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December 27, 2004

The Skies Are a Lot Less Friendly These Days

Union members who work for airlines are being forced to take serious pay and benefit cuts, sometimes more than once. New flight attendants can make as little as $12,000 a year, less than what they could make at Wal-Mart. Oh, and bankruptcy judges force unions to accept pay cuts whilst leaving CEO pay in tact.

No wonder US Airways suffered an unorganized sick out this Xmas. It's based in Pittsburgh - a town that knows about dying industries (see steel) and whose residents are tough and don't lose their livelihoods lying down.

Sigh.
Beware, United is trying to force cuts on its employees. And apparently every big airline (American, Delta, Continental, Northwest, US Airways, and United) is in line for cuts and could bear the brunt of a sick out.

More depressing deets at "Airlines' Woes May Be Worse in the Coming Year," by Micheline Maynard in NYT with additional reporting from Eric L. Dash and Jeremy W. Peters

Posted by cj at December 27, 2004 3:14 PM

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