FedEx Express and the Airline Pilots Association, which represents FedEx pilots, began their first session with a federal mediator this week.
Last month, both parties submitted a request for mediation to the National Mediation Board to assist in ongoing contract negotiations. Since then, the request was approved and a mediator was assigned to the case. A spokesperson for the ALPA FedEx Master Executive Council said that both the union and the company met with the mediator separately prior to negotiations getting underway this week.
"Both ALPA and FedEx negotiators are currently meeting with the mediator," the representative said in an email. "As far as specific progress at the table regarding negotiations, we don’t have an update."
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When contacted Thursday, FedEx gave no comment beyond its initial news release from October.
The two have been in contract negotiations since May 2021 with pilots seeking adjustments to their pensions and other quality-of-life benefits. The lengthy negotiations led to FedEx pilots picketing along Democrat Road earlier this year.
Eight out of 12 sections of the contract have been agreed on, and the parties said they hoped the mediation process would speed up the resolution of the remaining four as the company heads into peak season.
Per the Railway Labor Act, the current contract will remain in effect until the mediation process is finished and the National Mediation Board has taken final action.
Niki Scheinberg is the FedEx and logistics reporter at The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at monika.scheinberg@commercialappeal.com.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: FedEx Express, pilots union begin mediation over contract negotiations