captain_drew

This is Fedex MEC Communications with the Message Line for April 8,
2005.

Grievance Appeal Decision: In February 2002 the Union filed a grievance
regarding management's failure to allow offline pilots access to company
jumpseats, thereby placing our reciprocal jumpseat agreements in
jeopardy and violating the collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
Management refused to process this grievance, arguing that it was not a
proper subject for negotiations under the Railway Labor Act and that the
use of offline jumpseats is not related in any way to our CBA. In
response to this, ALPA filed suit in U.S. District Court to force
management to process the jumpseat grievance under the terms of our
contract. ALPA did not prevail at the lower court, and appealed the
decision.

The MEC is pleased to announce that the appellate decision in the
lawsuit regarding jumpseat arbitration has been settled in our favor,
reversing the lower court's order. The decision by the United States
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit orders FedEx to
engage in an arbitration regarding our jumpseat disagreement. Barring
any attempt by FedEx to elevate this to the Supreme Court, we hope to
see movement on this very soon.

The entire decision is published on the MEC web site. We strongly
suggest you read it, because it includes many issues that are too
extensive to include in a message line. Additionally, you'll be able to
see for yourself just how strongly the judges sided with ALPA in this
case.

Do your part as a union member by staying informed, wearing your pin,
and displaying your bag tags.