Eastern Tells Pilots It Will Shut Down if They Strike

Eastern Airlines, threatening to shut down if its pilots go on strike next Wednesday, held a brief negotiating session with the pilots here Thursday. But the talks recessed after a few hours at the suggestion of federal mediator Harry Bickford, who is supervising the talks.

“Some proposals were made that need a little more investigation,” said Skip Orr, a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Assn. Orr said he could not elaborate.

Eastern spokesman Glenn Parsons had no comment on the negotiations. The pilots and the company differ over proposed pay cuts and other issues.

The pilots are expected to announce today that they have authorized a strike. A federally mandated 30-day “cooling off” period expires at midnight Tuesday, and if no agreement is reached by then, the pilots will be free to strike. A similar cooling-off period for the union representing Eastern’s flight attendants ends at midnight next Friday.

Both the attendants and the pilots say they are preparing their members for a strike, although they acknowledged that a strike might put the company out of business.

$450 Million in Concessions

Financially troubled Eastern has said that it must secure $450 million in concessions from its pilots, flight attendants, machinists and ramp personnel by next Friday or it will fall into technical default on its $2.5 billion in debts.

Miami-based Eastern, contending it would be too costly to operate during a strike, said Wednesday that it would stop flying and drop “non-essential” employees if any of its three unions walks off the job. That reversed an earlier position by Eastern that it would attempt to operate a small number of flights in the event of a strike.

But one source close to the pilots said the union feared that Eastern would shut down operations only temporarily and then attempt to resume operations of its shuttle service between Boston, New York and Washington and its lucrative South American routes.

Some other airlines, including Pan American World Airways and People Express, have said they would bolster service on routes shared with Eastern.

The situation is particularly delicate, observers note, because Eastern has to quickly reach agreements with three unions whose interests are not in total accord.

“We will not sign a contract calling for concessions unless there is a clause in the agreement that says the other unions will give the company the same concessions,” said Henry Duffy, national president of the Air Line Pilots Assn.

20% Pay Cuts Offered

Two weeks ago, the pilots told Eastern they would take a 20% pay cut over the next three years. But talks broke down, Duffy said, on the issue of whether the cuts would be permanent. The pilots want formal written assurance that some of the money will be returned if the company’s financial picture improves, Duffy said.

The situation with the International Assn. of Machinists, who represent 12,000 machinists and baggage handlers, is even more complicated. Unlike the other two unions, the machinists union has a contract that does not expire for another 18 months.

Eastern, however, is demanding that the machinists reopen the contract. William Winpisinger, international president of the machinists union, said Wednesday that the union will not formally negotiate with the company unless Eastern has reached agreements with the pilots and the attendants first.

Eastern laid off 1,010 attendants in early February and slashed the salaries of the remaining 6,000 by 20%. The company also increased by nearly 20% the minimum hours that an attendant must work to earn a base salary and slashed other benefits.