Labor is pushing for repeal of a decade-old provision in aviation law that unions say helps FedEx Corp. block some employees from organizing.

Language defining FedEx as an "express carrier" -- historically businesses that deliver parcels via rail -- was added to the 1996 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization (PL 104-264).

The AFL-CIO's Transportation Trades Department said Monday it will press lawmakers to erase the language, which essentially places all FedEx operations under the auspices of the 1926 Railway Labor Act, when Congress writes a new FAA authorization this year.

Trucking companies are generally governed by the National Labor Relations Act, which allows local units to unionize. But the Railway Labor Act allows unionization only on a national scale -- a far more difficult task. The unions contend that FedEx air operations should be governed by the Railway Labor Act while trucking should fall under the National Labor Relations Act, as is the case with FedEx's larger rival, United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS).

"For much of its history, FedEx has used labor law as a shield against attempts by its workers to organize," said Ed Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department. "It's abusive of the intent of the law, and they've gotten away with it throughout much of their history, and we've pledged . . . to do something about it."

Memphis-based FedEx did not respond to requests for comment. The company has argued in the past that its operational structure should not be compared with that of UPS because FedEx began as an air freight line, whereas UPS focused primarily on ground freight until the early 1990s.

The "express carrier" language was added to the 1996 FAA reauthorization by former Democratic Sen. Ernest F. Hollings of South Carolina (1966-2005) during a conference with the House. Debate over the issue roiled Congress for days as lawmakers labored to clear the bill in the closing days of the 104th Congress.

Hollings and his largely Republican allies argued that the express-carrier language had been mistakenly dropped a year earlier. But opponents called the replacement of the designation a favor for FedEx.

The Congressional Research Service concluded that the language was removed deliberately in 1995 in an attempt to clean up "obsolete language." According to the CRS in 1996, there were no "express companies" as envisioned by the 1926 law.

Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts used delaying tactics to tie up consideration of the FAA measure, forcing a three-hour reading of the conference report, which was stopped by a cloture motion.

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