Pilots' strike grounds United

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SAN FRANCISCO-On May 17, 5000 pilots went on strike against United Airlines. The key issue in dispute involves a demand by management for a two-tier pay scale that will pay new pilots considerably less than they now receive.

But this is not the "usual" two-tier contract that promises to merge the lower tier with the higher after three or five years. No. The company is proposing a pay scale that will mean a pilot must work for approximately 20 years and reach the position of captain before the pay scale merges into the higher tier. The Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) has rightly characterized this proposal as a permanent two-tier.

During the pre-strike negotiations ALPA was willing to accept a five-year two-tier. When management said no, ALPA then offered a six-year two-tier. Again management refused, and the strike was on.

While ALPA is willing to make concessions, they nevertheless have prepared long and hard for this strike. They have been able to call the company's bluff on a number of issues. One of the most important involves the availability of scab pilots.

Before the strike, United management claimed that it would be able to operate at 40 percent of its normal capacity during a strike. The company boasted that it had a pool of thousands of experienced pilots waiting in the wings.

But ALPA did its homework. The Future Aviation Professionals of America, who monitor commercial and business aviation, reported that at best United could choose from 500 to 1000 experienced (not to be confused with qualified) pilots. But other airlines, too, are continuing to hire new pilots.

When the strike began United could count on only 200 management pilots and about 260 scabs.

Jayne Burrier is a mechanic with United Airlines. United has been operating at most at 13 percent its usual capacity, far below its projected 40 percent. The flight attendants union is honoring the picket line. The company claims that 1700 attendants are working, but the union strongly disputes this figure.

Unfortunately, the International Association of Machinists (IAM), which represents mechanics, baggage handlers, cleaners, food service workers, and others, is not respecting the picket line.

Last year the IAM approved a five-year merging two-tier contract, which includes a no-strike clause, and a provision requiring that IAM members not honor picket lines set up by other unions at United. The IAM leadership, as expected, has made little effort to inform the membership of the issues involved, let alone do anything to support the pilots. There has been no organized discussion of what is at stake in this strike.

Consequently, the rank-and-file IAM members have been caught unaware and unprepared. The mechanics have been forced to rely on rumors and speculation. The joke is that Dan Rather will be the first to know whether or not the IAM will honor the picket line.

This lack of preparation has made for confusion and anger among IAM members. For many this is the first time they have had to cross a picket line and they are not happy about it. Moreover, the lack of involvement and confusion among the IAM tends to further intensify the long-standing antagonism between pilots and mechanics. But the company's divide-and-rule strategy has had only moderate success, as many IAM members are naturally supportive of the pilots.

Union busting

There is only one real issue in this strike-unionbusting. The facts support this. The airline made a record $500-million profit last year. They recently purchased Pan Am's Pacific route and fleet for $750 million. They just bought one-half of the Frontier Airlines fleet.

Last year United paid out record dividends to its shareholders. For Chief Executive Officer Richard Ferris, who owns 90,000 shares, that adds up to a tidy sum. It is no coincidence that these record profits coincide with the first year of the IAM's two-tier contract.

In no way plead Instead they AFL -CIO claim that they must prepare for future losses. Today's deregulated skies, so management argues, are no longer so friendly for United.

David Pringle, senior vice-president of human resources for United, spells out the company's real intention in Friendly Times, the employee newspaper: 'To compete in the future we must bring down pilot labor costs to the competitive level."

That means cut salaries to the standard of American, Continental, and People Express.

How odd all this sounds when one remembers that United was the only major carrier to support deregulation.

For workers all of this means a lower standard of living. For the bosses, however, it means colossal profits. But realizing these future super-profits depends upon managment's ability to weaken, if not destroy, the unions that demand decent wages and working conditions for their members.

Consider this: the media reports that United is losing approximately $4.5 million per day during this strike. A loss of this size is equivalent to what United would save each year if it accepted the ALPA proposal.

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"There Is only one issue in this strike: union busting."

ON STRIKE AIRLINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION