United Makes Pension Cuts Official

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Sep 30, 2002
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United makes pension cuts official

November 8, 2004

BY MARY WISNIEWSKI Business Reporter Advertisement







After warning about it for months, bankrupt United Airlines finally announced that it would end its employee pension plans. Now its unions are digesting the information and deciding what to do.

"It's really not new, but it's in black and white now," said Joe Tiberi, spokesman for the machinists' union, which has sued United Airlines officials to protect pensions. He said the details of United's proposal are being reviewed.

A spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association said union officials would meet for discussions in the middle of the month before responding.

In a statement, the flight attendants' union called the proposed cuts "disastrous" and promised to fight the company "over every dime."

Apart from ending the pension plan, United is asking flight attendants for almost $138 million annually in new concessions.

United Chief Executive Glenn Tilton told employees last week that the industry had been hit hard by high fuel costs and low fares, and that it needed to save an additional $2 billion a year, on top of $5 billion in cuts already planned.

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http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/cst-fin-ual08.html