Pickets target UAL exec pay United pilots and flight attendants, who took pay cuts during restructur [View All]

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5867944

Pickets target UAL exec pay
United pilots and flight attendants, who took pay cuts during restructuring, say managers were unfairly compensated.
By Dave Carpenter
The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 05/11/2007 12:01:04 AM MDT

Chicago - More than 200 uniformed United Airlines pilots and flight attendants picketed Thursday outside parent UAL Corp.'s first shareholder meeting since 2002, protesting what they say is excessive pay for the company's top managers.

The airline's unions are angry about the tens of millions of dollars of stock and option awards granted to top United executives last year after they took substantial pay cuts during its three-year bankruptcy restructuring. CEO Glenn Tilton received compensation worth $39.7 million in 2006, according to a regulatory filing.


United Airlines pilots picket Thursday outside UAL Corp.'s annual meeting of stockholders in Chicago. It was the first shareholder meeting since the company came out of bankruptcy. (Bloomberg News / Tim Boyle)

The pilots and flight attendants carried signs Thursday and walked along the sidewalk in front of Chicago's Field Museum, where the meeting was held. One sign read: "Management Feeds from the Troph, Labor Gets the Scraps." Another said: "UAL CEO: $40 million, labor: $0 This IS Sharing?"

"We're trying to bring attention to what we see as an issue of fairness and equity," said pilot union spokesman Herb Hunter. "We got through this (restructuring) on shared sacrifice. Well, shared sacrifice obviously doesn't translate to shared reward."

FULL story at link.