UPS, FedEx pilots contract dispute heats up
Pilots at passenger airlines aren’t the only ones feuding with their managements about new contract terms. Pilots at two cargo airlines are in contract talks, too.
The disputes at shipping giants UPS Inc. and FedEx Corp., however, don’t involve pay cuts, as both companies are offering wage increases.
Beyond pay, these pilots say their benefits and work rules are just as important — if not more important.
With so much focus on the passenger carriers, some of which have filed for bankruptcy, the labor battles at the major shippers could be a hard sell for the public’s attention that could be used to put pressure on management.
“As long as people get their packages delivered, they care about that,” said New York labor lawyer Joseph Vicinanza.
UPS pilots have run newspaper advertisements prodding management to reach an agreement with them and have authorized their union to call a strike if necessary. Today, they will do informational picketing outside company storefronts in several cities.
At FedEx, the company has asked for a federal mediator to join talks with its pilots.
The major issues the companies and their pilot unions are grappling with in the talks include pay, pensions, work rules, health benefits and job security. According to the companies, pilots at Atlanta-based UPS and Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx currently make an average of more than $175,000 a year.
The unions argue that unlike the passenger airlines awash in red ink, the two shippers are highly profitable and therefore have the means to further reward their pilots.
“It’s an apples-to-oranges comparison to compare us to the legacy carriers,” said Brian Gaudet, a spokesman for the Independent Pilots Association, which represents UPS’ 2,483 pilots. “We work for a strong and viable company that gets stronger every day because of what we do.”
The companies say they plan to give their pilots more, but need to make sure the contracts they agree to keep them competitive.
UPS spokesman Norm Black said his company’s pilots “work for a company that is growing its business, buying aircraft, hiring pilots and providing job security at a time when the industry is struggling.”
He also pointed out that at his company, about one-seventh of all packages the company delivered last year were by air. Just under 50 percent of FedEx package volume is by air.
UPS and its pilots have been in federal mediated talks since June 2004. Its pilots contract became amendable on Dec. 31, 2003, and has remained unchanged since then.
FedEx pilots are still working under a 1999 contract that became amendable in 2004.
