Mgmt. 'Betrayal' Angers AA Unions, Bankruptcy Looms
Union officials representing American Airlines employees yesterday said they are considering reneging on the terms of the carrier's concession agreements, which AA's three unions narrowly approved this week, citing details not made public before the unions voted about AMR Corp.'s creation of a trust fund to protect the pensions of senior executives.
AMR, the parent company of American Airlines, in a report filed with the Security and Exchange Commission on Tuesday said that AMR's board of directors last year agreed to create a trust to protect pensions for 45 American executives as well as provide a "cash retention bonus" at two times the base salary for six American officers.
As AMR's fears of bankruptcy subsided earlier this week after the unions voted in favor of the concession agreements, the potential for bankruptcy seems to be revived as the unions expressed outrage over the filing.
A spokesperson for American's air transport union said there is no deadline the unions must meet when signing the final agreement.
"I am deeply angered and disappointed about the company's handling of this matter," James Little, director of AA's air transport union wrote yesterday in a letter to AA chairman and CEO Don Carty. "Our members have been asked to make extraordinary sacrifices. Now many members are questioning whether these sacrifices are for the purpose of rebuilding the company or subsidizing the benefits of a select few."
Little added that his union is exploring legal ramifications citing AMR's failure to reveal the details as a "material breach of the company's duty to provide relevant information."
The other two unions at American have echoed Little's sentiment.
"The announcement of this scheme to line the pockets of a few top executives in the event the company files for bankruptcy is a slap in the face to every working person who wears an AA uniform," said John Ward, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, the union representing AA's 26,000 flight attendants.