By Kathy Fieweger CHICAGO, April 22 (Reuters) - Contract talks between money-losing United Airlines and ramp and reservation workers resumed on Monday as executives prepared to meet later this week with leaders of all labor unions about wage concessions. The airline has said many times that its ability to turn the company's fortunes around in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks hinges upon all employees making sacrifices. Unionized employees, for their part, say they are not interested in giving up anything more than they already did in 1994 as part of a landmark employee buyout. Chief Executive Jack Creighton plans to meet with labor leaders on Thursday, United spokesman Joe Hopkins said. The federally mediated contract talks between United -- a unit of UAL Corp. (UAL) and the No. 2 U.S. carrier -- and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 141 broke off a month ago with no resolution. The IAM represents some 23,000 workers in the 141 unit, which includes ramp and customer service workers along with security guards and food service employees. The talks were scheduled to resume later this week but the two sides agreed to start them early in Chicago. The IAM has asked to be released from mediation to prepare for a possible strike. But union leaders have said that a strike deadline might push the two sides to a deal. The current round of talks in Chicago are open-ended. The two sides have been talking for about eight months. The company has said it was hopeful that a contract could be reached while the union has said a deal was possible. "The contract at hand is more important than any meeting Creighton might be looking to have," said IAM spokesman Joe Tiberi. "It's all about money at this point -- we're asking for an industry-leading contract." While neither side would talk about details of the current talks, United has said it had put an industry leading package on the table. The union has said the proposal was not comprehensive. United narrowly averted a strike last month by 13,000 mechanics -- represented by a different bargaining unit than the one handling the current talks. The company agreed to an industry-leading package that it previously said it could not afford. Creighton came on board United last October after his predecessor, James Goodwin, was ousted. Goodwin sent a letter to employees saying the airline could perish unless financial losses stopped, and unions demanded his resignation. Creighton has already met with union leaders in his first few months on the job, but sluggish talks with the two machinists' unions have slowed down the airline's ability to get the airline back on track. "They're still behind the eight ball," said Richard Gritta, finance professor with expertise in airlines at University of Portland. "There's no question that they need help. But they've (unions) done that before. What has the employee buyout done for the workers? Not a hell of a lot." UAL is 55 percent owned by employees after the 1994 employee stock ownership plan. UAL on Friday reported a $510 million first-quarter net loss, on top of a record $2.1 billion loss in 2001. Shares of UAL fell 54 cents, or 3.6 percent, on Monday to close at $14.46 on the New York Stock Exchange. UAL shares have remained depressed since the Sept. 11 attacks, largely due to labor strife. Gary Chase, analyst at Lehman Brothers, said the "shared sacrifice" plan -- as management calls it -- remains an open issue. "Absent realized progress on the permanent cost structure, we continue to wait for better justification to recommend the stock," he said. Like all airlines, United is also struggling with a drop in passenger air traffic, particularly from business travelers, in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. Executives have been clear about their intention to seek wage concessions from employees, which they have pegged at several billion dollars. "There's no question we must get our costs in line with our revenues," Jake Brace, UAL Corp.'s chief financial officer, told reporters in a conference call on Friday. ©2002 Reuters Limited.