Source:
http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pb...EWS01/60814012
PHI’s unionized pilots and the company, which have been in negotiations for the last 29 months regarding pilot contracts, have agreed to public interest conferences with the National Mediation Board.
The announcement comes two weeks after the union announced it had been released from national mediation and entered into a 30-day cooling off period, the last stage before a union can authorize a strike.
Steve Ragin, president of the union, called the conferences “super mediation” and said they will begin Aug. 23 and conclude presumably at the end of the cooling-off period.
PHI Inc., a helicopter transportation company that serves the oil and gas and air medical industries, has accused the union of making “unreasonable and irresponsible” demands that threaten the company’s future.
The company also claimed in a statement that it did not believe the majority of pilots would walk off the job and that it has contingency plans in place to protect its customers, employees and business.
Ragin has argued that the pilots are some of the lowest paid in the business. The company has offered a salary comparable to others but it has not agreed to offer back pay to pilots since the last contract ended in May 2004.
Ragin has said the union, which represents PHI’s 550 pilots, has been granted authority to strike.