On 8 April 2015, TNT Airways pilots woke up with a horrible impression of “déjà-vu”. Only three years after the tentative merge between UPS and TNT Express, FedEx announced its intention to take over the express company. During a press conference that took place on 26 October, we revealed serious irregularities with US operations in Europe. BeCA will defend, at all costs, the jobs of EU pilots and will fight for a full implementation of EU social legislation and free-trade agreements.

Let’s be clear: we are not against FedEx/TNT Express merge, nor do we refuse to work with our US colleagues. But this must be done in compliance with current rules and preserving EU pilots’ careers, which is still not the case, as you can read below.

In 2012, we tracked packages across Europe and demonstrated that US cargo operators (UPS and FedEx) organise on a daily basis an all­ cargo service throughout Europe. However, whilst the free-trade agreements grant rights to US cargo operators to conduct flights from their country to an EU country, it does not allow that a package be loaded on a US registered aircraft if its origin and destination are in an EU Member State (except for 8 countries).

Furthermore since 2011, FedEx has based around 90 pilots in Cologne. A bilateral agreement  between Germany and USA allows a US worker to work in Germany for a period of maximum 5 years and to stay under US social security.  We recently discovered that those pilots actually operate from Charles-de-Gaulle, not from Cologne. According to the new European legislation, FedEx must pay social contributions in France, which is apparently not the case.
Finally, the merger protocol that was revealed a few months ago, combined with the social agreement signed between FedEx pilots and their management confirm our concerns that it could have negative side effects on employment in Europe. According to these documents, the US company would keep conducting all intercontinental operations for the merged group. Considering that around 140 TNT Airways pilots are currently flying on the long-haul network, this could seriously threaten our jobs and working conditions, to the benefit of the US pilots in Europe. It is important to stress that it is highly unlikely that the US authorities would ever accept a reciprocal situation.

For all these reasons, BeCA is now telling the European Commission “Enough is enough!” We will continue fighting, together with our European structure, for a fair implementation of the free-trade treaties. We have been sufficiently patient and we urge the institution:

• to clarify its interpretation of the Open Skies agreement
• to ensure full implementation of the EU-US agreements
• to ensure compliance with EU labour & social legislation
• to stop NOW illegal operations of US cargo operators in Europe