Airline, union relations grow strained By Dan Reed, USA TODAY FORT WORTH =97 Tensions are rising between airline workers and managements= as=20 the nation's unprofitable carriers finally turn to their biggest cost=20 problem: labor. Airlines have avoided acrimony with their unions until now= =20 by focusing on reducing costs in other areas during two years of heavy=20 losses. Labor represents about 40% of airlines' costs, but labor-management= =20 disputes have a history of hurting service and worrying passengers. Even=20 Southwest Airlines, the USA's only consistently profitable major carrier=20 and, by reputation, one of the most worker-friendly companies in any=20 industry, is being drawn into the tussle. Some flight attendants have=20 scheduled a Valentine's Day demonstration today at Dallas' Love Field,=20 Southwest's home, to protest management proposals to lengthen their workday= =20 and reduce their rest time. Such measures could help the industry's cost=20 leader keep its huge advantage as competitors try to close the gap.=20 Southwest's seat-mile costs are as low as half those of rivals. "There's a= =20 natural adversarial relationship" between workers and management, says=20 consultant Michael Boyd, who advises airlines and labor unions. "But I=20 think they can get past that this time." For now, they are squabbling publicly at: Delta. Its pilots union Wednesday= =20 stiff-armed management's request to open informal discussions on=20 concessions. Union Chairman William Buergey says the contract "is not=20 amendable until 2005," but left the door open for talks if management=20 offers a specific proposal. American. It wants permanent labor cost cuts,=20 but both the pilots and flight attendants unions insist anything given up=20 be restored once the crisis is ended. The flight attendants Wednesday=20 turned aside, for now, management's request that they forego a 3% pay=20 increase that began on Jan. 1. The pilots' board, which authorized=20 concession talks Thursday, says the company must propose a plan that=20 ensures American's survival over the long haul. American's mechanics and=20 ground workers agreed to open concession negotiations. Northwest.=20 Management this week said labor must contribute much of the $1.5 billion a= =20 year in additional cost cuts the company needs. Labor leaders, still sore about big concessions made in 1993 to help the= =20 carrier avoid bankruptcy, say they expect concession talks this time around= =20 to be hostile. United. Its efforts to negotiate big cost savings from its=20 labor groups while in Chapter 11 seem to be going nowhere. An unofficial=20 rallying cry among some machinists-represented mechanics has been "highest= =20 pay 'til the last day." But if new agreements aren't signed soon,=20 management will ask a judge to impose less-expensive terms. Labor, Boyd=20 says, must realize that "something has to change." And management must=20 prove that they're "ready to do things very differently." *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.boogsie.com/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************