As United eyes pension default, unions threaten strikes

The affected employees - flight attendants, ground workers, and mechanics - would lose about a quarter of their pensions. They've argued before the judge that the pension default is unnecessary, and they accuse the airline of refusing to negotiate with them in good faith on the issue. They've called for United's management to be replaced.

"If management would work with us cooperatively and fairly, much of this could be avoided," says Ellie Larson of the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA). "We've shown them several plans that would allow them to keep our pensions intact, but they aren't willing to entertain any ideas or creative solutions to these problems other than their own firm belief that these pensions need to be terminated."

Ms. Larson points out that other so-called legacy carriers, like American Airlines and Northwest, have avoided bankruptcy court and managed to preserve their employees' pensions.

If the court approves the pension default Tuesday, the AFA says it could start intermittent work outages known as "chaos strikes" as soon as Tuesday evening.

In addition, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association, which represents United's mechanics, voted last January to strike if its contract is abrogated. And Wednesday, the results of a strike vote by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Works will be in.

In its filing, United made it clear that it believes any strike would be illegal under the Railway Labor Act, but the unions counter that it's not applicable if a contract has been terminated.

Any service disruptions right now, on the eve of the peak summer travel season, could be a "huge problem" for United, says Clint Oster, a transportation economist at Indiana University in Bloomington.

"You can certainly understand why there's a lot of anger. These are people who went to work and thought they were going to have a certain kind of pension and wage package throughout their careers, and then suddenly they find out that the world has changed and it's not going to happen," he says. "But I don't see what there is to gain [by striking.] You either decide to work in that industry and accept it, or go work somewhere else."

Other analysts are harsher in their assessment of the impact of a strike. "I never cease to be amazed by the shortsightedness of airline employees," says Mr. Stempler of the Air Travelers Association. "What they'd rather do is destroy the whole airline, throw a Molotov cocktail over their shoulders as they walk away, rather than simply walking away from a unsatisfactory job."

But from the flight attendants' perspective, their goal is not to destroy anything, but to preserve the quality of jobs at the airline as well as the gains made since the first flight attendant took to the skies 75 years ago.

"The association has a mandate, and that's to protect the jobs, the wages, and the working conditions of our members," says Ms. Larson. "We'll do whatever it takes to try to do that."

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