Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 4, 1995 TAG: 9505040104
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ARLINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The accord with the international Association of Machinists is the second agreement in principle the financially troubled airline has reached with labor this spring, but negotiations continue with two other unions.
USAir in March announced a tentative pact with its pilots union that included 20 percent pay cuts and 300 layoffs in return for a share of the annual profits and a seat on the company's board of directors.
The agreement with the machinists also includes employee stock ownership provisions, but USAir would not discuss specific terms, said airline spokesman Rick Weintraub.
Arlington-based USAir has been seeking concessions totaling $2.5 billion from its unions to stem heavy losses. USAir reported a loss of $117.5 million, or $1.91 per share, for the quarter that ended March 31.
Robert Kalaski, a spokesman for the machinists office in Suitland, Md., said he was unaware of the agreement and could not comment on it Wednesday afternoon.
The agreement is the first for the fleet service employees, a group just recently organized by the machinists. The mechanical workers' agreement modifies and extends the existing contract, USAir said.
The machinists union represents about 8,000 mechanical and related employees and about 6,500 fleet service employees - the most of any of the USAir's four unions. Weintraub said unions represent about half of USAir's 44,500 employees.
Agreements still must be reached with the Association of Flight Attendants and the Transport Workers Union.
Weintraub said the pact must be ratified by the machinists union members and similar agreements must be reached with the other two unions before the package can be submitted to USAir's board and its shareholders.
by CNB