ATA pilots being pressed for more cuts
Pilots' Union Clears Way for Possible ATA Strike Vote
Aug 18, 2005, 4:18 PM
The president of the Air Line Pilots Association has authorized the union's leadership to hold a strike vote if they cannot reach an "acceptable" agreement with ATA Airlines Inc. in bankruptcy court.
Last week, the Indianapolis-based airline filed a motion in US bankruptcy court to void the union's collective bargaining agreement and impose more than $37 million in additional pay and benefit concessions.
Jim Anderson, chairman of ALPA's ATA master executive council, said the concessions would cut pilots' pay by more than 40 percent. In the past 14 months, the union's ATA members have accepted $66 million in wage concessions.
The union's authorization does not mean that a strike or other legal job action is imminent, officials said. Instead, it allows ATA union leadership to poll its members on whether to strike. A date for a strike vote has not been set.