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US Airways unions to discuss more cuts
PITTSBURGH (Post-Gazette) - The union representing US Airways'' reservation, gate and ticket agents agreed yesterday to begin negotiations with the bankrupt airline over changes in work rules and additional wage-and-benefit concessions.
Although we don''t like it, we are willing to come up with more [concessions]. We know the company is in trouble, said Chris Fox, president of Communications Workers of America Local 113002 in Pittsburgh.
But Fox added that the willingness of the CWA to agree to additional concessions would depend on whether employees were convinced that the airline''s management was shouldering its fair share of the sacrifices needed to keep the airline in business.
Any agreement worked out between the CWA and the Arlington, Va.-based carrier would have to be approved by union members, who agreed last summer to $71 million in annual cuts in wages and benefits. The company is seeking $11 million in additional concessions from the union.
The company had given its unions, which represent among others pilots, flight attendants and mechanics, until yesterday to decide whether to begin negotiations on the airline''s request for additional concessions. There has been speculation that the carrier is seeking from $200 million to $400 million.
Leaders of the pilots union met yesterday to review the company''s proposals for additional concessions, including the airline''s desire to reduce the pilots'' vacation pay and trim pension benefits.
Some union leaders scoffed at the idea of additional concessions, noting that their members had collectively agreed to nearly $900 million in annual wage-and-benefit cuts.
Teddy Xidas, president of the Pittsburgh local of the Association of Flight Attendants, said she would oppose any changes in work rules unless US Airways was willing to discuss the restoration of pay cuts it''s already obtained.
With a prolonged drop in air travel and losses totaling $882 million for the first nine months of this year, US Airways announced last week 2,500 additional job cuts and reiterated it would need up to $1.6 billion in annual cuts from its employees and creditors -- $400 million more than originally projected -- to qualify for federal loan guarantees to get out of bankruptcy.
US Airways Chief Executive Officer David Siegel also said the Retirement Systems of Alabama, which has agreed to invest $240 million in US Airways in exchange for a 37.5 percent ownership stake once it emerges from bankruptcy, wants the airline to have a contingency plan in place should the United States go to war with Iraq. As part of that plan, the airline wants employees to accept wage deferrals for up to 18 months.
PITTSBURGH (Post-Gazette) - The union representing US Airways'' reservation, gate and ticket agents agreed yesterday to begin negotiations with the bankrupt airline over changes in work rules and additional wage-and-benefit concessions.
Although we don''t like it, we are willing to come up with more [concessions]. We know the company is in trouble, said Chris Fox, president of Communications Workers of America Local 113002 in Pittsburgh.
But Fox added that the willingness of the CWA to agree to additional concessions would depend on whether employees were convinced that the airline''s management was shouldering its fair share of the sacrifices needed to keep the airline in business.
Any agreement worked out between the CWA and the Arlington, Va.-based carrier would have to be approved by union members, who agreed last summer to $71 million in annual cuts in wages and benefits. The company is seeking $11 million in additional concessions from the union.
The company had given its unions, which represent among others pilots, flight attendants and mechanics, until yesterday to decide whether to begin negotiations on the airline''s request for additional concessions. There has been speculation that the carrier is seeking from $200 million to $400 million.
Leaders of the pilots union met yesterday to review the company''s proposals for additional concessions, including the airline''s desire to reduce the pilots'' vacation pay and trim pension benefits.
Some union leaders scoffed at the idea of additional concessions, noting that their members had collectively agreed to nearly $900 million in annual wage-and-benefit cuts.
Teddy Xidas, president of the Pittsburgh local of the Association of Flight Attendants, said she would oppose any changes in work rules unless US Airways was willing to discuss the restoration of pay cuts it''s already obtained.
With a prolonged drop in air travel and losses totaling $882 million for the first nine months of this year, US Airways announced last week 2,500 additional job cuts and reiterated it would need up to $1.6 billion in annual cuts from its employees and creditors -- $400 million more than originally projected -- to qualify for federal loan guarantees to get out of bankruptcy.
US Airways Chief Executive Officer David Siegel also said the Retirement Systems of Alabama, which has agreed to invest $240 million in US Airways in exchange for a 37.5 percent ownership stake once it emerges from bankruptcy, wants the airline to have a contingency plan in place should the United States go to war with Iraq. As part of that plan, the airline wants employees to accept wage deferrals for up to 18 months.