Tagged: American Airlines

A federal judge again delays a decision on whether to void union contracts at American Airlines. Transport Workers Union organizer Rick Mullings says it’s to give more time for negotiations to see if an agreement can be reached. He says talks have been on hold while the company negotiated with the pilots.

The pilots’ union board has agreed to order a ratification vote on American’s latest offer, and the company will resume negotiations with mechanics and flight attendants next week.

DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines says a federal bankruptcy judge has delayed a ruling scheduled for Friday on whether it can break its contracts with unions and impose cost-cutting steps including layoffs.

The judge set a new deadline of June 29.

The delay gives the company and unions more time to negotiate voluntary cost-cutting agreements that the unions have so far resisted.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

DALLAS (AP) — The pilots' union at American Airlines has rejected the company's latest contract offer. The move could clear the way for a judge to decide whether American can impose its own cost-cutting terms, including layoffs.

The union board voted 11-5 on Wednesday to reject the company's offer.

A federal bankruptcy judge is scheduled to rule tomorrow on whether American can break its current contracts with pilots and other union workers. The pilots' union wants a delay in that ruling.

American and parent AMR Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection in November.

(StateImpact Oklahoma) "Rejection came from two groups: store clerks and mechanics, the union’s largest group at the Tulsa maintenance base. The fate of 2,100 Tulsa-area workers is now in the hands of a bankruptcy court. So what motivated mechanics to reject the airline’s offer? Anger..." 

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Tulsa American Airlines union leaders urge members to vote on a ‘last best contract’ offer, but refuse to take a stand and encourage a vote up or down. Transport Workers Union negotiator John Hewitt calls it a concessionary contract, which means pay cuts and benefit losses no matter which way the vote goes.

Hewitt says, on the positive side, a yes vote would save about 13-hundred jobs in Tulsa. A no vote would give the bankruptcy court authority to terminate the current contract and the company would then impose new terms. Voting starts tomorrow and continues through Monday.

(StateImpact Oklahoma) "American Airlines in February detailed a bankruptcy-restructuring plan that eliminated 2,100 jobs from its Tulsa maintenance base. Workers are worried about their jobs, and business leaders are concerned layoffs could mean losing about 10 percent of the area’s aerospace workforce. And while the bulk of the base’s employees live in big-city Tulsa, the bankruptcy could have a much bigger impact on small towns, data show."  Read More