Reuters: Money: American Airlines parent may reject union pacts

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American Airlines parent may reject union pacts Mar 22nd 2012, 18:35 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News WRAPUP 6-Air Canada plane servicer shuts Canada operations Tue, Mar 20 2012 Italy's Monti faces vital test on labor reform Tue, Mar 20 2012 UPDATE 5-Air Canada braces for March Break strike Wed, Mar 7 2012 AMR offers to freeze, not terminate, pensions Wed, Mar 7 2012 Lehman emerges from 3.5-year bankruptcy Tue, Mar 6 2012 Analysis & Opinion Bloomberg op-ed swings and misses on Detroit Can MBS investors block national mortgage deal via litigation? American Airlines jets taxi to and from the gate at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago January 12, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Frank Polich NEW YORK | Thu Mar 22, 2012 2:35pm EDT NEW YORK (Reuters) - The parent of American Airlines Inc was preparing to void union contracts through the bankruptcy process within one week unless there was a "profound change" in the unions' labor proposals, a lawyer for the company said on Thursday. Harvey Miller, who represents AMR Corp, told a federal bankruptcy judge at a hearing in New York that there appeared to be no basis to expect "real forward movement" obtaining union concessions and avoid the rejection of collective bargaining agreements. Talks were ongoing, he added. The third-largest U.S. airline filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in November, citing uncompetitive labor costs after years of fruitless talks with its unions. It has said it was looking to cut as many as 13,000 jobs to trim costs by some $2 billion. Unions said they preferred consensual deals as opposed to having terms imposed on workers by a court, as often happens in bankruptcy proceedings if the sides reach an impasse. The Transport Workers Union of America, which represents thousands of ground workers at AMR, said its lawyers were preparing to defend its members in court, should that become necessary. "We've always been prepared to fight for our members, either by reaching an agreement or going to court. We are prepared for either eventuality," James Little, president of the TWU, said in a statement. The Allied Pilots Association is committed to reaching an agreement and would oppose a company move to use the bankruptcy court process to try to end union contracts, spokesman Gregg Overman said. AMR's bankruptcy case is In re: AMR Corp, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 11-15463. (Reporting By Nick Brown; Additional reporting by Jonathan Stempel and Karen Jacobs; Editing by Maureen Bavdek) Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

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