bursa
Jan 31, 05, 6:26 pm
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/sns-ap-united-labor,1,4411794.story?coll=orl-business-headlines
CHICAGO -- United Airlines' flight attendants and pilots ratified new contracts Monday, agreeing to additional givebacks as the struggling carrier tries to emerge from more than two years of bankruptcy.
Also Monday, United sought to impose short-term wage and benefit cuts on its mechanics' union, which rejected the airline's latest contract offer Friday.
The Air Line Pilots Association contract ratified Monday includes an 11.8 percent pay cut, which would save the airline $180 million in annual costs. The Association of Flight Attendants agreed to have their wages reduced 9.5 percent, which United has said would save the company $131 million a year.
A federal bankruptcy judge was expected to approve both contracts later Monday.
United petitioned Judge Eugene Wedoff to let it cut mechanics' pay 10 percent from Feb. 1 to May 31 while the two sides continued to negotiate a contract. Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association members rejected a 5 percent wage reduction Friday and voted to strike if United persuades Wedoff to impose a new long-term contract.
AMFA said it had not seen United's filing and had no immediate comment.
United, a unit of Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based UAL Corp., is trying to rework labor contracts with each of its six unions in a bid to save an additional $725 million in annual operating expenses, which the carrier says is critical to its planned exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The unions already agreed to a combined $2.5 billion in concessions two years ago.
While the givebacks from pilots and flight attendants are critical for United, an analyst said the carrier still has not settled its most pressing problem -- the threat of a strike from mechanics.
"The fly in ointment continues to be the mechanics," said Scott Hamilton, a Seattle-based airline analyst. "They are almost impossible to replace on a timely basis."
Approval of the pilots' and flight attendants' contracts still would leave United without fresh concessions from two of its biggest employee groups: mechanics and the group representing baggage handlers, ramp workers and public-contact workers, which has until April 11 to negotiate a new pact.
Two smaller unions have reached deals with United.
None of United's new labor contracts settle the contentious issue of employee pensions. The company has said it must terminate its traditional pensions and replace them with defined-contribution plans, a move the company said would save $4.1 billion over five years and is essential to its exiting bankruptcy.
The carrier and its four largest unions decided earlier this month to separate the pension issue from the new contracts to give the sides more time to negotiate. United could face a May bankruptcy court trial on its plan to eliminate the pensions if it doesn't agree with each union.
With the flight attendants' ratification, though, United avoids a separate strike threat. The AFA voted overwhelmingly last month to authorize intermittent strikes if United ended its contract and a judge imposed wage cuts.
AFA's membership narrowly passed the new contract, with 56 percent voting in favor of the measure.
"The results of this vote indicate clearly that flight attendants have hit the threshold of pain and sacrifice," the union's leadership said in a letter to its membership. "Our dedication to our jobs and our airline shall not waiver, but we demand current management deliver on its responsibility to exit bankruptcy in short order."
cont...
I don't think any registration is required but I could be wrong.
CHICAGO -- United Airlines' flight attendants and pilots ratified new contracts Monday, agreeing to additional givebacks as the struggling carrier tries to emerge from more than two years of bankruptcy.
Also Monday, United sought to impose short-term wage and benefit cuts on its mechanics' union, which rejected the airline's latest contract offer Friday.
The Air Line Pilots Association contract ratified Monday includes an 11.8 percent pay cut, which would save the airline $180 million in annual costs. The Association of Flight Attendants agreed to have their wages reduced 9.5 percent, which United has said would save the company $131 million a year.
A federal bankruptcy judge was expected to approve both contracts later Monday.
United petitioned Judge Eugene Wedoff to let it cut mechanics' pay 10 percent from Feb. 1 to May 31 while the two sides continued to negotiate a contract. Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association members rejected a 5 percent wage reduction Friday and voted to strike if United persuades Wedoff to impose a new long-term contract.
AMFA said it had not seen United's filing and had no immediate comment.
United, a unit of Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based UAL Corp., is trying to rework labor contracts with each of its six unions in a bid to save an additional $725 million in annual operating expenses, which the carrier says is critical to its planned exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The unions already agreed to a combined $2.5 billion in concessions two years ago.
While the givebacks from pilots and flight attendants are critical for United, an analyst said the carrier still has not settled its most pressing problem -- the threat of a strike from mechanics.
"The fly in ointment continues to be the mechanics," said Scott Hamilton, a Seattle-based airline analyst. "They are almost impossible to replace on a timely basis."
Approval of the pilots' and flight attendants' contracts still would leave United without fresh concessions from two of its biggest employee groups: mechanics and the group representing baggage handlers, ramp workers and public-contact workers, which has until April 11 to negotiate a new pact.
Two smaller unions have reached deals with United.
None of United's new labor contracts settle the contentious issue of employee pensions. The company has said it must terminate its traditional pensions and replace them with defined-contribution plans, a move the company said would save $4.1 billion over five years and is essential to its exiting bankruptcy.
The carrier and its four largest unions decided earlier this month to separate the pension issue from the new contracts to give the sides more time to negotiate. United could face a May bankruptcy court trial on its plan to eliminate the pensions if it doesn't agree with each union.
With the flight attendants' ratification, though, United avoids a separate strike threat. The AFA voted overwhelmingly last month to authorize intermittent strikes if United ended its contract and a judge imposed wage cuts.
AFA's membership narrowly passed the new contract, with 56 percent voting in favor of the measure.
"The results of this vote indicate clearly that flight attendants have hit the threshold of pain and sacrifice," the union's leadership said in a letter to its membership. "Our dedication to our jobs and our airline shall not waiver, but we demand current management deliver on its responsibility to exit bankruptcy in short order."
cont...
I don't think any registration is required but I could be wrong.