Unions Talk Tough On UA Merger
Unions talk tough on United merger
One leader says workers 'have put on the war paint'
Dave Carpenter, Associated Press
Saturday, February 23, 2008
(02-23) 04:00 PST Chicago --
United Airlines' unions are stepping up their hard-line talk about a possible merger as the carrier stands poised to participate in industry consolidation, warning that management will have to pay a steep price to win their support.
While the militant stance won't necessarily thwart United's hopes of a deal, it foreshadows the likelihood of tough, costly labor negotiations for a company whose employees are as dissatisfied as any airline's workers.
UAL Corp.'s United continues to hold talks with Continental Airlines Inc. about a possible combination, a person familiar with the negotiations said Friday. The specifics remain closely held and both are still awaiting the outcome of negotiations between Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp., according to the source, who was not authorized by the companies to talk about the deal.
United employees are upset about the tens of millions of dollars reaped by the company's executives since the carrier emerged two years ago this month from a bankruptcy restructuring in which they had to swallow substantial pay cuts and other concessions.
The company last month reported its first yearly profit since 2000 - $403 million - and had enough cash to make a $250 million distribution to shareholders. But it has refused to reopen labor contracts, which don't expire until the end of 2009.
The latest evidence of anger came this week when the mechanics' union summed up the stance of the United unions' coalition by declaring that "United Airlines will not merge with another carrier unless we ... say it will merge."
A leader of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association said the unions are "getting ready for a fight" over a United merger proposal, which would give them new leverage on pay and work conditions otherwise locked contractually through 2009.
"All the unions at United have put on the war paint - pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, dispatchers, engineers," said Joseph Prisco, president of Local 9 of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, whose unit represents more than half of United mechanics.
Meanwhile, industry observers say a Delta-Northwest merger could be scuttled by union activity of another kind: pilots unions at the two airlines cannot agree how seniority for the 12,000 pilots would work under a combined carrier.
A person close to the talks said earlier this week that a small group of Northwest pilot negotiators want thousands of young Delta pilots to go to the bottom of the combined seniority list as part of agreeing to a deal. The person said that was a major hang-up.
As of Friday, there was no word on any movement on a pilot seniority deal.
American Airlines is also talking with its unions about a potential merger.
American spokesman Andy Backover said executives met with labor union leaders this week, the latest in a series of meetings stretching back more than a year on topics related to airline consolidation.
The meetings have been subject to a confidentiality agreement, preventing all parties from revealing details of the discussions, Backover told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
This article appeared on page
C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
