen, the National Mediation Board will have to determine if additional mediation efforts would be unproductive, and then offer both sides the chance to arbitrate the dispute. If either sides declines arbitration, they enter a 30-day ‘cooling off’ period, then either a strike or a lockout by management can occur.
“FedEx pilots have been delivering the world on time for years,” said Captain Billy Wilson, chair of the FedEx ALPA Master Executive Council. “We have already earned a new agreement, and this step is an intentional demonstration of our unwavering determination to achieve the recognition we deserve.”
FedEx sent this statement to ABC24:
"We strongly disagree that a release from mediation is appropriate. This is a common union tactic that does not impact our outstanding service to customers around the world.
We have already reached one tentative agreement with our pilots that ALPA leadership supported and hailed as “the highest value achieved among major carriers in the last twenty years.” Despite active support by its leadership, FedEx pilots narrowly voted it down last summer, and since that time we have seen continuous changes in union direction and leadership that have hindered progress toward a new deal. FedEx remains steadfastly committed to bargaining in good faith and reaching an agreement that is fair to all stakeholders. We believe the mediation process under the supervision of the National Mediation Board - which ALPA requested - remains the best way to achieve that goal. "