Delta pilots union balks at company's pay cut request ATLANTA (AP) =97 The Delta Air Lines pilots union is balking at a 22%=20 wage-reduction proposal that is part of a companywide cost-cutting=20 campaign. In a memo distributed to pilots Tuesday night, the union's=20 economic and financial analysis committee said the nation's third-largest=20 airline needs to cut costs to survive but noted employees have already made= =20 sacrifices. "Labor did not create this problem, and the E&FA team does not= =20 endorse management's specific proposal," the memo said. "The team has=20 concluded, however, that all stakeholders, including labor, need to be part= =20 of the solution." The union's financial team linked Delta's problems to a=20 drop in revenue and new debts =97 not to what it pays its pilots. The union= =20 leaders stopped short of calling for the proposal to be rejected, but said= =20 their data should be considered when members make a decision. "Labor costs= =20 as a percentage of total expenses have been fairly flat," the memo said.=20 "Expenses have not changed very much. Although it appears there has been a= =20 recent spike in labor expenses relative to total revenue, the main cause of= =20 the relative percentage increase in labor expenses is the reduction in=20 revenue, not the increase in expenses." The union said it is still gathering input from pilots before deciding on a= =20 course of action. Last month, Delta told pilots it wants to cut their=20 hourly wages by 22%, cancel pay raises due over the next year and reduce=20 some benefits. In addition to the pay cut for pilots, Delta wants to reduce= =20 the company contribution to a family savings plan for pilots from 3% to 2%.= =20 It also is proposing comprehensive negotiations focusing on work rules,=20 benefits and further discussion on pay rates in the fall of 2004 or sooner,= =20 depending on the financial condition of the company. Chief executive Leo=20 Mullin has said Delta will use deep salary concessions agreed to at=20 American Airlines as context for its talks with its own pilots. Delta lost= =20 $466 million in the first quarter on top of $1.3 billion it lost last year.= =20 Atlanta-based Delta has laid off 16,000 employees since the Sept. 11=20 attacks. It has also furloughed more than 1,000 pilots and said earlier=20 this month it would furlough an additional 200 pilots this year because of= =20 a drop-off in travel due to the war in Iraq. It also plans to reduce=20 capacity by 10% and will remove 12 MD-11 aircraft from service. The pilots'= =20 union represents 9,000 Delta pilots. *************************************************** 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.cso.gov.tt TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************