Court battle widens divide between United, pilots Posted on August 27th
Why and how they came to do so is central to the legal drama that is scheduled to play out in a federal courtroom in Chicago beginning Wednesday, as United asks a judge to block its pilots union from fostering what it describes as illegal labor activity. The union counters, in court documents, that it had no hand in the sickout by junior pilots and, indeed, tried to squelch it.
The litigation is a very public salvo in the labor battles that are likely to escalate over the next year as the nation’s second-largest airline heads into contract negotiations with every one of its unions.
“There’s certainly a lot of strategy and tactics in this legal and collective-bargaining game they’re playing,” said Joshua Javits, former chairman of the National Mediation Board. “It’s very risky for both sides.”
The litigation marks the first time in recent memory that United has sought a retraining order against its most powerful union, an act that signifies United Chief Executive Glenn Tilton’s resolve to take a tough stance with labor. Reacting to the July 30 lawsuit, the pilots retaliated with a campaign to oust Tilton from United, citing the carrier’s poor financial and operational performance on his watch.
In court, United will press its case for a preliminary injunction against the Air Line Pilots Association and four pilots “to stop an ALPA-sponsored work slowdown against United designed to force the company to renegotiate a collective bargaining agreement” that is in force until the end of 2009, according to a court filing. United claims the sickout is the latest event in a 2-year-old dispute over voluntary staffing, the practice of calling on reserve pilots to fill gaps in its schedule.
Neither side would comment for this story, citing the pending trial.
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