- Banned
- #1
By Steve Halvonik
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Leaders of the pilots' union at US Airways hunkered down Wednesday in a suburban Washington, D.C., hotel to resolve internal differences that could decide the fate of their company, its 28,000 employees and their own professional careers, a local labor expert said.
"This is a pivotal moment,'' said Marick Masters, a University of Pittsburgh business professor who is writing an academic paper about US Airways' labor relations.
The 12-member Master of Executive Council, composed of two representatives from six cities, including Pittsburgh, scheduled the emergency summit to consider US Airways' request that the MEC act immediately on the company's latest proposal for $295 million in labor concessions.
US Airways, the nation's seventh-largest airline, made the request after talks with the Air Line Pilots Association's negotiating committee broke down Sunday.
US Airways needs employees to accept a total of $800 million in wage and benefits cuts by next month to avoid bankruptcy. Bypassing the negotiating committee and asking the MEC to get involved is an attempt by US Airways to expedite the process leading to a rank-and-file vote.
Before the MEC can act on the company's request, however, it must resolve its own internal differences. Masters said the union seems divided between hardliners who don't want to give more concessions to the company and accommodiationists who wish to strike a job-saving deal.
Masters said that internal strife is common when the stakes are so high.
MEC members are "facing pressure from a variety of directions,'' Masters said, "and their credibility as union leaders is hanging in the balance.''
"I think it's an important time, but I don't know if I feel the weight of the world on me,'' Fred Freshwater, an MEC member from Pittsburgh, said during an afternoon break yesterday.
Union leadership has several options, including referring the company's proposal to the rank and file for a vote without recommendation, Masters said.
"We'll assess all of our options and come up with a game plan,'' Freshwater said.
Union officials said the two sides remain far apart on many issues, including salary cuts and changes in work rules.
With time running out, the company may prefer to have the rank and file vote on its offer as soon as possible. Then it will know, one way or another, whether it has a chance to strike labor agreements or to abandon that plan and seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Masters said.
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Leaders of the pilots' union at US Airways hunkered down Wednesday in a suburban Washington, D.C., hotel to resolve internal differences that could decide the fate of their company, its 28,000 employees and their own professional careers, a local labor expert said.
"This is a pivotal moment,'' said Marick Masters, a University of Pittsburgh business professor who is writing an academic paper about US Airways' labor relations.
The 12-member Master of Executive Council, composed of two representatives from six cities, including Pittsburgh, scheduled the emergency summit to consider US Airways' request that the MEC act immediately on the company's latest proposal for $295 million in labor concessions.
US Airways, the nation's seventh-largest airline, made the request after talks with the Air Line Pilots Association's negotiating committee broke down Sunday.
US Airways needs employees to accept a total of $800 million in wage and benefits cuts by next month to avoid bankruptcy. Bypassing the negotiating committee and asking the MEC to get involved is an attempt by US Airways to expedite the process leading to a rank-and-file vote.
Before the MEC can act on the company's request, however, it must resolve its own internal differences. Masters said the union seems divided between hardliners who don't want to give more concessions to the company and accommodiationists who wish to strike a job-saving deal.
Masters said that internal strife is common when the stakes are so high.
MEC members are "facing pressure from a variety of directions,'' Masters said, "and their credibility as union leaders is hanging in the balance.''
"I think it's an important time, but I don't know if I feel the weight of the world on me,'' Fred Freshwater, an MEC member from Pittsburgh, said during an afternoon break yesterday.
Union leadership has several options, including referring the company's proposal to the rank and file for a vote without recommendation, Masters said.
"We'll assess all of our options and come up with a game plan,'' Freshwater said.
Union officials said the two sides remain far apart on many issues, including salary cuts and changes in work rules.
With time running out, the company may prefer to have the rank and file vote on its offer as soon as possible. Then it will know, one way or another, whether it has a chance to strike labor agreements or to abandon that plan and seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Masters said.