United Air Line?s decision to stop contributing to its employee pension plans has prompted the machinists' union to ask a federal bankruptcy judge to appoint a trustee to run the airline. The Union also filed a motion against United?s request for another extension, this one for four months, in order to put together a restructuring plan for the company. The motions cite "gross mismanagement" on the part of United?s executives and question whether the executives could draft a workable restructuring plan. The union's motions will be heard in Chicago at a hearing on Aug. 20.
See "Union Asks Judge to Appoint Trustee to Run United Airlines Machinists Union", Micheline Maynard and Mary Williams Walsh, The New York Times, August 11, 2004