FedEx pilot union's executive council votes in favor of labor contract

(Reuters) - FedEx Corp (FDX.N) pilot union's executive council has voted in favor of a tentative contract that seeks better employment terms including higher hourly pay rates and retirement plan enhancement, the Air Line Pilots Association said.

The FedEx master executive council (MEC) voted late on Thursday to approve the collective bargaining agreement reached on Aug. 19 with the package delivery company, the association said on Friday.

More than 4,000 FedEx pilots will now vote on the agreement in balloting scheduled to begin on Sept. 28 and end on Oct. 20.

FedEx and its pilots have been negotiating on employment conditions since 2011 and the company filed for a mediation process with the National Mediation Board in October last year.

If ratified, the contract will go into effect in November and it will become amendable in 2021.

"We are pleased with the MEC's decision and are confident our pilots will recognize that this is an agreement that keeps them at the pinnacle of their profession," FedEx spokesman Jim McCluskey told Reuters.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera and Ramkumar Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey)