Cyclic Hotline
25th Jul 2001, 02:18
American Surprises Pilots With Offer
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - American Airlines surprised its pilots with a novel contract proposal Tuesday: Immediate double-digit pay raises if the union agrees to accept winner-take-all arbitration.
The offer was met with a smattering of boos from a group of a couple hundred uniformed pilots who marched on American's headquarters to present the union's opening bid.
Both sides, which have fought each other over negotiating tables and in courtrooms, pledged to make American's pilots the highest-paid in the industry.
"It's the largest carrier in the world. We should be compensated accordingly,'' said the union president, John Darrah.
American offered pay raises of 15 percent to 22 percent on Aug. 31 if the pilots agree not to strike and to accept binding arbitration if the two sides can't agree on other issues in 120 days.
The arbitration would be modeled after the process used in Major League Baseball: The airline and the Allied Pilots Association would each submit a final offer, and arbitrators would pick one or the other instead of a compromise.
American officials said they wanted to avoid drawn-out negotiations that have resulted in three near-strikes against airlines this year.
Airline officials said the immediate pay raise would put the pilots on equal footing with counterparts at Delta Air Lines, currently the highest-paid among major U.S. carriers.
"We're trying to show you the money up front. It would be a disgrace to do otherwise,'' Jeff Brundage, American's vice president for employee relations, told pilots in the parking lot outside American's offices.
Some of the pay raise would come at the expense of the pilots' profit-sharing benefits, which American proposed to eliminate. American's flight attendants are considering a tentative contract that would boost their pay more than 25 percent over six years but would reduce profit-sharing contributions.
Darrah, the union president, acknowledged being surprised by the airline's offer to short-cut negotiations through binding arbitration. He avoided taking a position on the tactic, saying that the union's board of directors would decide whether to accept American's ground rules for negotiations.
But Darrah pointedly said that pay was not the only important issue to pilots. The union is also seeking rules for larger crews and more rest on long flights and better medical and retirement benefits.
The union also wants to prevent American from replacing American flights with ones flown by its American Eagle commuter airline, which uses lower-paid pilots.
Relations between American and the Allied Pilots Association have often been strained, and the conflict burst into public view in 1999 after American's parent, AMR Corp., bought tiny Reno Air.
American pilots were angry over the absorption of lower-paid counterparts from Reno, and they staged a sickout that led to the cancelation of more than 6,000 flights. A federal judge ordered the union to pay a $45.5 million penalty.
Under American's proposal, negotiations would run Nov. 1 through Feb. 28. Each side could then submit five issues to a panel of arbitrators picked by both camps. In addition, pay raises for the second, third and fourth years of the contract would be subject to arbitration.
American recently approved a new contract with mechanics. Flight attendants must still vote to ratify their tentative agreement, which was reached hours before a strike deadline on June 30.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - American Airlines surprised its pilots with a novel contract proposal Tuesday: Immediate double-digit pay raises if the union agrees to accept winner-take-all arbitration.
The offer was met with a smattering of boos from a group of a couple hundred uniformed pilots who marched on American's headquarters to present the union's opening bid.
Both sides, which have fought each other over negotiating tables and in courtrooms, pledged to make American's pilots the highest-paid in the industry.
"It's the largest carrier in the world. We should be compensated accordingly,'' said the union president, John Darrah.
American offered pay raises of 15 percent to 22 percent on Aug. 31 if the pilots agree not to strike and to accept binding arbitration if the two sides can't agree on other issues in 120 days.
The arbitration would be modeled after the process used in Major League Baseball: The airline and the Allied Pilots Association would each submit a final offer, and arbitrators would pick one or the other instead of a compromise.
American officials said they wanted to avoid drawn-out negotiations that have resulted in three near-strikes against airlines this year.
Airline officials said the immediate pay raise would put the pilots on equal footing with counterparts at Delta Air Lines, currently the highest-paid among major U.S. carriers.
"We're trying to show you the money up front. It would be a disgrace to do otherwise,'' Jeff Brundage, American's vice president for employee relations, told pilots in the parking lot outside American's offices.
Some of the pay raise would come at the expense of the pilots' profit-sharing benefits, which American proposed to eliminate. American's flight attendants are considering a tentative contract that would boost their pay more than 25 percent over six years but would reduce profit-sharing contributions.
Darrah, the union president, acknowledged being surprised by the airline's offer to short-cut negotiations through binding arbitration. He avoided taking a position on the tactic, saying that the union's board of directors would decide whether to accept American's ground rules for negotiations.
But Darrah pointedly said that pay was not the only important issue to pilots. The union is also seeking rules for larger crews and more rest on long flights and better medical and retirement benefits.
The union also wants to prevent American from replacing American flights with ones flown by its American Eagle commuter airline, which uses lower-paid pilots.
Relations between American and the Allied Pilots Association have often been strained, and the conflict burst into public view in 1999 after American's parent, AMR Corp., bought tiny Reno Air.
American pilots were angry over the absorption of lower-paid counterparts from Reno, and they staged a sickout that led to the cancelation of more than 6,000 flights. A federal judge ordered the union to pay a $45.5 million penalty.
Under American's proposal, negotiations would run Nov. 1 through Feb. 28. Each side could then submit five issues to a panel of arbitrators picked by both camps. In addition, pay raises for the second, third and fourth years of the contract would be subject to arbitration.
American recently approved a new contract with mechanics. Flight attendants must still vote to ratify their tentative agreement, which was reached hours before a strike deadline on June 30.