Eastern Airlines Gets OK for Cuts; Layoffs on Hold
A federal judge said today that Eastern Airlines can proceed with a major cutback, eliminating service to 14 cities, but must return to the bargaining table and negotiate over the proposed layoff of 4,000 employees.
U.S. District Judge Barrington D. Parker said Eastern has shown through testimony that it has the right to change schedules, reduce flights and close its hub at Kansas City as the airline has proposed “without first bargaining with the plaintiffs.”
The plaintiffs are three unions fighting Eastern’s plans to fire 4,000 workers. Eastern announced on July 22 that it would close its Kansas City hub and eliminate 140 of its 1,225 flights daily.
“Testimony also supports the conclusion that the proposed operational changes are motivated by sound financial reasons,” the judge wrote in a 50-page opinion. “Even plaintiffs’ experts agreed that Eastern has legitimate and compelling business reasons to withdraw from the Kansas City hub.”
Cannot Skip Bargaining
The judge wrote, however, that just because the cutbacks are necessary economically does not mean Eastern can bypass bargaining with its unions.
“Massive layoffs are not, and shall never be, business as usual,” he wrote. “The Railway Labor Act requires Eastern to bargain with its unions before taking unilateral action to eliminate 12% of its work force.”
Included among those employees are 1,000 flight attendants, 1,000 machinists and 500 pilots.
Parker had issued a temporary restraining order against the furloughs on Aug. 4 and extended it last Friday.
It was in late July that Eastern announced plans to eliminate about 4,000 jobs, withdraw from its Kansas City hub and end service to 14 cities including San Diego, Reno/Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas.
In his decision today, Parker cited a Supreme Court ruling that many business decisions are subject to bargaining, including management actions taken to eliminate wasteful practices.
The labor agreements Eastern made with its unions “provide no justification for a wholesale restructuring of the air line work force,” he wrote. “Employers subject to the RLA (Railway Labor Act) must bargain with their unions even over fundamental decisions affecting the very scope and direction of their employer’s enterprise.”
