Who can handle the truth at American Airlines?
When a union official said soaring fuel prices might limit the gains on a new labor contract, there was such an outcry that he was put on administrative leave.
Never mind that John Conley of the Transport Workers Union wasn't negotiating the new deal with management. Or that he was merely stating the obvious, a fact borne out last week after three airlines ran out of money and shut down.
Conley's error was telling it like it is, rather than how union members want it to be -- an impolitic move for someone in a political position.
But contract talks are under way with the carrier's unions, and that makes this the silly season at American Airlines, to borrow a phrase from the presidential candidates.
It's not just mechanics who seem out of touch with reality; pilots are paying for billboards that slam the company they work for, and members of management act as if their bonuses should be immune from economic turmoil.
We need more straight talk like Conley's, and from all corners. With oil at $100 a barrel, union leaders should acknowledge that outside conditions can wreck American's world, and management has to do more to restore morale than put a freeze on hiring.
LINK - STORY CONTINUED
By MITCHELL SCHNURMAN
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
When a union official said soaring fuel prices might limit the gains on a new labor contract, there was such an outcry that he was put on administrative leave.
Never mind that John Conley of the Transport Workers Union wasn't negotiating the new deal with management. Or that he was merely stating the obvious, a fact borne out last week after three airlines ran out of money and shut down.
Conley's error was telling it like it is, rather than how union members want it to be -- an impolitic move for someone in a political position.
But contract talks are under way with the carrier's unions, and that makes this the silly season at American Airlines, to borrow a phrase from the presidential candidates.
It's not just mechanics who seem out of touch with reality; pilots are paying for billboards that slam the company they work for, and members of management act as if their bonuses should be immune from economic turmoil.
We need more straight talk like Conley's, and from all corners. With oil at $100 a barrel, union leaders should acknowledge that outside conditions can wreck American's world, and management has to do more to restore morale than put a freeze on hiring.
LINK - STORY CONTINUED
By MITCHELL SCHNURMAN
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
