The article below from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@xxxxxxxxx /--------- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight ------------\ SIDEWAYS IS THE BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR! Critics in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston agree... SIDEWAYS is the BEST PICTURE of the year. The award-winning film from Alexander Payne has also earned 7 GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Screenplay. SIDEWAYS stars Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Sandra Oh and Virginia Madsen. SIDEWAYS is now playing in select theaters. Watch the trailer at: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/sideways/index_nyt.html \----------------------------------------------------------/ Judge Rejects United Airlines Deal With Pilots January 7, 2005 By MICHELINE MAYNARD CHICAGO, Jan. 7 - A United States Bankruptcy Court judge today rejected a new contract between United Airlines and its pilots' union, saying the agreement unfairly forced other unions to join the pilots in letting United terminate their pension plans. The move was a victory for the federal pension agency, which had led a legal battle opposing the contract. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation was joined in the effort by United's creditors, some of its banks and its other unions. The rare action by Bankruptcy Court Judge Eugene R. Wedoff was the latest setback for United, which filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2002 and has yet to present a reorganization plan. Last June, a federal loan board rejected United's application for a loan guarantee package, forcing the airline to cut its costs even more deeply than it had already done in bankruptcy. The deal with the pilots' union, reached last month, included a 14 percent pay cut along with other concessions worth $180 million a year. It was part of $725 million in wage and benefit cuts sought by the airline, which also wants to terminate its four employee pension plans. Pilots ratified the deal Thursday, as a hearing began on objections to the agreement. United and the Air Line Pilots Association said they were "disappointed" by the ruling, United said it believed the contract was "fair and equitable." The two sides now will have to resume negotiations, but the pilots' union said in its statement that it could offer "no assurance" that a new deal could be reached. Any agreement would again have to be submitted to the airline's 6,400 pilots for a second vote. It is highly unusual for a bankruptcy court judge to reject a ratified contract. And Judge Wedoff, who is in charge of the United case, said he took the step with "extraordinary reluctance." But the judge said the agreement contained a series of unacceptable provisions. In particular, the pilots' contract gave the company permission to terminate their defined benefit pension plan as long as similar plans of other unions were terminated, too. That stipulation drew a heated outcry from the pension board as well as unions representing United's mechanics and flight attendants. Last week, the pension board said it would seize control of the pilots' retirement plan, rather than wait for the plan to be terminated. Judge Wedoff said that the pilots' union did not have the right to dictate the actions of United's other unions, and that the issue should be the subject of their negotiations with the airline. The judge also objected to a clause in the contract that kept it in effect only if United's management team, led by its chief executive, Glenn F. Tilton, kept its exclusive right to draft a restructuring plan. In all, Judge Wedoff said the contract had the effect of "unduly tilting" matters in the company's and pilots' union's favor. That, he said, "seems to me like something a court ought not to approve." Judge Wedoff's ruling did not address an arrangement between United and the pilots' union that called for pilots to receive $550 million in convertible notes, once the airline emerges from bankruptcy. A hearing was scheduled for later today on United's efforts to set aside labor agreements for mechanics and flight attendants. Mr. Tilton was expected to be the airline's lead witness. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/07/business/07cnd-united.html?ex=1106128361&ei=1&en=6e7b9b2476a4f989 --------------------------------- Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: http://homedelivery.nytimes.com/HDS/SubscriptionT1.do?mode=SubscriptionT1&ExternalMediaCode=W24AF HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales@xxxxxxxxxxx or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@xxxxxxxxxxxx Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company