FedEx pilots vote to ratify new labor contract

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Pilots for FedEx Corp. have voted to approve a six-year contract that includes pay raises, according to their union.

The Air Line Pilots Association said Tuesday that the contract includes higher hourly pay rates, a signing bonus and improvements in the retirement plan.

The union did not immediately disclose the vote tally.

The contract takes effect next month and will come up for renegotiation in 2021. The pilots fly for FedEx's express-shipping business.

Pilots at rival United Parcel Service Co. are voting through Friday whether to give union leaders authorization to call a strike. The vote doesn't mean that a strike is imminent. Before the pilots could legally strike, federal mediators would have to agree that additional negotiations would be pointless.

UPS spokesman Mike Mangeot called the vote a "symbolic, scripted gesture, a common tactic in airline contract negotiations." He said the company was negotiating and talks were progressing with help of a federal mediator.

Shares of FedEx rose $1.02 to $153.40 in afternoon trading. They began the day down 12 percent in 2015. UPS shares were up 25 cents to $104.51 after beginning the day down 6 percent for the year.