FedEx Express, Pilots Reach Tentative Agreement

FedEx Express, a unit of FedEx Corp., reached tentative labor agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association, International, the collective bargaining representative for FedEx Express pilots.

The two parties announced the agreement Aug. 27.

FedEx, Memphis, and the ALPA said the agreement -- reached on Saturday evening -- is subject to review before being finalized. Negotiations have been conducted under the guidance of the National Mediation Board since October 2005. Terms of the tentative agreement are not being released as they must be reviewed and approved by the FedEx ALPA Master Executive Council.

The pilots had said their main contract concerns were job security, work rules, retirement benefits and health care.

If approved, the tentative agreement will be subject to a ratification vote by 4,700 FedEx pilots. If ratified, the four-year contract would become amendable in 2010.

In other contract negotiations, the 2,750 members of the Independent Pilots Association, the union that represents United Parcel Service Inc.'s pilots, will announce the results of its vote on a new labor contract on August 31.

In late June, Atlanta-based UPS and the IPA reached a tentative agreement on the contract, which provides for wage and pension improvements and a variety of changes to work rules.