United Airlines Mechanics Eye Strike

Monday, November 20th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

CHICAGO (AP) â€” United Airlines' mechanics union planned to ask federal mediators to release them from contract talks and declare a 30-day cooling-off period after which they could legally strike â€” potentially during the Christmas and New Year's travel seasons.

``United needs to see that we're serious about striking,'' said Joe Tiberi, a spokesman for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

The union's 15,000 members, who also include customer service and ramp workers, have been working without a contract since July.

United officials were in Washington Monday to present their case separately to the National Mediation Board. A spokesman for the Elk Grove Village-based company did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

United officials on Friday won a court order preventing its mechanics from staging a work slowdown as the busy holiday season begins.

The company has blamed hundreds of cancellations in the last week on the mechanics, who deny any organized effort.

Despite the tension between the airline and the union, Monique Bond, a spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Aviation, said things were ``very quiet'' Monday at O'Hare International Airport's Terminal 1, United's main terminal.

She said travelers have been steadily leaving for the Thanksgiving holiday since the weekend.

``We really don't believe we're going to have any problems,'' Bond said of the coming week. She said the biggest potential for problems would be Sunday, which is expected to be the busiest travel day of the long Thanksgiving weekend.

Unhappy about labor troubles of their own, United flight attendants planned to hand out flyers detailing their own contract concerns to passengers in Terminal 1 on Monday.

Sam Buttrick, an airline analyst with PaineWebber said it was United's latest contract agreement with its pilots that has put them and other airlines in tough positions with other employees.

``The airline industry is in the initial stages of a potentially dangerous upward labor cost spiral and in effect. United management opened the proverbial barn door with the generous pilot contract and that has raised labor expectations throughout the industry,'' he said.

But even United's pilots are grumbling at their employer.

A proposed merger between United and Virginia-based US Airways has added to the resentment among United's pilots, who fear losing perks to more senior US Airways pilots. Seniority, for example, determines how much money pilots make, the planes and routes they fly, and even the size of their pensions and their days off.

Still, Buttrick said United's ``obviously not deeply concerned'' about labor troubles and any resulting cancellations hurting its image ``because they've just initiated one of the biggest fare increases in history.''

As of Friday, fares were increased by as much as $100 each way â€” a move quickly matched by American and Continental airlines.

â€”â€”â€”

On the Net:

United: http://www.ual.com

United machinists: http://www.iam141.org

National Mediation Board: http://www.nmb.gov