2,250 American Airlines workers agree to pay cuts DALLAS (AP) =97 American Airlines reached tentative agreements with several= =20 small labor groups to reduce wages Saturday as a key union leader warned=20 workers that the cuts will be deeper if the world's largest airline fails=20 to avoid bankruptcy. Groups representing about 2,250 employees reached=20 tentative agreement on cuts Saturday, but talks were continuing with the=20 three most powerful employee groups =97 pilots, flight attendants and=20 mechanics, about 39,000 in all. The Transport Workers Union said tentative= =20 agreements were reached Saturday between the airline and its stock clerks,= =20 maintenance specialists, dispatchers, meteorologists and flight-simulator= =20 instructors. About 16,000 baggage handlers reached an agreement Thursday. "We are pleased with these additional tentative agreements and the TWU's=20 intent and seriousness," airline spokesman Bruce Hicks said. He declined to= =20 discuss the ongoing negotiations other than to say that "progress is being= =20 made." American, which has about 99,000 employees, says it must cut its=20 labor costs by $1.8 billion per year to avoid bankruptcy. If it fails to do= =20 so, bankruptcy lenders would demand an additional $500 million in labor=20 concessions, said James Little, director of the TWU's airline division,=20 which represents about one-third of American's employees. Parent company=20 AMR Corp., based in Fort Worth, has lost nearly $5.3 billion in the past=20 two years, and the war in Iraq is putting additional pressure on the=20 airline by leading to sharp declines in international travel, which=20 accounts for more than one-fourth of American's business. *************************************************** 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.ttsailing.org/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************