04/25/2003 - Updated 03:30 PM ET United sets management, salaried worker cost cuts CHICAGO (Reuters) ? Bankrupt United Airlines Friday tied up the last strands of massive labor cost cuts key to its survival, detailing stiff wage and benefit cuts required of its management and salaried employees. Management and salaried workers will take a $330 million per year hit, including pay cuts of up to 10.7% set in December, for their part of the overall $2.56 billion in annual labor cost cuts needed to satisfy lenders who backed United's restructuring. The moves also make permanent 1,500 salaried and management layoffs from January, United said in a taped message to employees. United, the world's No. 2 airline, and parent UAL Corp. in December filed the largest U.S. airline bankruptcy ever. It needs the cost cuts in place by May 1 and already has tentative or final deals with all union workers. The airline industry remains mired in a historic downturn following the Sept. 11 attacks, which helped push United, and US Airways Group Inc., into bankruptcy in 2002. US Airways secured long-term employee cost cuts and emerged from protection in March. American Airlines, the world's largest air carrier and an AMR Corp. unit, has teetered near bankruptcy as it seeks its own long-term labor cost cuts. The terms of United's special bankruptcy financing, called debtor-in-possession financing, require substantial reductions in labor costs, which are some of the highest in the industry. In December, United cut pay for salaried and management workers from 2.8% for lower-paid workers to 10.7% for top earners. The airline Friday announced that those cuts will be permanent and that workers also face increased costs for medical and dental coverage. Pilots, flight dispatchers and meteorologists have already ratified six-year cost cut deals with United that take effect May 1. Mechanics, flight attendants, and ramp and customer service workers voting on tentative agreements ends April 29. Annual cost cuts for the largest union groups include $1.1 billion from pilots, $349 million from mechanics, $445 million from ramp and customer service workers and $314 million from flight attendants. The balance will come from smaller units. Union employees have worked under temporary pay cuts since January at United, which had 70,200 employees in early April. The long-term deals also cut benefits and change work rules. United is offering a performance-based incentive program to U.S.-based union workers starting in 2004 under the concessions deals. Salaried workers will join that program in 2004 and all U.S. payroll employees will participate in 2005, United said. *************************************************** 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.pscutt.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************