United pilots return to work after hard-fought strike

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A hard look at AFL-CIO report. See pp. 16-17 She goes on to say, "Loud may be good, but it is not only the level of decibels that is heard."

Goldsmith gives her idea of a great victory: "Without NOW,, she crows triumphantly, "I don't think there would have been a woman vice-presidential candidate."

Shift away from mass action Although the debate reflects the discontent in the women's movement at the setbacks it has been experiencing, it would be wise to take this dispute with a grain of salt. The defeat of the ERA occurred during Smeal's presidency of NOW.

When the ERA was within a whisker of winning the required number of states for passage of the constitutional amendment, Smeal led NOW in a shift (continued on page 2, in “Cold storage for elderly”) UNITED PILOTS ON AIRLINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION AS 010 The strike by pilots at United Airlines ended on June 15 after the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) agreed to allow U.S. District Judge Nicholas Bua to resolve the remaining issues in dispute.

The United pilots were forced out on strike on May 17. Management had demanded intolerable concessions, including a two-tier pay scale in which new pilots would be offered salaries 57 percent below the present level.

Two weeks into the strike United management and ALPA agreed on a five-year two-tier contract that would pay new hires considerably less. This was in contrast to management's original demand for a 20-year two-tier.

But the agreement now includes a provision allowing the courts to determine after five years if the company's financial situation justifies continuing the two-tier system.

While agreement was reached on the two-tier, the strike continued over a back-to-work agreement. United management insisted that ALPA had no right to bargain for the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), who honored ALPA's picket line, or for the 570 "prehire" pilots who refused to scab.

The truth is that the AFA was bargaining for itself. ALPA simply said that they would refuse to return to work until the flight attendants had a back-to-work agreement.

But the future of these "pre-hires,, and United's demand for super-seniority for the scabs, has now been left up to the courts. The AFA agreed to return to work without a back-to-work agreement, allowing for the issue to be settled through litigation.

The resolve and unity of the 5300 (continued on page 8, in “Anti-gay bigotry spreads its poison far and wide”)

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HEALTH CARE NO LAUGHING MATTER clean, empty, and sterile, that you could have performed open heart surgery there with no fear of germs.

On we went, into the kitchen. Perhaps, we hoped, the food was good and plentiful. ACTION