MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A tentative contract agreement was approved on Sunday by the Air Line Pilots Association Int'l (ALPA) and the FedEx Master Executive Council (MEC) regarding a strike organized by FedEx express pilots.
The agreement was first reached with management at FedEx on May 30, but the MEC — as the governing body of the FedEx unit of the ALPA — has now also signed off.
Next steps include a "membership ratification ballot" to open on July 5 and close on July 24.
ALPA said the new agreement would provide major pension improvements with alternative pension options, significant hourly par rate increases, an amendable period recovery payment and "other improvements to pilots' quality of life."
Specifically, a 30 percent pay increase, a 30 percent increase to the pilots' legacy pension and a fully developed and "equally valuable company-funded" market based cash balance pension to provide a "durable" replacement for their legacy pension are part of the terms.
ALPA said that to date, this is the largest investment in a pilot contract on a per capita bases and it "substantially raises the bar" when it comes to pilot retirement.
“After careful consideration and thorough debate, our union leaders recognized the value this agreement will bring to our pilots and their families,” said MEC chair captain Chris Norman. “Now, we shift our focus to ensuring our pilots have the time and resources needed to make an informed decision.”
The MEC Negotiating Committee is said to share the full contract language, publish detailed information about the agreement online and will host a series of "road shows" starting June 20.
"We took a membership-driven approach to these negotiations with polling and direct feedback throughout the process," Norman said. "We negotiated an industry-leading contract and achieved improvements contract-wide. We look forward to presenting the agreement to our pilots for consideration.
Norman said that the retirement improvements "stand out."
"Not only did we accomplish major improvements to the existing pension benefit — improvements that we sought and management bitterly resisted in past negotiations— but we also crafted a new pension plan that sheds the negative funding aspects of our current plan," he said. "The new plan is completely sustainable and ensures that the costs of the plan charged to the company match the value that goes to the pilots. It’s a tremendous accomplishment."
If ratified, the new contract will go into effect in August 2023 and would become amendable in the year 2028.