Union pilots, DHL carriers enter federal mediation
Union pilots, DHL carriers enter federal mediation
Bowdeya Tweh,
[email protected] 4:03 p.m. EDT April 26, 2016
A federal mediator will oversee contract negotiations between more than 1,300 pilots and DHL carriers, union representatives said Tuesday.
The National Mediation Board has accepted a request from Wilmington-based Airline Professionals Association Teamsters Local 1224 to mediate the dispute between it and Atlas Air. The board facilitates labor-management relations in the aviation and railroad industries.
New York-based Atlas Air announced earlier this year it was buying Florence-based Southern Air for $110 million. As a result, pilots said Atlas wants to force workers from both companies into an amalgamated contract, which they say will suppress wages and lower quality of life issues for pilots.
The union represents more than 1,300 pilots flying for DHL-contracted airlines Atlas Air and Polar Air. The majority of those pilots are based or operate from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, according to an estimate from the labor union.
Pilots argue the Southern Air contract negotiated several years ago while the company was in bankruptcy contains wage, benefit and job protections that are below their peers who fly for UPS or FedEx.
“Pilots are fed up with Atlas and (Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings') game playing and backroom corporate maneuvering to try to deny us basic workplace protections like the much-needed time to rest between international flights,” said Capt. Mike Griffith, an Atlas pilot and communications chairman of Local 1224. "We believe the federal government intervening will make sure they work with us to come to a fair contract agreement that is up to cargo industry standards.”
Pilots also question the role DHL is playing behind the scenes. The pilots said DHL owns 49 percent of Polar Air Cargo and is estimated to account for more than half of Atlas Air’s business. DHL is also Southern Air's biggest customer. The German-based firm closed its Wilmington-based hub nearly a decade ago, which led to the loss of thousands of jobs in that city.
DHL has about 2,400 people who are employed at CVG, its North American hub, according to a company spokesman. The company has 84 daily flights (42 incoming and 42 outgoing) from CVG, and within the last seven years, its has expanded its operations and worked on capital improvement projects totaling $281 million.
"We are aware and monitoring the situation between Teamsters Local 1224 and Atlas and Southern Air," a DHL spokesman said in a statement. "We do not comment on ongoing contract negotiations between our airline partners and their unions. Contract negotiations have been ongoing.
"Atlas Air and Southern Air are committed to constructive, good faith negotiations with its pilots’ union," the statement continued.
In a statement issued last month, Atlas Air said "we especially recognize the importance of our pilots and value the strong relationship we have with them," the statement continued.