FedEx pilots to vote on new contract

The FedEx unit of the Air Line Pilots Association has approved a new tentative contract agreement, which must now be voted upon by the express carrier’s 4,000 eligible pilots.    The FedEx unit of the Air Line Pilots Association has approved a new tentative contract agreement, which must now be voted upon by the express carrier’s 4,000 eligible pilots starting Sept. 28.
   The voting will close Oct. 20.
   “After careful consideration and thorough debate, our governing body recognized the value this agreement will bring to our pilots and their families and felt it was in the best interest of our pilots to forward the agreement to them for review,” said ALPA’s FedEx Master Executive Council chairman Capt. Chuck Dyer in a statement late Friday.
   The council started formal negotiations for the new pilot contract in January 2013. The National Mediation Board was called in after a year and half of negotiations to settle differences between FedEx’s management and the pilots union members.
   The new agreement provides increases to hourly pay rates and new-hire compensation, a significant signing bonus that addresses the time elapsed since the agreement was amendable, retirement plan enhancements, and work-rule improvements, the union said. If ratified, the contract take effect in November and become amendable in 2021.