Pilots for United Airlines have made no secret of their unhappiness with the carrier’s proposed merger with US Airways.
Earlier this month, the Master Executive Council, the local unit of the Air Line Pilots Association representing United pilots, unanimously backed a resolution stating that the airline’s 10,000 pilots don’t support the transaction.
But the depth of the animosity toward the deal goes much greater than that.
In a 34-page special report to the airline’s pilots, Capt. Rick Dubinsky, the chairman of the United council, details the seven-month process that led to the merger announcement.
He also warns pilots there is a likelihood that there will be a special dues assessment to pay for the United council’s costs of trying to negotiate a merger with the council representing older US Airways pilots that protects the seniority ranks at United.
“If we do not have adequate funding to fight this fight on your behalf, the price paid later will surely be a less than satisfactory outcome in the eventuality this acquisition is ever consummated,” he wrote in the report.
And Dubinsky doesn’t waste any ink in pointing an accusing finger at Stephen Wolf, the chairman of US Airways Group Inc., the holding company for the Arlington, Va.-based airline. United pilots butted heads with Wolf on more than one occasion while he was chairman and chief executive of Elk Grove Township-based UAL Corp., United’s parent.
Dubinsky accuses Wolf of blocking an agreement that could have protected the seniority of United pilots. But Dubinsky also accuses UAL Chairman and CEO James E. Goodwin of talking out of both sides of his mouth by promising to deep-six the merger if pilots opposed it and then moving ahead despite their opposition.
In a color timeline accompanying the special report, Dubinsky says he first learned of the merger discussions on Dec. 16, 1999. But it took another six weeks before Goodwin decided to brief Dubinsky on the plan.
And when push came to shove at the May 22 board meeting where the merger was approved, he says Goodwin would agree to only a 30-minute recess in the meeting to permit Dubinsky to consult with the union’s lawyers. Dubinsky is the pilots’ representative on the UAL board.
Chalk it up as another blow to labor relations at United, whose labor woes date back to the 29-day pilots strike in 1985 that brought the airline to its knees.
Talk about bad timing: The deal comes as United is attempting to negotiate a new contract with the Dubinsky-led labor unit and the airline’s pilots.
Sears is sponsor: It’s appropriate that Sears, Roebuck and Co. is sponsoring this year’s answer to Cows on Parade, the Chicago Ping-Pong Festival 2000.
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Sears and the maker of Ping-Pong brand equipment–Escalade Sports–will provide 300 tables and 30,000 balls and paddles that will be installed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout the city.
Sears says it is the exclusive retailer of Ping-Pong brand equipment. What it doesn’t say is that table tennis, as it the game is officially known, does not command much space at any of its stores.
Official cola: Coca-Cola has become the official soft drink of McCormick Place and the 4,200-seat Arie Crown Theater under a deal signed by the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority and the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Chicago. Under the deal, McPier will receive $600,000 annually for five years.
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