Union Sees Progress in Talks With United

The union representing 20,000 ramp workers and customer service agents at United Airlines reported “significant progress” Wednesday in negotiations aimed at averting a contract deadlock and a threatened strike.

The International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers gave the upbeat report as it continued marathon talks with United to work out a deal before today, when a U.S. Bankruptcy Court trial in Chicago is due to resume on United’s proposal to impose lower pay and benefits.

The union -- the largest at the nation’s No. 2 carrier -- said although differences remained over pensions and job security, the two sides were exchanging revisions to try to wrap up a tentative contract agreement. A spokeswoman for the airline, a unit of UAL Corp., said only that talks were continuing.

Judge Eugene Wedoff had postponed trial testimony scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in a two-day recess to let the sides work out a contract, thus forgoing the need for a verdict that probably would cause United problems no matter which way he ruled.

A settlement, if approved by rank-and-file employees, could mean United has clinched contract deals with all its employee groups, completing its bid to cut labor costs by $700 million annually before it makes a concerted push to come out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

United’s 7,000 mechanics continued to vote Wednesday on a tentative five-year deal agreed to by their negotiators from the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn. on Monday night.

Although the leadership of that group has not recommended that its members vote to ratify the contract, which would cut their pay by an additional 3.9% and shrink their benefits, union chief O.V. Delle-Femine told them that a “no” vote could produce a worse outcome.

United was seeking wage and benefit cuts totaling $176 million over five years from the machinists union after negotiating $96 million in reductions in the tentative deal with its mechanics.

Also Wednesday, the Assn. of Flight Attendants continued efforts to overturn Wedoff’s May 10 approval of an agreement under which United intends to turn its pension plans over to a federal agency, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., by the end of this month.

The group filed an appeal of the ruling in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Spokeswoman Sara Nelson Dela Cruz said flight attendants also were lobbying on Capitol Hill in support of legislation to place a six-month moratorium on pension plan terminations, retroactive to May 1.