In an email this week, FedEx directs Members of Congress and the public to a “a recent Bloomberg/BusinessWeek news article” which claims UPS is being “disingenuous” in seeking a legislative fix that would close a loophole in U.S. labor law which gives FedEx an unfair competitive marketing advantage in the express delivery industry.

FedEx calling UPS “disingenuous” is the proverbial pot calling the kettle black.

First, the referenced “news article” was no such thing. It was an opinion column that almost solely expressed the opinions of FedEx. While the piece quoted and referenced FedEx chief Fred Smith’s positions liberally, it afforded the UPS side all of two short paragraphs.

Secondly, what Mr. Smith and FedEx are complaining about is that UPS attempted to level the playing field way back in 1994 by requesting that its express delivery drivers be covered under the same labor law – the Railway Labor Act (RLA) – as FedEx’s express delivery drivers.

However, this effort to obtain equal treatment was denied by the National Labor Relations Board.

Years have since gone by, with FedEx Express enjoying a clear marketing advantage by exploiting a legislative loophole that unfairly treats their delivery drivers the same as airline pilots while treating UPS delivery drivers as delivery drivers.

The fact is, the RLA has always been intended for planes and trains, not automobiles. Or delivery vans. And it’s hard to fault UPS for attempting 16 long years ago to get the same sweet deal FedEx has enjoyed at their expense.

But just because they weren’t successful in 1994 doesn’t mean this inequity in the law shouldn’t be remedied by Congress today. And the most appropriate way do so now is to simply close the FedEx Loophole and begin treating FedEx drivers the same as every other driver in the nation.

To suggest that this issue is about anything other than treating employees who do the same job the same under the law is, well, disingenuous.