Jack Creighton’s honeymoon as chairman and chief executive of United Airlines may be coming to an end.
Creighton turned up the heat this week on the International Association of Machinists, criticizing the union for dragging its feet on a new contract for the airline’s 30,000 ramp, customer service and security workers.
He none too subtly suggested in a message recorded for employees that the machinists were jeopardizing the long-term future of the company. Before United opens wage-concession talks with all of its unions, it wants to have all labor contracts settled.
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United and Creighton had hoped to begin wage-concession talks with the unions by March 25.
“These complications have impeded our progress” said Creighton, adding that the airline’s costs still exceed its revenues.
But Creighton said he has no intention of giving up on his plan to cut the airline’s operating costs.
“We’ll keep working towards a labor-cost reduction plan because compared to the rest of the industry our labor costs are simply too high,” he said.
In a sharp response, Randy Canale, president of the machinists union’s District 141, dismissed Creighton’s complaint, calling him the “temporary CEO at United.”
In a letter sent to members, Canale said Creighton “doesn’t get it.”
“Every United Airlines employee is aware how this company plays for time at their expense. Pilots, flight attendants and mechanics all were forced to battle this company to win the pay they deserve. We expect no different,” he said.
He suggested the union is considering responding to Creighton’s calls for wage concessions with the same alacrity that United has answered the union’s call for a new contract. The union has been negotiating with United for 2 1/2 years.
In less than a month, Canale will be looking at Creighton across the boardroom table because he is slated to join the United board as the machinists union representative.
If nothing else, Canale’s election to the UAL board should make for interesting boardroom dynamics.
The two sides are expected to reconvene talks on Monday in hopes of hammering out an agreement.
Bring on the paint: Chicago’s Doolittle Middle School, at 535 E. 35th St., will undergo a transformation Friday when more than 100 sales executives from the Hilton family of hotels and some of their clients pick up paint brushes for a needed redo.
“In each space that is to be painted, I have endeavored to ensure that the colors reflect a sense of empowerment and of bold initiative,” said Amy Hulbert, who oversaw the renovations of the Hilton Chicago and Towers,
For instance, she said the library is to be painted purple while the school’s main corridor is to be painted gold.
New hotel set to debut: Another section of Ohio Street, which has been undergoing a transformation by the John Buck Co. North Bridge development, is getting a facelift.
The Comfort Inn and Suites Downtown, a restoration of a 1920s Art Deco building at 15 E. Ohio Street, is set to open in early May. It is owned by Neighborhood Development Corp.
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