This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@juno.com. /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ Share the spirit with a gift from Starbucks. Our coffee brewers & espresso machines at special holiday prices. http://www.starbucks.com/shop/subcategory.asp?catalogFname=Starbucks&categoryFname=SaleFClearance&ci=274 \----------------------------------------------------------/ United Airlines Mechanics' Strike Is Blocked by Bush December 21, 2001 By LAURENCE ZUCKERMAN President Bush blocked a strike yesterday at United Airlines, the second time this year that the White House has intervened to prevent a walkout at a large carrier. Mr. Bush signed an executive order creating a three-member emergency board responsible for studying the contract dispute between United Airlines and its mechanics and making a settlement recommendation. The appointment of the board bars a strike for 60 days by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents 13,000 mechanics at United, the nation's second-largest carrier after American Airlines. Had the White House not acted, United workers would have been free to walk out beginning today, effectively shutting down the airline right before the Christmas and New Year's holidays. The move had been expected for weeks because of the precarious financial condition of the airline industry and the weak economy and because of the prospect of a serious disruption during a peak travel period. The machinists union, which is a member of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., lashed out at the White House, accusing the Bush administration of "declaring war" on American workers. "The right to win better wages and working conditions came at great cost to workers in this country and will not be given up or taken away without a fight," R. Thomas Buffenbarger, the president of the union, said in a statement. United said that it had met with union leaders in Washington yesterday and agreed to continue negotiations. "We all recognize that the very unusual circumstances in our industry have made contract negotiations much more challenging than usual," the airline said in a statement. They are especially challenging at United, where a majority of the parent company, the UAL Corporation (news/quote), is owned by employees, including a large stake held by the machinists. The union agreed to wage concessions in 1994 in exchange for its stake in the company. After returning to 1994 wage levels, the mechanics were poised to receive a large pay increase in line with a generous new contracts signed earlier this year by mechanics at American Airlines. But United lost nearly $2 billion so far this year because of the weak economy and the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 that crashed two of its jets. John W. Creighton Jr., the former paper company executive who took over as chief executive in October after his predecessor was forced to resign, is now seeking concessions from all employees to stem the losses. The airline acknowledges that United mechanics are now paid roughly one-third less an hour than their counterparts at American. The union is also upset because United's pilots succeeded in negotiating a generous new contract last August. But giving mechanics any pay increase is difficult at a time when United is receiving $800 million in direct government assistance and may have to apply for a federally backed loan. The airline and the union are struggling to come up with a formula that would somehow satisfy the workers' demand for a raise without raising United's costs. "To date, we are not asking for concessions from the '94 rates," William P. Hobgood, UAL's senior vice president for people, said in an interview. The discussions are further complicated by the fact that a rival union hoping to win the right to represent United's mechanics is waiting to seize on any perceived failure by the machinists. Mr. Bush's appointees to the emergency board are three experienced labor arbitrators. Under the Railway Labor Act, which governs labor relations in the airline industry, Congress has the right to intervene if a settlement is not reached in 60 days. It could extend the strike moratorium or impose the emergency board's proposed settlement. Mr. Bush has been more aggressive about blocking airline strikes than any president since Lyndon B. Johnson. In March, he appointed an emergency board to prevent a walkout by mechanics at Northwest Airlines (news/quote). The two sides reached a settlement before the board made its recommendation. The White House was poised to intervene again in April, when pilots at Delta Air Lines (news/quote) were threatening to shut down the airline. But the two sides reached an agreement before the strike deadline. Unions accuse the White House of removing the pressure on management to settle. But airline executives say that government intervention only rights the balance because airline strikes are so expensive that management has no choice but to give in to the workers' demands. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/21/business/21AIR.html?ex=1009965503&ei=1&en=2ddba633e04ecad3 HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact Alyson Racer at alyson@nytimes.com or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@nytimes.com. Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company