Delta, Pilots Tentatively Agree, Labor Issues Loom Large

<B>Delta, Pilots Tentatively Agree, Labor Issues Loom Large</B>

By By Barbara Cook & David Jonas

Delta Air Lines last week took an important step toward clearing up a contract dispute with pilots, and assuring that there will be no work stoppage, when leaders of its pilot union approved a tentative agreement. Meanwhile, labor groups at other carriers continue to negotiate with management on new contracts, a trend that already has increased the industry's labor costs. Labor relations also took center stage last month in Washington as industry officials explained how the negotiating process adversely affects passengers.

Delta's tentative four-year pilots agreement--the product of 19 months of negotiating--was given the green light by the Delta Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association. Now, the industry-leading agreement will be voted on by the rank and file, a process that will last through June. The proposed contract grants pay increases as high as 34 percent and gives Delta room to expand regional jet operations. It would cost Delta about $2.4 billion. Meanwhile, some of Delta's flight attendants reportedly are campaigning for representation by the Association of Flight Attendants.

In reaching an agreement, Delta's mainline pilots avoided a Presidential Emergency Board, similar to the one formed to settle the dispute between Northwest Airlines and its mechanics. During PEB review, Northwest management and the mechanics union reached a tentative agreement that has been sent for union member approval.

The situation is more challenging at Delta subsidiary Comair. Pilots for the regional carrier at press time were continuing their strike, which has prompted fleet reductions, about 2,000 layoffs and is costing Delta as much as $4 million a day. Talks to end the strike, which began on March 26, continued last week.

American Airlines, its flight attendants and National Mediation Board officials also were back at the negotiating table last week. The flight attendants, working without a new contract for two years, easily authorized a strike, if need be.

Meanwhile, Air Transport Association president Carol Hallett told members of the Senate Commerce Committee that airline passengers too often are made victims of a fractured contract negotiating process between airlines and their workers. The committee convened April 25 to study potential labor disruptions within the industry, including their causes and impact on consumers.

"Airline executives have made a cottage industry out of blaming their own employees for flight delays and cancellations," testified Thomas Buffenbarger, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. "It's time they started looking for solutions rather than scapegoats."

Buffenbarger called on committee chairman Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to support "fair and even-handed collective bargaining" as the best way to resolve long-running negotiations between airlines and their labor unions. "We object to this Administration and Congress interfering with our collective bargaining process," Buffenbarger said. "We are involved in negotiations with United Airlines. We continue to demand that they meet with us and bargain in good faith, but they choose to avoid the bargaining table. They have found it more cost-effective to delay negotiations than to reach an agreement." He urged members of the committee to insert a "drop-dead date" in the Railway Labor Act, which governs labor relations in the aviation industry, to provide an ending date for contract negotiations.

United also faces service disruptions by its flight attendants, should its proposed merger with US Airways be consummated. McCain noted that the trend toward bigger airlines has given the labor unions greater leverage in negotiations.

FedEx chairman Fred Smith said that even when a carrier's management and union leaders are able to reach tentative agreements, employees "increasingly reject those proposed contracts, forcing the parties to return to the bargaining table."

The FedEx Pilots Association issued a statement, saying, "Airline passengers may be inconvenienced by labor disputes that are unavoidable, and pilots regret that, but pilots not only are within their rights to refuse to fly overtime, but also have the responsibility to do so, if they do not have adequate rest, which could affect safety. The real issue here is labor being made a scapegoat for airline management's failure to staff adequately and negotiate in good faith." The pilots cautioned lawmakers against rushing to make any changes in how collective bargaining is conducted.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) pointed out, however, that many airline workers "are far from highly compensated." The average flight attendant industrywide earns about $33,000 a year, while a senior-level mechanic at Northwest makes an average of $55,000 each year. Kerry added that it is not appropriate for Congress to insert itself into the collective bargaining process: "The process is sometimes confrontational, but it ultimately gets results for working people.