AMR fires opening shot in court battle with workers
Source: Reuters
AMR fires opening shot in court battle with workers
By Nick Brown
NEW YORK | Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:49pm EDT
(Reuters) - American Airlines kicked off a week-long court hearing on its bid to abandon union contracts, telling a judge on Monday that its bankrupt parent, AMR Corp, cannot survive without major concessions from its labor force.
Hundreds of people, including lawyers and airline workers, filled the courtroom and two overflow rooms in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan for the start of the hearing, as other unionized workers rallied outside the courthouse.
Cordoned off by police, the workers held signs and chanted for fairer work terms and against AMR's plan to cut about 13,000 union jobs.
AMR wants to convince Judge Sean Lane not only that it desperately needs labor concessions, but that its unions have unreasonably rejected prior attempts to negotiate those concessions. AMR filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November, citing uncompetitive labor costs.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/23/us-amr-labor-idUSBRE83M16720120423