Teamsters Sue to Force PSA, USAir Into Arbitration

The Teamsters Union has asked a U.S. District Court judge in San Francisco to force Pacific Southwest Airlines and USAir Group into binding arbitration over a contract dispute generated by USAir’s proposed $400-million acquisition of PSA.

In the suit filed Tuesday, the Teamsters argue that “PSA is bound to carry out” provisions of the labor contract that USAir previously described as unacceptable if USAir is to conclude its bid for San Diego-based PSA.

The Teamsters earlier filed grievances with PSA over the disputed contract language and demanded that the airline resolve them through binding arbitration. PSA rejected that demand and argued that the Railway Labor Act, which governs airline industry labor relations, calls for labor disputes to be settled by the National Mediation Board.

PSA is “greatly concerned . . . (because) the Teamsters unveiled this lawsuit and we’ve yet to meet with them,” airline spokesman Bill Hastings said Thursday.

PSA and the Teamsters were believed to have scheduled an initial bargaining session for this morning. However, the airline and the union declined to comment on whether that meeting will take place.

The lawsuit alleges that PSA “violated” four Teamsters’ labor contracts by signing a merger agreement with USAir that did not include “merger and acquisition” language called for by the Teamsters’ contracts.

The Teamsters negotiated the protective language in 1984 in return for agreeing to modify work rules and accept 15% wage and benefit cuts. The Teamsters represent 3,445 PSA flight attendants, ground personnel, machinists and station agents.

An airline industry labor expert who has seen the contracts said PSA believes that the court will refuse to hear the Teamsters’ suit because the disputed language is “contrary to existing labor law.”

“The Teamsters have one bullet in the gun,” according to the source. “If they go to court and lose, they’ve got no more bargaining power, and their leverage is gone.”

The Teamsters are awaiting the outcome of a similar court challenge generated by a contract dispute with Western Airlines, which has been acquired by Delta Airlines. That suit has yet to be settled, according to a Teamsters attorney in Washington.