Copyright 2000 Denver Publishing Company
DENVER
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
September 26, 2000, Tuesday
SECTION: Business; Ed. Final; Pg. 1B
LENGTH: 475 words
HEADLINE:
ATTENDANTS' UNION GIVES UNITED ULTIMATUM
GROUP WON'T BACK MERGER WITHOUT NEW
LABOR DEAL
BYLINE: By Heather Draper, News Staff Writer
BODY:
United Airlines flight attendants
told United's chief executive officer Monday that they won't support the merger
of United and U S Airways unless they get a new industry-leading labor
agreement.
Anger over alleged contract violations by United management
and unhappiness over their current contract spurred a meeting Monday afternoon
in Chicago between the flight attendant leaders and United CEO James Goodwin.
The Association of Flight Attendants issued a statement Monday saying
United's flight attendants will make a "major United Airlines / U S
Airways merger announcement" today from Chicago's O'Hare International
Airport. Dawn Deeks, spokeswoman for the AFA, said Monday the nature of today's
announcement would depend on the outcome of the meeting with Goodwin, in which
flight attendants will deliver a laundry list of demands to the company's top
officer.
United officials couldn't be reached immediately for comment
Monday.
A letter to Goodwin from Linda Farrow, president of the UAL
Master Executive Council of the AFA, said the company's 25,000 flight attendants
are "fed up with the company's blatant violations of our contract."
"We
have no intention of meeting with management regarding the contractual changes
the company will need in order to consummate the U S Airways merger, unless and
until the issues we have raised with you are properly addressed," Farrow's
letter said.
In light of United's recent tentative agreement with its
pilots, which included hefty across-the-board pay hikes, the flight attendants
have demanded that Goodwin eliminate wage arbitration scheduled for next year
and " replace it with an immediate across-the-board pay raise equal to the top
pay raises in the industry plus at least 5 percent," Farrow's letter said.
The flight attendants also want to be able to change their current
10-year contract - agreed to in 1997 - as early as Dec. 31, 2001.
The
flight attendants also say their job protections must be equal to those granted
to U S Airways flight attendants.
Further, they say they want Goodwin to
"rescind all discipline for alleged infractions arising out of the company's
recent declarations of critical coverage, with all references to those incidents
removed from the flight attendants' personnel files," the letter said.
United implemented "critical coverage" periods requiring overtime hours
for its flight attendants several times over the summer, due to severe
scheduling problems arising from ongoing labor disputes with its pilots and
mechanics, which caused thousands of delays and cancellations.
The
flight attendants said United frequently shifted schedules, failed to tell
attendants about delays and cancellations and failed to assign them to hotels
during layovers, forcing them to sleep in crew lounges and on aircraft.
NOTES:
Contact Heather Draper at
(303) 892-5456 or draperh@RockyMountain
News. com.
Business Cover
LOAD-DATE: September 28, 2000
