Federal mediators said they would begin a...

Federal mediators said they would begin a 30-day “cooling off” between Eastern Airlines Inc. and its largest union today, a move that could lead to a strike early next month. Miami-based Eastern, a unit of Texas Air Corp., on Tuesday rejected an offer from the National Mediation Board for binding arbitration to settle a 15-month-old contract dispute with its 9,000 machinists. That rejection allowed mediators to begin the cooling off period. If no settlement is reached by midnight EST on March 3, the union will be free to strike and Eastern will be allowed to impose the $144 million in wage cuts it says it needs to survive.