Editing FedEx (section)

=== Labor relations ===

In December 2007, the U.S. [[Internal Revenue Service]] "tentatively decided" the FedEx Ground Division might be facing a tax liability of $319&nbsp;million for 2002, due to misclassification of its operatives as independent contractors. Reversing a 1994 decision which allowed FedEx to classify its operatives that own their own vehicles as independent contractors, the IRS audited the years 2003 to 2006, with a view to assessing whether similar misclassification of operatives had taken place. FedEx denied that any irregularities in classification had occurred, but faced legal action from operatives claiming benefits that would have accrued had they been classified as employees.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ron Da Parma |date=December 27, 2007 |title=IRS says FedEx may owe $319&nbsp;million |work=Pittsburgh Tribune-Review |url=http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_544387.html |url-status=dead |access-date=January 3, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226193328/http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_544387.html |archive-date=December 26, 2007 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In June 2009, FedEx began a campaign against UPS and the [[Teamsters]] union, accusing its competitor of receiving a [[bailout]] in an advertising campaign called "[[Brown Bailout]]". FedEx claimed that signing the [[Federal Aviation Administration]] re-authorization bill, which would let some of its workers [[Trade union|unionize]] more easily (and, according to the Memphis-based company, "could expose [its] customers at any time to local [[work stoppage]]s that interrupted the flow of their time-sensitive, high-value shipments"),<ref name="bailout">[http://factcheck.org/2009/07/brown-bailout-hardly 'Brown Bailout?' Hardly] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619044748/http://factcheck.org/2009/07/brown-bailout-hardly/ |date=June 19, 2010 }}, FactCheck.org</ref> was equivalent to giving UPS a "bailout". Independent observers heavily criticized FedEx's wording,<ref name="bailout" /> claiming that it was "an abuse of the term".<ref name="bailout" /> FedEx Express employees are regulated under the [[Railway Labor Act]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=UPS, FedEx "Brown Bailout" battle rages on |url=http://blog.fleetowner.com/trucking-straight-talk/2010/06/10/ups-fedex-brown-bailout-battle-rages-on/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616010653/http://blog.fleetowner.com/trucking-straight-talk/2010/06/10/ups-fedex-brown-bailout-battle-rages-on/ |archive-date=June 16, 2010 |access-date=June 16, 2010 |publisher=Fleetowner.com}}</ref>

In July 2020, the [[Air Line Pilots Association, International|Air Line Pilots Association International]] (ALPA), the union that represents FedEx Corp pilots, called for a suspension on the company's Hong Kong operations. According to the union, some members were subject to "extremely difficult conditions" at hospitals urged by government mandates due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-07-29 |title=FedEx pilots, union call on company to suspend Hong Kong operations |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-fedex-idUSKCN24U03S |access-date=2020-09-15 |archive-date=September 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914202519/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-fedex-idUSKCN24U03S |url-status=live }}</ref> FedEx was criticized more broadly for providing inadequate protections and [[sick leave]] during the pandemic.<ref name="NYT sick">{{Cite news |last1=Abrams |first1=Rachel |last2=Silver-Greenberg |first2=Jessica |date=21 March 2020 |title='Terrified' Package Delivery Employees Are Going to Work Sick |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/21/business/coronavirus-ups-fedex-xpo-workers.html |access-date=January 9, 2021 |archive-date=February 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218110714/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/21/business/coronavirus-ups-fedex-xpo-workers.html |url-status=live }}</ref>