Washington, D.C., July 21, 2005 - The IAM announced ratification of six amended collective bargaining agreements with United Airlines. The four and a half year agreements are the result of negotiations under Section 1113(c) of the U.S. bankruptcy code and preserve existing IAM contracts at the carrier while providing a defined benefit pension plan to replace the plans terminated by agreement between United and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
“Our negotiators were able to leverage the strength of a ninety eight percent strike authorization to not only reject United’s harshest proposals, but to also establish a new defined benefit pension plan for our members,” said Robert Roach, Jr., IAM General Vice President of Transportation. “Our negotiators did a remarkable job under the most difficult circumstances imaginable.”
IAM members in the Ramp & Stores, Public Contact, Fleet Technical Instructor, Maintenance Training Instructor, Security and Food Service Worker classifications each ratified their respective agreements. Sixty-seven percent of all voting IAM members accepted the amended terms. Ratification of the agreements prevents bankruptcy court abrogation of the contracts and a strike by the IAM’s 20,000 members at United.
“Our members and retirees have repeatedly provided United Airlines with the means to successfully restructure and exit bankruptcy, only to see it squandered,” said Randy Canale, President of IAM District 141. “We have reached the limit of our members’ sacrifice and patience. If United management cannot utilize the cost savings their employees provided to reverse course and become competitive, they must be replaced with more capable individuals.”
More information about the IAM at United Airlines is available on the IAM District 141 website, www.iam141.org.
