=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/2003/03/21/f= inancial1357EST0112.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, March 21, 2003 (AP) Judge sets trial date for UAL, union contract dispute (03-21) 10:57 PST (AP) -- CHICAGO (Dow Jones/AP) -- UAL Corp. and its unions will head to a bankruptcy-court trial next month if the two sides can't work out a deal on long-term wage concessions. Judge Eugene R. Wedoff on Friday agreed to clear his calendar for the we= ek of April 14 under the assumption that the Chicago-based airline and the unions won't be able to find common ground. The sides are continuing to negotiate. UAL, parent of United Airlines, has said that it needs to cut its labor costs by an average of $2.56 billion a year from 2003 through 2008. Earlier this week, UAL asked Judge Wedoff of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court f= or the Northern District of Illinois to let the airline reject current labor contracts with its five unions. UAL attorney Alexander Dimitrief said in open court that the airline must meet very specific monthly earnings goals set forth as conditions to its debtor-in-possession loans and that a decline in bookings as a result of the Iraq war wasn't making that task any easier. UAL shares traded midday at 88 cents, up 8 cents, or 10 percent, on the New York Stock Exchange. =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2003 AP