FEDEX PILOTS JETTISON OVERTIME; UNION EDGING TOWARD STRIKE DURING HOLIDAYS.Byline: Woody Baird Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Federal Express Corp. pilots stopped working overtime Monday and took steps toward a strike, hoping to pressure the cargo airline This article is about the general type of air carrier. For the Israeli cargo airline, see CAL Cargo Air Lines. Cargo airlines (or airfreight carriers, and derivatives of these names) are airlines dedicated to the transport of cargo. to resume stalled contract talks with the busy holiday season approaching. Federal Express spokesman Greg Rossiter said the company has contingency plans A plan involving suitable backups, immediate actions and longer term measures for responding to computer emergencies such as attacks or accidental disasters. Contingency plans are part of business resumption planning. to keep shipments moving, but he acknowledged there is some concern about losing customers to competitors. ``When shippers switch, it's very difficult to get them back,'' Rossiter said. The company and the Fedex Pilots Association have been negotiating off and on since July, but no talks have occurred since Oct. 30. The union sent out ballots to the pilots Monday asking for permission to call a strike. No strike is imminent, both sides agree. The union won't count the ballots until the first week in December. A two-thirds vote for authorization would allow the union's board to call a strike if talks remain stalled. ``We're not trying to hurt the company, but we're trying to get their attention,'' said Capt. Byron Cobb, vice president of the union. FedEx says it plans to keep shipments moving no matter what the union does. It says it will rely on FedEx's large fleet of trucks as well as contract planes and flight crews from other companies. Even if the contingency plan works, FedEx stands to lose business, said Paul Schlesinger, a business analyst for Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . ``It's not that they fly airplanes because they're fun and nifty,'' he said. ``They fly them because the speed of aircraft is essential to make the service standards they offer the customers.'' United Parcel Service United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS), commonly referred to as UPS, is the world's largest package delivery company, delivering more than 15 million packages[1] a day to 6.1 million customers in over 200 countries and territories around the world. , FedEx's chief rival, declined to comment on the labor dispute except to say it welcomes new business as long as it does not interfere with service to established customers. When the Teamsters Teamsters large, powerful union of U. S. truckers. [Am. Hist.: NCE, 2703] See : Labor struck at UPS in 1997, FedEx saw its daily business double. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Color) Workers load a Federal Express DC-10 jet during a busy night shift at the corporation's hub at the Memphis International Airport Memphis International Airport (IATA: MEM, ICAO: KMEM) is a public airport located 3 miles (5 km) south of the city of Memphis in Shelby County, Tennessee, USA. . John L. Focht/Associated Press |
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