Catherwood LibraryILR School

Becoming the fourth of five unions at struggling United Airlines to agree to temporary wage cuts, sixty-two percent of the 24,000 Association of Flight Attendants members at United voted by ninety-four percent to approve temporary wage cuts of nine percent yesterday. The International Association of Machinists (IAM) remains the sole holdout, taking the stance that it will continue to negotiate long-term concessions but has cited United's failure to be open about its financial situation with union representatives in leaving the issue of temporary cuts up to a bankruptcy court judge (see yesterday's WIT). United has also been severely criticized by both the flight attendants and pilots over its unwillingness to disclose information on its financial status and recovery plans---raising the possibility of labor unrest as the company approaches its mid-March deadline for negotiating extended concessions or asking a bankruptcy judge to void its labor contracts (see WIT's for Aug 27, and Sep. 26, 2002).