Union chief wants United to start talks

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Chicago Tribune

Union chief wants United to start talks

By James P. Miller
Tribune staff reporter
Published May 31, 2007

The head of United Airlines' unionized pilots, who is also a board member at United parent UAL Corp., said Chief Executive Glenn Tilton should open negotiations for new labor contracts in August, with the goal of putting agreements in place for every union by Feb. 1, 2008, the second anniversary of the carrier's emergence from bankruptcy protection.

The request came in a scathing letter dated Tuesday by pilot Mark Bathurst, who is head of the United Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association and is the group's representative on UAL's board. The letter expressed "deep concern" about the company's future and "the deteriorating relationship between the management and employees." A copy of the letter was obtained by the Chicago Tribune.

United, Bathurst told Tilton bluntly, is "not in a good place." But despite its troubles, he said, company officials appear content to let UAL remain stuck in a "fog of mediocrity."

United's contracts with pilots and other union workers don't expire until late 2009, and reopening talks now would mark a major concession on the part of management. But UAL signaled it is not inclined to open contract talks anytime soon.


Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-thu_united_0531may31,0,2071967.story?coll=chi-bizfront-hed

[Parche]

1. Tilton

Tilton was with Texaco before United, do you think he is going to negotiate???