* Union questions fairness of AMR business plan
* Plan seeks $990 mln in annual concessions from unions
* Unions have said merger with US Airways could save jobs
(Adds details from hearing)
By Nick Brown
NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters) – The prospects of a merger for
bankrupt AMR Corp took center stage again on Tuesday
in the second day of a court battle over the fate of the
company’s labor contracts.
The airline’s chief restructuring officer, Bev Goulet,
defended AMR’s business plan during testimony in U.S. Bankruptcy
Court in Manhattan, drawing questions from the unions that
would be asked to make annual concessions of $990 million.
The unions and the company are at loggerheads over ongoing
contract negotiations, and are now in court fighting over AMR’s
request to scrap its collective bargaining agreements altogether
and impose interim terms unilaterally.
For the request to be successful, AMR must convince Judge
Lane that its unions have unreasonably shunned prior requests to
negotiate, and that the company considered alternatives to avoid
scrapping contracts.
The unions have said AMR has not considered the alternative
of a merger. Robert Clayman, an attorney for AMR’s flight
attendants’ union, argued on Tuesday it was “critical” to know
whether the cost-saving plan “is just a means of extracting as
much money from labor as possible.” Clayman said AMR could
implement stingy
Article source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/04/25/amr-labor-idUKL2E8FOIK020120425?feedType=RSS&feedName=consumerproducts-SP Wedding voucher directory
