WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mechanic & Related and Fleet Service Employees at US Airways, voting separately on similar proposals, took different paths on August 28 in nationwide voting on company-proposed restructuring plans.
Fifty seven percent of Mechanical & Related employees casting votes rejected the proposal. US Airways’ Fleet Service employees voted sixty two percent in favor of a separate proposal.
Earlier this month, US Airways presented recovery proposals to each group at the airline. Both groups are represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). District 141-M represents 6,800 Mechanical and Related employees. District 141 represents US Airways’ 5,400 Fleet Service Employees.
“The changes approved by the Fleet Service membership will be made to their agreement,” said IAM General Vice President Robert Roach, Jr. “Our attorneys are prepared to defend our Mechanical & Related members and their contract in bankruptcy court.”
“The bankruptcy filing is only the first step of a long legal process, and our members can be assured we will defend their rights throughout these proceedings. We will continue to look to the membership for guidance and their decisions will be respected and defended.”
Details about the proposals can be found on the District 141 web site at http://www.iam141.org , and the District 141-M web site at http://www.iam141m.org . The approved Fleet Service restructuring proposal will take effect on September 1, 2002.
The IAM is the largest transportation union in North America representing 150,000 airline and railroad employees in the United States and Canada, including 12,000 at US Airways. Please visit http://www.goiam.org for more information about the Machinists Union.