United pilots' union OKs contract as airline struggles its way through=20 bankruptcy CHICAGO (AP) =97 United Airlines' pilots union tentatively approved a=20 long-term labor agreement Thursday that it said should allow the carrier to= =20 complete its bankruptcy reorganization. If ratified by the company's more=20 than 8,000 pilots, the contract would be a huge step in United's effort to= =20 slash costs and emerge from bankruptcy court as planned next year. Terms of= =20 the contract were not disclosed. United, which also is negotiating with its= =20 machinists and flight attendants unions, had no immediate statement. Paul=20 Whiteford, chairman of the United branch of the Air Line Pilots=20 Association, said the agreement should "help transform United into a more=20 effective competitor against both low-cost carriers and other network=20 carriers." The ratification vote is to be completed by April 11. United had= =20 asked its pilots to provide the biggest share of its $2.56 billion in=20 proposed annual labor savings through 2008 =97 $1.1 billion in lower wages= =20 and benefits and revised productivity rules. The pilots strongly opposed=20 the company's proposal to create a separate, low-fare carrier, concerned=20 about the impact on wages, benefits and seniority. But the company has a=20 strong bargaining advantage in bankruptcy court and has filed a motion to=20 have all its labor contracts voided and replaced with its own terms if no=20 long-term agreements are in place by May 1.United lost $3.2 billion last=20 year and made the largest bankruptcy filing in aviation history on Dec.=20 9.Shares in United parent UAL Corp. were unchanged at 84 cents in afternoon= =20 trading on the New York Stock Exchange. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx 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.thehummingbirdonline.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************