United Airlines mechanics planning strike, union says

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/fligh...d-strike_x.htm

I would have bet that it was the flight attendants who would strike
first. This summer could be really nasty at UA.


Pete

I would tend to think this is a bluff. The union has very little
maneuvering room and a strike will likely put United out of business. The
very size of United makes it unlikely that the union membership would vote
themselves out of a job, especially considering the status of the U.S.
airline industry these days.

The machinists union played a major role in the failures of Braniff,
Eastern, and Pan Am, but times were different then.


"spamfree" wrote in message
ink.net...
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/fligh...d-strike_x.htm

I would have bet that it was the flight attendants who would strike
first. This summer could be really nasty at UA.


Pete

Jeff Hacker wrote:

I would tend to think this is a bluff. The union has very little
maneuvering room and a strike will likely put United out of business.



On the flip side, UA mechanics and/or FA's may feel that their long term
prospects are so hopeless that they'd rather shut down the airline and
leave the execs without any time to loot the firm, rather than wait for
a painful winding down while their re-employment prospects dwindle
and the execs loot whatever remains.

gld

On the flip side, UA mechanics and/or FA's may feel that their long
term prospects are so hopeless that they'd rather shut down the airline
and leave the execs without any time to loot the firm, rather than wait
for a painful winding down while their re-employment prospects
dwindle and the execs loot whatever remains.

You do not understand bankruptcy law. A bankruptcy judge controls
the company. The execs will not loot anything, as creditors can and
will demand to be paid back as much of their investment as is possible.
But I think you are correct that the unions feel that it is better to close
the airline than lose their pensions. The below URL has a most
interesting quote concerning the UA mechanics' website, that they
understand perfectly well that a strike will force UA into liquidation.
These unions are like people wishing they were 18 again. I thought
US Airways would be the next airline to close its doors. It looks
like it will be UA instead. Wonderful.
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/...-workers_x.htm
Note the line "Lawyers for the committee and the unions can argue
against the deal at the hearing." This is what the unions should be
doing, working within the system, instead of playing the strike card.
The flight attendants constantly complain of the execs' excessive
salaries - and those salaries are definitely too high - but they need to
convince the bankruptcy judge of the righteousness of their position.


Pete

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/...-workers_x.htm

Another good URL on the subject of airline troubles:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/...troubles_x.htm


Pete

So it now appears that the only ones who may actually pull the plug are
some of the employee groups.



spamfree wrote:

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/...-workers_x.htm


Another good URL on the subject of airline troubles:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/...troubles_x.htm


Pete

"Gary L. Dare" wrote in message
...
Jeff Hacker wrote:

I would tend to think this is a bluff. The union has very little
maneuvering room and a strike will likely put United out of business.



On the flip side, UA mechanics and/or FA's may feel that their long term
prospects are so hopeless that they'd rather shut down the airline and
leave the execs without any time to loot the firm, rather than wait for
a painful winding down while their re-employment prospects dwindle
and the execs loot whatever remains.


The execs are already under responsibilities to the bankruptcy court and can
no longer "loot" the company (if indeed they ever did). They tried to do
that at Hawaiian Airlines and the Court appointed a Bankruptcy trustee to
run the company. At this point, they're under court supervision. And the
employees have virtually no prospects elsewhere in the industry given the
situation with U.S. airlines now. I don't think anybody is hiring
(including the low fare carriers), so they'll end up flipping burgers.
Hopefully they're not that dumb.

Jeff

gld

So the big question for us travellers is ... if we're out on United
after 5/10, what might happen to us if the FA's pull a CHAOS
campaign, or the mechanics all call in sick one day? Should
we dig out unused return tickets on AA, HP, US, etc. and get
into standby queues in advance, or what?

gld