=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2003/01/09/n= ational0322EST0444.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, January 9, 2003 (AP) United's machinists last holdouts to emergency pay cuts in bid to emerge fr= om bankruptcy DAVE CARPENTER, AP Business Writer (01-09) 00:22 PST CHICAGO (AP) -- United Airlines has gained approval from four of its five unions for emergency pay cuts as it tries to emerge from bankruptcy. Now it's counting on a judge to order the participation of the only holdouts: its machinists. Flight attendants overwhelmingly ratified 9 percent interim pay cuts Wednesday. Federal bankruptcy Judge Eugene Wedoff was to rule Thursday or Friday on whether to impose 13 percent pay reductions on the machinists -- 13,000 mechanics and 24,000 ramp, customer service and gate workers. If Wedoff grants the order, United says it will have enough financial breathing room to meet its lenders' requirements until May 1, allowing it time to negotiate permanent contracts. Flight attendants joined pilots, dispatchers and meteorologists in reluctantly accepting United's proposal for temporary wage cuts, a move the company says will provide about $70 million a month in savings to pacify its lenders. But as with the other unions, their interim agreement expires Friday unless the machinists' participation is assured by day's end. Ninety-four percent of those participating in weeklong voting favored the wage-cut agreement, the union said, although turnout among United's 24,000 flight attendants was just 62 percent. "This cut is very painful, especially since flight attendant compensation is so minimal to begin with," said Greg Davidowitch, president of the United branch of the Association of Flight Attendants. Flight attendants' pay before the cuts ranged from $17,000 to $44,000 a year. Like the pilots, the flight attendants also assailed the company for bei= ng "less than forthcoming" with information about its overhaul plans. United CEO Glenn Tilton said he was grateful for the flight attendants' decision and pledged that the company will continue to work with its unions to reach consensual agreements. Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based United, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month, has until Feb. 15 to cut costs. Otherwise it could lose the rest of $1.5 billion in interim financing supplied by a group of banks. Pilots approved a 29 percent pay cut; the 180 controllers and 40 meteorologists will see wages slashed by 13 percent. The machinists' union, however, has objected to United's proposal that its members take 13 percent reductions, saying the company has not provided sufficient evidence. Without a favorable ruling from Wedoff, United will move in court to sta= rt having all labor contracts voided. It said in its court filing that it wants to avoid those proceedings because they would "unnecessarily strain the negotiating process and jeopardize the company's restructuring efforts." Negotiations continued Wednesday for a second day between the airline and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers on long-term cost reductions. The union said there were no discussions on United's proposal for interim cuts. On the Net: www.united.com =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2003 AP