Fedex pilots vote down TA

[DE727UPS]

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Release #: FDX 23.09
July 24, 2023

FedEx Pilots Reject Tentative Agreement​

Memphis—Today, FedEx pilots rejected a tentative agreement with the company by a vote of 57 percent to 43 percent.

“Our members have spoken and we will now regroup and prepare for the next steps. In the coming weeks, the FedEx ALPA leadership will meet to establish a timeline for assessing pilot group priorities moving forward. FedEx pilots remain unified and that will drive a new path that will help produce an agreement that all FedEx pilots will be proud to support,” said Capt. Chris Norman, FedEx ALPA chair.

Moving forward, it is expected that the National Mediation Board will convene a status conference with both parties. However, there is no time requirement for this to occur.



Founded in 1931, ALPA is the largest airline pilot union in the world and represents more than 74,000 pilots at 42 U.S. and Canadian airlines. Visit ALPA.org or follow us on Twitter @ALPAPilots.

 

[mikecweb]

It’s going to be a bumpy ride here for awhile. The union leadership / negotiating committee is going to be gutted. The incoming team will have passion but the mountain they will have to climb will be large. Hopefully the most passionate stick around and fight, sadly the loudest voices are on their way out. Those in the middle are left to pick up the pieces. This TA was disappointing but I hope no one is celebrating at the funeral.

 

[Ian_J]

It’s going to be a bumpy ride here for awhile. The union leadership / negotiating committee is going to be gutted. The incoming team will have passion but the mountain they will have to climb will be large. Hopefully the most passionate stick around and fight, sadly the loudest voices are on their way out. Those in the middle are left to pick up the pieces. This TA was disappointing but I hope no one is celebrating at the funeral.

It really sucks what you guys are going through. Back when we did a nationwide informational picket there were pilots from a bunch of airlines marching with us to include FedEx. If you guys do one I’m there if I have the day off.

 

[MikeD]

given it’s a no outcome, does it send a message one way or another, subtle or obvious, that the vote was close and not necessarily unanimous or closer to?

 

[Inverted]

Strike time baby!

 

[Brian29]

Well I hope it works out well for the pilots and they get what they are looking for. I only hope I’ll be around to share in it but I feel myself and the bottom numbers will be the sacrificial lambs in the coming months.

 

[DE727UPS]

Somebody at the UPS pilots forum mentioned that if both brown and purple pilot groups had TA's at the same time, along with dual strike votes, it might give more traction to both pilot groups.

 

[Skåning]

Good for you guys. Taking concessions never saves a company from furloughs. Management will do it with or without a TA.

 

[MikeD]

Somebody at the UPS pilots forum mentioned that if both brown and purple pilot groups had TA's at the same time, along with dual strike votes, it might give more traction to both pilot groups.

Wouldn’t the Biden administration just railroad them into going back to work, citing economic impact?

 

[Soku39]

Somebody at the UPS pilots forum mentioned that if both brown and purple pilot groups had TA's at the same time, along with dual strike votes, it might give more traction to both pilot groups.

What like United doing the life guard move for AA pilots?

 

[DE727UPS]

Wouldn’t the Biden administration just railroad them into going back to work, citing economic impact?

Yeah, my personal opinion is no pilots union will ever be allowed to actually strike. But the general public will never understand the RLA bit and there is some advantage to threatening a strike. Especially if it could be the two largest box moving airlines at the same time. You always get some (small) percentage of shippers moving their stuff to the competitor when the talk of a strike comes up and management doesn't like that.

 

[ChasenSFO]

Yeah, my personal opinion is no pilots union will ever be allowed to actually strike. But the general public will never understand the RLA bit and there is some advantage to threatening a strike. Especially if it could be the two largest box moving airlines at the same time. You always get some (small) percentage of shippers moving their stuff to the competitor when the talk of a strike comes up and management doesn't like that.

I recall a lot of big airlines striking in the 90s, including UPS I believe, but I can only think of Spirit in "modern" times. The risk of FedEx and UPS both shutting down for a period of time would light one hell of a fire under a lot of people, I'd imagine.

 

[DE727UPS]

UPS pilots didn't strike, per se. We had it in our contract we could honor other union picket lines. In 97 the teamsters struck and we honored the lines, formed our own lines (I was at BFI), and only management guys flew a few flights. There were other unions who had smaller strikes that we honored. I think one was in Cologne and one in Canada. Our last contract changed the language that we could only honor a UPS unions strike.

 

[MikeD]

UPS pilots didn't strike, per se. We had it in our contract we could honor other union picket lines. In 97 the teamsters struck and we honored the lines, formed our own lines (I was at BFI), and only management guys flew a few flights. There were other unions who had smaller strikes that we honored. I think one was in Cologne and one in Canada. Our last contract changed the language that we could only honor a UPS unions strike.

The management pilots who flew a few lines, did they get the scab label? Or does that not meet the accepted definition, with regards to their position in the company?

 

[SFCC/UND]

Wouldn’t the Biden administration just railroad them into going back to work, citing economic impact?

IBT President told the WH not to interfere multiple times. I even believe the Dept of Labor said she wasn't getting involved.

 

[dustoff17]

given it’s a no outcome, does it send a message one way or another, subtle or obvious, that the vote was close and not necessarily unanimous or closer to?

This!

“…company by a vote of 57 percent to 43 percent”

AND

“….FedEx pilots remain unified…“

These two don’t go together at all, let alone in the same speech! Unless by “unified” he means they wear matching costumes uniforms.

 

[DE727UPS]

The management pilots who flew a few lines, did they get the scab label? Or does that not meet the accepted definition, with regards to their position in the company?

They did get the label within our pilot group. You could make the argument they weren't in the union so couldn't be scabs. But they were considered as such within our group. As far as the scab "list". That's an ALPA thing and we weren't ALPA.

 

[Maurus]

Strike time baby!

I find that to not be likely with a 57% no vote. It isn't exactly showing that a large chunk of pilots mean business. It really just tells everyone that they arent far off from a 51% yes vote.

 

[GypsyPilot]

One aspect many non-FDX pilots on here don’t understand is that with time the mentality for the TA will continue to drift towards the no voters.

A breakdown of the vote by seniority showed that a vast majority of senior pilots were for it. Conversely, the vast majority of junior pilots were against it.

We have a very large group of junior pilots (~500ish) that are about to complete probation and be eligible to vote on the next iteration. There will also be a couple hundred senior pilots that retire in the next year that will not be eligible to vote.

 

[Maurus]

One aspect many non-FDX pilots on here don’t understand is that with time the mentality for the TA will continue to drift towards the no voters.

A breakdown of the vote by seniority showed that a vast majority of senior pilots were for it. Conversely, the vast majority of junior pilots were against it.

We have a very large group of junior pilots (~500ish) that are about to complete probation and be eligible to vote on the next iteration. There will also be a couple hundred senior pilots that retire in the next year that will not be eligible to vote.

Oh I understand that but there is still speculation and uncertainty involved. If a super junior pilot thinks a crap deal would keep them on property like the union seemed to suggest they may vote yes. It isn't completely cut and dry.

I really don't see the NMB releasing FedEx pilots any time soon.