FedEx Gives Air Network a Facelift as Mechanics Call to Unionize
Already conducting ongoing contract negotiations with its unionized pilots, FedEx now has another unionization drive on its hands as mechanics and maintenance workers at its Express air network seek to join the Teamsters.
The announcement of the drive was unveiled a day after the package delivery giant released its second-quarter earnings, which saw FedEx cut its full-year 2024 revenue forecast and lay out a new reorganization plan for the FedEx Express network.
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The Teamsters did not comment on how many workers joined the organizing effort, but a union representative told Sourcing Journal that “thousands” of employees have signed authorization cards.
The three largest occupations in the work group, according to a Teamsters spokesperson, are aviation mechanics, ground support equipment mechanics and facility mechanics. Additionally, there are other FedEx maintenance jobs that could potentially be considered part of the bargaining unit, which the union refers to as “related classifications.”
Joe Ferreira, director of the Teamsters airline division, called the employees’ response “overwhelming” in a letter to the workers.
“You are on track to becoming unionized soon,” Ferreira said. “Your livelihood will no longer be subject to arbitrary and unfair ‘management discretion.’”
The FedEx Express workers’ campaign to unionize grew “organically,” according to the Teamsters, with the mechanics reaching out to the union, signing the authorization cards and taking other actions to move along the organizing process.
As the unionization drive gets underway, FedEx Express is restructuring as part of the Drive cost optimization plan, which the courier expects will cut $4 billion in expenses by the 2025 fiscal year.
The “Tricolor” redesign partitions the Express network into three colors: purple, which will deliver high-priority, high-margin parcel volumes through the FedEx-owned fleet; orange, in which more flights will be re-timed to operate “off-cycle” and packages will be handled through FedEx’s non-urgent sortation network; and white, which incorporates FedEx’s air partner network as an “adaptive capacity layer” on imbalanced trade lanes.
“We now have a significant mixture of freight traffic as well as deferred traffic to change a portion of the existing flight schedule to a different clock, so to speak, driving more ability to fill up the traffic and improve density,” said Raj Subramaniam, president and CEO of FedEx, in the Tuesday earnings call.
Subramaniam said the shift allows FedEx to feed into both its international road network, as well as its FedEx Ground and FedEx Freight network for the first time.
“This is a significant change, probably one of the biggest changes that we’ve seen in decades,” said Subramaniam.
For the Teamsters, 2023 has been a banner year, with the 1.3-million-member organization negotiating a new five-year contract for 340,000 unionized UPS workers over the summer. The union has had its hands full, calling on Congress to investigate the circumstances behind Yellow’s bankruptcy—which saw the loss of 22,000 union jobs—in an effort to reform U.S. bankruptcy laws.
Teamsters members also spearheaded a 12-day unfair labor practice strike at DHL Express, where about 1,100 tug and tamp workers responsible for loading and unloading packages from planes walked off the job. The yet-to-be-ratified contract includes wage increases that total $5.50 per hour over the course of four years.
And on Thursday, 238 Costco workers in Norfolk, Va. voted to join Teamsters Local 822, a year after the union reached a national contract with the warehouse club. The Teamsters represents more than 18,000 employees at Costco.
For FedEx, the delivery firm won’t just be dealing with mechanics at the collective bargaining table, but in the courtroom as well.
An El Paso, Texas, mechanic filed a premises liability claim in New Mexico court in November alleging that FedEx failed to properly train its employees or maintain proper security procedures when he was seriously injured while fixing a conveyor belt.
Omar Lobera filed a complaint against FedEx and his employer, electric motor repair company B&M Industrial, seeking punitive damages and monetary relief for injuries he sustained while repairing a conveyor belt at a FedEx warehouse in Santa Teresa, N.M.
According to the suit, Lobera stood on an unstable ladder provided by FedEx while fixing the conveyor belt, which the plaintiff claims did not have a feature preventing it from running if its safety guard was missing.
Lopera lost his balance on the ladder before he attempted to grab onto something so he wouldn’t fall, when the conveyor belt turned on and began to run. The plaintiff claims the belt pulled him by his right arm, ripping his shirt which ultimately got caught around his neck, nearly strangling him. The plaintiff alleges he suffered serious injuries as a result.
