There was a lot of talk in the health care debate about Democratic politicians getting “special deals” for their states or key stakeholders in their states, and criticism that this is simply the most craven, low-down thing that has ever happened in American lawmaking. But of course politicians trying to do best for their states is not only expected, it’s the norm. In that light, we can see Tennessee’s Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker going to bat for a major business in Tennessee.

Senator Bob Corker, who represents FedEx Corp.’s home state of Tennessee, said he will block legislation funding the Federal Aviation Administration because a provision may be added later making it easier for workers at the company to join unions.

Corker’s action extends a years-long fight in Washington between the mostly non-union FedEx and its unionized rival United Parcel Service Inc. over how workers at both companies should be treated under U.S. labor laws.

“We are supportive of the Senate FAA bill, but we have placed a hold until we can be assured that the controversial FedEx provision will not be included in the final legislation,” Laura Lefler Herzog, a spokeswoman for Corker, a Republican, said today in an e-mailed statement.

It’s openly stated that the FedEx wants to block unionization, and has their man in Washington, Corker, holding up bills in service to that. FedEx is among the largest employers in the state, and the world’s largest cargo airline. FedEx pilots already work under a union contract.

Mind you, Corker isn’t even holding the FAA funding over something IN the bill. He’s holding it because last year, the House passed a version of this funding that would have forced FedEx workers into the same labor standard as Teamsters-represented UPS employees, allowing their workers to join local unions rather than a national election.

FedEx spokesmen have taken to calling this a “UPS bailout,” but it would merely normalize labor law throughout the sector. FedEx is currently governed not under the National Labor Relations Act, like all other shipping companies, but the Railway Labor Act.

When such “special deals” were put in to placate Ben Nelson in the health care bill, remember, what got everyone up in arms was that he got substantial Medicare expansion funding for poor residents in his state. Corker and Alexander are just protecting the profits of a large Tennessee employer.

Somehow this gets viewed differently.

More at Think Progress.