Well, seeing that this was a
nodeshell, I might as well put this here. I can add more info about the airline itself later.
The
mechanics are voting next week on whether or not to approve their new
contract, which promises a 1/3 pay raise after 8 years with no raises. There is a chance that the
union could reject the contract, initiating an immediate
strike.
Should the strike happen, here's what goes down:
- Mechanics set up picket lines at most major airports and United facilities around the country. The unions of other United employees (pilots, stewardesses, etc.) would probably respect the pickets and either stay home or join them.
- Next, the airline starts losing some serious cash (United is already at a precarious point financially). They can't sustain the current flight load without union mechanics. After all, the FAA requires that airplanes have been checked by mechanics before they can fly.
- Finally, only a few days after the strike begins, United declares bankruptcy. It would only take a couple of days to break this company. Which isn't a loss for management, since then the company would go to bankruptcy court, and all the employee contracts would be evaluated by a judge. This would force the mechanics (and all other United employees) to take whatever the judge gives them.
So, here are the mechanics' options:
- Approve the contract, take a pay raise, and skate by for a few more years to bargain for more.
- Reject the contract, keep the same 1994 pay, or possibly kill their company and lose their jobs, while fucking all United employees over, and allowing the management to screw with everyone's contract with a bankruptcy judge at the same time.
IN ANOTHER SCENARIO, President Bush has said that he would not allow a mechanic strike. He might force the mechanics to go back to work, which seems like a nice solution. But keep in mind: We were all forced by the government to go to school, and remember what great work we did there. Imagine if mechanics are forced to do a job that they really don't want to do, but instead of hearing lectures and taking tests, they are maintaining delicate airplanes that carry millions of people a day. You don't want these people to be really unhappy on the job. Something similar happened at Eastern Airlines, I believe.
To sum it up, there could be serious problems at United in the matter of weeks, or even days. I'll update this writeup when the mechanics vote, and we'll see where the chips land.
On a personal note, this situation affects me, seeing that my dad works for United and could conceivably be out of a job if things happen as I outlined here. He's also the reason why I know about this.