With the future of the airline now possibly in the machinists' hands, US Airways' other employees were urging all sides to work toward a solution.
"We're hoping they can come to a ratification if it's possible," said Teddy Xidas, president of US Airways' flight attendants union. "There are no hard feelings. Every group has to do what they have to do."
US Airways' machinists are the only employee group that has yet to agree to concessions.
(Julia Malakie -- AP)
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Jack Stephan, spokesman for US Airways pilots, said that for the airline to survive, all employees have to participate in its transformation. "I'm sure that [the machinists'] participation will not come without pain from its membership, just as it came with significant pain from airline pilots, flight attendants and communication workers," he said.
It is unclear whether the machinists have the right to strike if their contract is canceled. Under the Railway Labor Act, airline workers are prohibited from walking off their jobs without first going through negotiations overseen by the National Mediation Board. Union leaders have said in recent days, however, that that restriction no longer applies if the workers lack a contract.
One labor law expert who represents other airlines but is not involved in the US Airways case said the rights of the machinists to strike, even without a contract, is debatable.
"There are no decided cases that answer this question under the Railway Labor Act," said John Gallagher, a partner at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP. "There are 13 or 14 cases that answer the question under the National Labor Relations Act. And all those cases say the workers can strike. But it's a different law."
Gallagher said it's possible the courts could prevent the machinists from walking off the job in this case because the Railway Labor Act was written with the intent of avoiding disruptions to transportation and commerce. In the event of a strike, he said, President Bush could also step in and enact a 60-day cooling-off period to keep the airline running while the two sides attempt to reach agreement.
Charles B. Craver, a labor law professor at George Washington University, said that in the event of a strike, there could also be significant pressure from members of Congress to get machinists back on the job and to keep US Airways flying. Congress has intervened in the past, he said, when strikes imperiled railway operations.
Representatives could be tempted to intervene in this case, especially those from smaller cities and rural areas where the disappearance of US Airways may leave constituents stranded. "If US Airways goes down, they do not have air service," he said.
US Airways, which employs nearly 30,000 workers, filed for bankruptcy protection in September, its second filing in two years. The airline has said it needs to cut about $1 billion in labor costs to emerge from court protection. "This process has been a torturous one but one that has yielded some very good results," US Airways attorney Brian P. Leitch said.
